# DeepSeek-V3.1 vs Phi-4 Mini

> DeepSeek-V3.1 is the stronger model overall, scoring 42.8 to 30.9 on the Noometry Index. Phi-4 Mini costs 3.2× less per token, which makes it the better buy when DeepSeek-V3.1's lead doesn't matter for your workload.

- Canonical page: https://noometry.com/compare/deepseek-v3-1-vs-phi-4-mini
- Last updated: 2026-10-11
- Shared benchmarks: 1

## Summary

- They share 1 benchmark with published results for both. DeepSeek-V3.1 scores higher in 3 categories and Phi-4 Mini in 0 categories; 3 gaps are clear of the uncertainty.
- The widest gap is in knowledge, where DeepSeek-V3.1 leads 43.7 to 25.3.
- The biggest single-benchmark swing is Vectara Hallucination Rate: 5.5% for DeepSeek-V3.1 and 23.5% for Phi-4 Mini.
- Phi-4 Mini is cheaper at $0.075 / $0.30 per million input/output tokens, against $0.25 / $0.95 for DeepSeek-V3.1.
- DeepSeek-V3.1 accepts more context: 164K tokens versus 128K.

## Snapshot

| | DeepSeek-V3.1 | Phi-4 Mini |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | DeepSeek | Microsoft |
| Noometry Index | 42.8 | 30.9 |
| Rank | 108 | 283 |
| Context | 164K | 128K |
| Input $/M | $0.25 | $0.075 |
| Output $/M | $0.95 | $0.30 |
| Weights | Open | Open |

## Coding

- DeepSeek-V3.1: 40.3 (#144)
- Phi-4 Mini: 28.1 (#317)

| Benchmark | DeepSeek-V3.1 | Phi-4 Mini |
|---|---|---|
| SciCode | — | 10.8% |
| WeirdML | 38.4% | — |
| LMArena Coding | 1417 | — |

## Reasoning

- DeepSeek-V3.1: 27.9 (#110)
- Phi-4 Mini: 22.4 (#195)

| Benchmark | DeepSeek-V3.1 | Phi-4 Mini |
|---|---|---|
| SimpleBench | 40% | — |
| Kagi LLM Benchmark | 53.2% | — |
| CritPt | — | 0% |
| LMArena Hard Prompts | 1417 | — |
| DTBench | 82.7% | — |
| LMCA | 24.3% | — |
| Epoch Capabilities Index | 139.92 | — |
| ForecastBench | 58 | — |

## Math

- DeepSeek-V3.1: 38.9 (#122)
- Phi-4 Mini: —

| Benchmark | DeepSeek-V3.1 | Phi-4 Mini |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Math | 1420 | — |

## Knowledge

- DeepSeek-V3.1: 43.7 (#90)
- Phi-4 Mini: 25.3 (#262)

| Benchmark | DeepSeek-V3.1 | Phi-4 Mini |
|---|---|---|
| Vectara Hallucination Rate | 5.5% | 23.5% |
| LMArena Expert | 1405 | — |

## Multilingual

- DeepSeek-V3.1: 51.6 (#106)
- Phi-4 Mini: —

| Benchmark | DeepSeek-V3.1 | Phi-4 Mini |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Non-English | 1400 | — |
| LMArena Chinese | 1469 | — |
| LMArena French | 1447 | — |
| LMArena German | 1411 | — |
| LMArena Japanese | 1378 | — |
| LMArena Korean | 1337 | — |
| LMArena Russian | 1405 | — |
| LMArena Spanish | 1431 | — |

## Instruction Following

- DeepSeek-V3.1: 73.9 (#110)
- Phi-4 Mini: —

| Benchmark | DeepSeek-V3.1 | Phi-4 Mini |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Instruction Following | 1400 | — |

## Long Context

- DeepSeek-V3.1: 36.3 (#232)
- Phi-4 Mini: —

| Benchmark | DeepSeek-V3.1 | Phi-4 Mini |
|---|---|---|
| Fiction.LiveBench | 52.8% | — |
| LMArena Longer Query | 1422 | — |

## Writing & Preference

- DeepSeek-V3.1: 60.3 (#98)
- Phi-4 Mini: —

| Benchmark | DeepSeek-V3.1 | Phi-4 Mini |
|---|---|---|
| LMArena Text | 1420 | — |
| LMArena Creative Writing | 1401 | — |
| EQ-Bench Creative Writing | 1436 | — |
| LMArena Multi-Turn | 1408 | — |

## FAQ

### Is DeepSeek-V3.1 better than Phi-4 Mini?

DeepSeek-V3.1 is the stronger model overall, scoring 42.8 to 30.9 on the Noometry Index. Phi-4 Mini costs 3.2× less per token, which makes it the better buy when DeepSeek-V3.1's lead doesn't matter for your workload.

### Which is cheaper, DeepSeek-V3.1 or Phi-4 Mini?

Phi-4 Mini is cheaper. It lists at $0.075 per million input tokens and $0.30 per million output tokens; DeepSeek-V3.1 lists at $0.25 and $0.95.

### Is DeepSeek-V3.1 or Phi-4 Mini better for coding?

DeepSeek-V3.1 scores higher on coding benchmarks: 40.3 versus 28.1 in the Noometry coding category.

### Which has the bigger context window?

DeepSeek-V3.1 does, with 164K tokens against 128K.

### How many benchmarks do DeepSeek-V3.1 and Phi-4 Mini share?

1 benchmark has published results for both models. DeepSeek-V3.1 has 27 scored results on Noometry and Phi-4 Mini has 3.