Mistral Medium 3 vs Phi-4 Reasoning Vision 15B
Mistral Medium 3 (2025) and Phi-4 Reasoning Vision 15B (2026) are compact production models from MistralAI and Microsoft Research. Mistral Medium 3 ships a 128K-token context window, while Phi-4 Reasoning Vision 15B ships a not-yet-sourced context window. This comparison covers specs, pricing, API access, capabilities, benchmarks, input and output token costs, and production fit for coding and agent workloads. It focuses on practical selection signals rather than broad model-family marketing.
Phi-4 Reasoning Vision 15B is safer overall; choose Mistral Medium 3 when coding workflow support matters.
Decision scorecard
Local evidence first| Signal | Mistral Medium 3 | Phi-4 Reasoning Vision 15B |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | multimodal apps, tool-calling agents, and provider-routed production | multimodal apps |
| Decision fit | Coding, RAG, and Agents | Vision |
| Context window | 128K | — |
| Cheapest output | $2/1M tokens | - |
| Provider routes | 5 tracked | 0 tracked |
| Shared benchmarks | 0 shared | 0 shared |
Decision tradeoffs
- Mistral Medium 3 has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
- Mistral Medium 3 has broader tracked provider coverage for fallback and route flexibility.
- Mistral Medium 3 uniquely exposes JSON / Tool use, Structured outputs, and Code execution in local model data.
- Local decision data tags Mistral Medium 3 for Coding, RAG, and Agents.
- Local decision data tags Phi-4 Reasoning Vision 15B for Vision.
Monthly cost at traffic
Estimate token spend from the cheapest tracked input and output route or tier on this page.
Mistral Medium 3
$820
Cheapest tracked route/tier: Mistral AI Studio
Phi-4 Reasoning Vision 15B
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 Mistral Medium 3 and Phi-4 Reasoning Vision 15B; plan for SDK, billing, or endpoint changes.
- Check replacement coverage for JSON / Tool use, Structured outputs, and Code execution before moving production traffic.
- No overlapping tracked provider route is sourced for Phi-4 Reasoning Vision 15B and Mistral Medium 3; plan for SDK, billing, or endpoint changes.
- Mistral Medium 3 adds JSON / Tool use, Structured outputs, and Code execution in local capability data.
Specs
| Specification | ||
|---|---|---|
| Released | 2025-05-01 | 2026-03-12 |
| Context window | 128K | — |
| Parameters | — | 15B |
| Architecture | Decoder Only | - |
| License | Proprietary | MITOSI-approved |
| Openness | Proprietary | Open source |
| Weights | Not released | Unknown |
| Code | Unknown | Unknown |
| Commercial use | Restricted | Permitted |
| Knowledge cutoff | 2025-03 | 2025-03 |
Pricing and availability
| Pricing attribute | Mistral Medium 3 | Phi-4 Reasoning Vision 15B |
|---|---|---|
| Input price | $0.40/1M tokens | - |
| Output price | $2/1M tokens | - |
| Providers | - |
Capabilities
| Capability | Mistral Medium 3 | Phi-4 Reasoning Vision 15B |
|---|---|---|
| Vision | Yes | Yes |
| Multimodal | Yes | Yes |
| Reasoning | No | No |
| JSON / Tool use | Yes | No |
| Structured outputs | Yes | No |
| Code execution | Yes | 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 JSON / Tool use: Mistral Medium 3, JSON / Tool use: Mistral Medium 3, structured outputs: Mistral Medium 3, and code execution: Mistral Medium 3. Both models share vision and multimodal input, 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: Mistral Medium 3 has $0.40/1M input tokens and Phi-4 Reasoning Vision 15B has no token price listed. Provider availability is 5 listed routes versus 0. Treat unknown pricing as an integration gap, then verify the route you will actually call before estimating production spend.
Choose Mistral Medium 3 when coding workflow support and broader provider choice are central to the workload. Choose Phi-4 Reasoning Vision 15B when vision-heavy evaluation 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
Is Mistral Medium 3 or Phi-4 Reasoning Vision 15B open source?
Mistral Medium 3 is listed under Proprietary. Phi-4 Reasoning Vision 15B 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, Mistral Medium 3 or Phi-4 Reasoning Vision 15B?
Both Mistral Medium 3 and Phi-4 Reasoning Vision 15B expose vision. The better choice depends on benchmark fit, context budget, pricing, and whether your provider route exposes the same capability surface.
Which is better for multimodal input, Mistral Medium 3 or Phi-4 Reasoning Vision 15B?
Both Mistral Medium 3 and Phi-4 Reasoning Vision 15B expose multimodal input. The better choice depends on benchmark fit, context budget, pricing, and whether your provider route exposes the same capability surface.
Which is better for JSON / Tool use, Mistral Medium 3 or Phi-4 Reasoning Vision 15B?
Mistral Medium 3 has the clearer documented JSON / Tool use signal in this comparison. If JSON / Tool use is mission-critical, validate it against the provider endpoint because model-level support and API-level exposure can differ.
Which is better for JSON / Tool use, Mistral Medium 3 or Phi-4 Reasoning Vision 15B?
Mistral Medium 3 has the clearer documented JSON / Tool use signal in this comparison. If JSON / Tool use is mission-critical, validate it against the provider endpoint because model-level support and API-level exposure can differ.
Where can I run Mistral Medium 3 and Phi-4 Reasoning Vision 15B?
Mistral Medium 3 is available on NVIDIA NIM, Mistral AI Studio, Microsoft Foundry, OpenRouter, and GCP Vertex AI. Provider coverage can affect latency, region availability, compliance posture, and fallback options.
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Last reviewed: 2026-10-18. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.