ModelRefs / DeepSeek R1 vs Phi-4 — Benchmarks, Pricing & Coding Compari…
DeepSeek R1 vs Phi-4 — Benchmarks, Pricing & Coding Compari…
DeepSeek R1 vs Phi-4: side-by-side benchmarks, pricing, context windows, coding ability and deployment. Pick the right model for your stack.
Overview
DeepSeek R1: DeepSeek R1 is DeepSeek's open-source reasoning model, trained with reinforcement learning to produce chain-of-thought reasoning before answering. Released in January 2025 under the MIT license, it matched or exceeded closed reasoning models on several math and coding benchmarks.
Phi-4: Microsoft's 14B dense decoder-only open-weight text model, trained on 9.8T tokens with a synthetic-data-centered curriculum and available through the microsoft/phi-4 artifact and Microsoft Foundry.
Context window: DeepSeek R1 accepts up to 128,000 tokens, Phi-4 up to 16,384. Confirm the limit for your specific deployment channel before relying on it.
DeepSeek R1 vs Phi-4 at a glance
| Attribute | DeepSeek R1 | Phi-4 |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | DeepSeek | Microsoft |
| Released | 2025-01-20 | 2024-12-12 |
| Context window | 128,000 tokens | 16,384 tokens |
| Input price | $0.55/M tokens | Free / self-hosted |
| Output price | $2.19/M tokens | Free / self-hosted |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| Self-hostable | Yes, open weights | Yes, open weights |
| Modalities | text | text |
Benchmarks reported for both
| Benchmark | DeepSeek R1 | Phi-4 | Reported |
|---|---|---|---|
| gpqa | 71.5 | 56.1 | 2025-01-20 / 2024-12-12 |
Scores are as published by their cited sources on the dates shown. Different runs use different harnesses, prompts, and dates, so treat these as directional evidence rather than a head-to-head result.
Where they differ most
- Cost Efficiency: DeepSeek R1 75%, Phi-4 100%. Phi-4 leads on this dimension.
- Reasoning: DeepSeek R1 76%, Phi-4 65%. DeepSeek R1 leads on this dimension.
- Coding: DeepSeek R1 66%, Phi-4 67%. Phi-4 leads on this dimension.
Capability scores are ModelRefs' own derived signals, not vendor claims or benchmark results. Validate against your own workload before relying on them.
Continue your research
Use these connected ModelRefs sections to compare alternatives, inspect implementation paths, and review the evidence and governance boundaries relevant to DeepSeek R1 vs Phi-4 — Benchmarks, Pricing & Coding Compari….
Frequently asked questions
Which is better, DeepSeek R1 or Phi-4?
DeepSeek R1 and Phi-4 target different workloads — see the benchmark and pricing tables for a side-by-side answer.
Is DeepSeek R1 cheaper than Phi-4?
Compare $0.00055 vs $0.00000 on this page.