GPT-5.3 Codex vs Phi-4

Side-by-side benchmark comparison across knowledge, coding, math, and reasoning.

GPT-5.3 Codex is clearly ahead on the aggregate, 92 to 39. The gap is large enough that you do not need to squint at the spreadsheet to see the difference.

GPT-5.3 Codex's sharpest advantage is in knowledge, where it averages 86.3 against 70.5. The single biggest benchmark swing on the page is GPQA, 97 to 56.1.

GPT-5.3 Codex is also the more expensive model on tokens at $2.50 input / $10.00 output per 1M tokens, versus $0.00 input / $0.00 output per 1M tokens for Phi-4. That is roughly Infinityx on output cost alone. GPT-5.3 Codex is the reasoning model in the pair, while Phi-4 is not. That usually helps on harder chain-of-thought-heavy tests, but it can also mean more latency and more token spend in real use. GPT-5.3 Codex gives you the larger context window at 400K, compared with 16K for Phi-4.

Quick Verdict

Pick GPT-5.3 Codex if you want the stronger benchmark profile. Phi-4 only becomes the better choice if you want the cheaper token bill or you would rather avoid the extra latency and token burn of a reasoning model.

Knowledge

GPT-5.3 Codex

GPT-5.3 Codex

86.3

Phi-4

70.5

99
MMLU
84.8
97
GPQA
56.1
95
SuperGPQA
-
93
OpenBookQA
-
90
MMLU-Pro
-
44
HLE
-

Coding

GPT-5.3 Codex

GPT-5.3 Codex

88.3

Phi-4

82.6

95
HumanEval
82.6
85
SWE-bench Verified
-
85
LiveCodeBench
-

Mathematics

GPT-5.3 Codex
99
AIME 2023
-
99
AIME 2024
-
98
AIME 2025
-
95
HMMT Feb 2023
-
97
HMMT Feb 2024
-
96
HMMT Feb 2025
-
96
BRUMO 2025
-
99
MATH-500
-

Reasoning

GPT-5.3 Codex
95
SimpleQA
-
93
MuSR
-
98
BBH
-

Instruction Following

GPT-5.3 Codex
93
IFEval
-

Multilingual

GPT-5.3 Codex

GPT-5.3 Codex

96

Phi-4

80.6

96
MGSM
80.6

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is better, GPT-5.3 Codex or Phi-4?

GPT-5.3 Codex is ahead overall, 92 to 39. The biggest single separator in this matchup is GPQA, where the scores are 97 and 56.1.

Which is better for knowledge tasks, GPT-5.3 Codex or Phi-4?

GPT-5.3 Codex has the edge for knowledge tasks in this comparison, averaging 86.3 versus 70.5. Inside this category, GPQA is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.

Which is better for coding, GPT-5.3 Codex or Phi-4?

GPT-5.3 Codex has the edge for coding in this comparison, averaging 88.3 versus 82.6. Inside this category, HumanEval is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.

Which is better for multilingual tasks, GPT-5.3 Codex or Phi-4?

GPT-5.3 Codex has the edge for multilingual tasks in this comparison, averaging 96 versus 80.6. Inside this category, MGSM is the benchmark that creates the most daylight between them.

Last updated: March 9, 2026

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