Granite 4.0 3B Vision vs Phi-4 Mini Reasoning
Granite 4.0 3B Vision (2026) and Phi-4 Mini Reasoning (2026) are frontier reasoning models from IBM Research and Microsoft Research. Granite 4.0 3B Vision ships a 128k-token context window, while Phi-4 Mini Reasoning ships a 128k-token context window. This comparison covers specs, pricing, API access, capabilities, benchmarks, input and output token costs, and production fit for coding and agent workloads.
Phi-4 Mini Reasoning is safer overall; choose Granite 4.0 3B Vision when vision-heavy evaluation matters.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | Granite 4.0 3B Vision | Phi-4 Mini Reasoning |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | multimodal apps | reasoning-heavy apps |
| Decision fit | Long context and Vision | Long context |
| Context window | 128k | 128k |
| Cheapest output | - | - |
| Provider routes | 0 tracked | 0 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | 0 shared | 0 shared |
Decision tradeoffs
- Granite 4.0 3B Vision uniquely exposes Vision and Multimodal in local model data.
- Local decision data tags Granite 4.0 3B Vision for Long context and Vision.
- Phi-4 Mini Reasoning uniquely exposes Reasoning in local model data.
- Local decision data tags Phi-4 Mini Reasoning for Long context.
Monthly cost at traffic
Estimate token spend from the cheapest tracked input and output route or tier on this page.
Granite 4.0 3B Vision
Unavailable
No complete token price in local provider data
Phi-4 Mini Reasoning
Unavailable
No complete token price in local provider data
Cost delta unavailable until both models have sourced input and output token prices.
Switch friction
- No overlapping tracked provider route is sourced for Granite 4.0 3B Vision and Phi-4 Mini Reasoning; plan for SDK, billing, or endpoint changes.
- Check replacement coverage for Vision and Multimodal before moving production traffic.
- Phi-4 Mini Reasoning adds Reasoning in local capability data.
- No overlapping tracked provider route is sourced for Phi-4 Mini Reasoning and Granite 4.0 3B Vision; plan for SDK, billing, or endpoint changes.
- Check replacement coverage for Reasoning before moving production traffic.
- Granite 4.0 3B Vision adds Vision and Multimodal in local capability data.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2026-04-01 | 2026-05-16 |
| Context window | 128k | 128k |
| Parameters | 3B | 3.8B |
| Architecture | Decoder Only | - |
| License | Open Weights | MITOSI-approved |
| Openness | Open weights | Open source |
| Commercial use | - | Commercial use: permitted |
| Knowledge cutoff | - | 2025-02 |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | Granite 4.0 3B Vision | Phi-4 Mini Reasoning |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | - | - |
| Output price | - | - |
| Providers | - | - |
Pricing not yet sourced for either model.
Capabilities
| Capability | Granite 4.0 3B Vision | Phi-4 Mini Reasoning |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | Yes | No |
| Multimodal | Yes | No |
| Reasoning | No | Yes |
| Function calling | No | No |
| Tool use | No | No |
| Structured outputs | No | No |
| Code execution | No | No |
| IDE integration | No | No |
| Computer use | No | No |
| Parallel agents | No | No |
Benchmarks
No shared benchmark scores are currently available for this pair.
Deep dive
The capability footprint differs most on vision: Granite 4.0 3B Vision, multimodal input: Granite 4.0 3B Vision, and reasoning mode: Phi-4 Mini Reasoning. Both models share the core language-model surface, so the practical split is not just feature count. Use those differences to decide whether the page is about raw model quality, agentic coding support, multimodal ingestion, or predictable structured API behavior.
Pricing coverage is uneven: Granite 4.0 3B Vision has no token price sourced yet and Phi-4 Mini Reasoning has no token price sourced yet. Provider availability is 0 tracked routes versus 0. Treat unknown pricing as an integration gap, then verify the route you will actually call before estimating production spend.
Choose Granite 4.0 3B Vision when vision-heavy evaluation are central to the workload. Choose Phi-4 Mini Reasoning when reasoning depth are more important. For production, rerun your own prompts through the exact provider, region, and tool stack you plan to ship. This keeps the decision grounded in measurable tradeoffs instead of brand-level assumptions. It also helps separate model capability from provider packaging, which can change cost and latency.
FAQ
Which has a larger context window, Granite 4.0 3B Vision or Phi-4 Mini Reasoning?
Granite 4.0 3B Vision supports 128k tokens, while Phi-4 Mini Reasoning supports 128k tokens. That gap matters most for long documents, large codebases, retrieval-heavy agents, and conversations where earlier context must remain visible.
Is Granite 4.0 3B Vision or Phi-4 Mini Reasoning open source?
Granite 4.0 3B Vision is listed under Open Weights. Phi-4 Mini Reasoning is listed under MIT. License labels affect whether you can self-host, redistribute weights, or rely only on hosted APIs, so confirm the upstream license before deployment.
Which is better for vision, Granite 4.0 3B Vision or Phi-4 Mini Reasoning?
Granite 4.0 3B Vision has the clearer documented vision signal in this comparison. If vision is mission-critical, validate it against the provider endpoint because model-level support and API-level exposure can differ.
Which is better for multimodal input, Granite 4.0 3B Vision or Phi-4 Mini Reasoning?
Granite 4.0 3B Vision has the clearer documented multimodal input signal in this comparison. If multimodal input is mission-critical, validate it against the provider endpoint because model-level support and API-level exposure can differ.
Which is better for reasoning mode, Granite 4.0 3B Vision or Phi-4 Mini Reasoning?
Phi-4 Mini Reasoning has the clearer documented reasoning mode signal in this comparison. If reasoning mode is mission-critical, validate it against the provider endpoint because model-level support and API-level exposure can differ.
When should I pick Granite 4.0 3B Vision over Phi-4 Mini Reasoning?
Phi-4 Mini Reasoning is safer overall; choose Granite 4.0 3B Vision when vision-heavy evaluation matters. If your workload also depends on vision-heavy evaluation, start with Granite 4.0 3B Vision; if it depends on reasoning depth, run the same evaluation with Phi-4 Mini Reasoning.
Continue comparing
Last reviewed: 2026-06-04. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.