LLM Reference

Phi-3 Mini 4k vs Qwen3.5-397B-A17B

Phi-3 Mini 4k (2024) and Qwen3.5-397B-A17B (2026) are frontier reasoning models from Microsoft Research and Alibaba. Phi-3 Mini 4k ships a 4k-token context window, while Qwen3.5-397B-A17B ships a 262k-token context window. On MMLU PRO, Qwen3.5-397B-A17B leads by 42.1 pts. On pricing, Phi-3 Mini 4k costs $0.05/1M input tokens versus $0.39/1M for the alternative. This comparison covers specs, pricing, API access, capabilities, benchmarks, input and output token costs, and production fit for coding and agent workloads.

Phi-3 Mini 4k is ~680% cheaper at $0.05/1M; pay for Qwen3.5-397B-A17B only for reasoning depth.

Decision scorecard

Local evidence first
SignalPhi-3 Mini 4kQwen3.5-397B-A17B
Best forprovider-routed productionreasoning-heavy apps, multimodal apps, and tool-calling agents
Decision fitCoding and ClassificationCoding, RAG, and Agents
Context window4k262k
Cheapest output$0.25/1M tokens$2.34/1M tokens
Provider routes4 tracked4 tracked
Shared benchmarks3 sharedMMLU PRO leader

Decision tradeoffs

Choose Phi-3 Mini 4k when...
  • Phi-3 Mini 4k has the lower cheapest tracked output price at $0.25/1M tokens.
  • Local decision data tags Phi-3 Mini 4k for Coding and Classification.
Choose Qwen3.5-397B-A17B when...
  • Qwen3.5-397B-A17B holds a shared-benchmark lead on MMLU PRO, ahead by 42.1 points.
  • Qwen3.5-397B-A17B has the larger context window for long prompts, retrieval packs, or transcript analysis.
  • Qwen3.5-397B-A17B uniquely exposes Vision, Multimodal, and Reasoning in local model data.
  • Local decision data tags Qwen3.5-397B-A17B for Coding, RAG, and Agents.

Monthly cost at traffic

Estimate token spend from the cheapest tracked input and output route or tier on this page.

Lower estimate Phi-3 Mini 4k

Phi-3 Mini 4k

$103

Cheapest tracked route/tier: Replicate API

Qwen3.5-397B-A17B

$897

Cheapest tracked route/tier: OpenRouter

Estimated monthly gap: $795. Batch, cache, alternate speed tiers, and negotiated pricing are excluded from this local estimate.

Switch friction

Phi-3 Mini 4k -> Qwen3.5-397B-A17B
  • No overlapping tracked provider route is sourced for Phi-3 Mini 4k and Qwen3.5-397B-A17B; plan for SDK, billing, or endpoint changes.
  • Qwen3.5-397B-A17B is $2.09/1M tokens higher on cheapest tracked output pricing, so quality gains need to justify the spend.
  • Qwen3.5-397B-A17B adds Vision, Multimodal, and Reasoning in local capability data.
Qwen3.5-397B-A17B -> Phi-3 Mini 4k
  • No overlapping tracked provider route is sourced for Qwen3.5-397B-A17B and Phi-3 Mini 4k; plan for SDK, billing, or endpoint changes.
  • Phi-3 Mini 4k is $2.09/1M tokens lower on cheapest tracked output pricing before cache, batch, or negotiated discounts.
  • Check replacement coverage for Vision, Multimodal, and Reasoning before moving production traffic.

Specs

Specification
Released2024-04-232026-02-16
Context window4k262k
Parameters3.8B397B
ArchitectureDecoder OnlyMixture of Experts
LicenseMITOSI-approvedApache 2.0OSI-approved
OpennessOpen sourceOpen source
WeightsUnknownAvailable
CodeUnknownUnknown
Commercial useCommercial use: permittedCommercial use: permitted
Knowledge cutoff2023-10-

Pricing and availability

Pricing attributePhi-3 Mini 4kQwen3.5-397B-A17B
Input price$0.05/1M tokens$0.39/1M tokens
Output price$0.25/1M tokens$2.34/1M tokens
Providers
Microsoft FoundryNVIDIA NIMBaseten APIReplicate API
OpenRouterTogether AIAlibaba Cloud PAI-EASNovita AI

Capabilities

CapabilityPhi-3 Mini 4kQwen3.5-397B-A17B
VisionNoYes
MultimodalNoYes
ReasoningNoYes
JSON / Tool useNoYes
Structured outputsNoYes
Code executionNoNo
IDE integrationNoNo
Computer useNoNo
Parallel agentsNoNo

Benchmarks

BenchmarkPhi-3 Mini 4kQwen3.5-397B-A17B
MMLU PRO45.787.8
Google-Proof Q&A40.989.3
Instruction-Following Evaluation45.092.6

Continue comparing

Model pages
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Last reviewed: 2026-06-29. Data sourced from public model cards and provider documentation.