Pick Amazon Nova Pro for multimodal input across text, image and video at $0.80/$3.20 or deep aws and bedrock integration for enterprise pipelines. Pick Microsoft Phi-4 for strong reasoning for a small 14b open-weight model or mit-licensed — fully self-hostable at no per-token cost. Choose Microsoft Phi-4 if you need self-hosting or data privacy; Amazon Nova Pro if you want a managed API.
Amazon Nova Pro (Amazon) and Microsoft Phi-4 (Microsoft) are two of the models people most often weigh against each other in 2026. Amazon Nova Pro is amazon's multimodal Bedrock model at $0.80/$3.20 with a 300K window — an enterprise-integrated generalist, not a frontier model. Microsoft Phi-4 is microsoft's MIT-licensed 14B open model — strong reasoning for its size and very cheap, but a tiny 16K context and text-only. They diverge most on price, context window and open vs. closed weights — each quantified below from the models' real specs.
Key differences
Price: Microsoft Phi-4 is about 11× cheaper on input ($0.07/$0.14 per 1M tokens vs $0.8/$3.2 per 1M tokens) — a large enough gap that at scale it can be the single biggest line item in the decision.
Context window: Amazon Nova Pro holds 18× more — 300K (~450 pages) vs 16K (~25 pages). But effective recall usually fades long before the advertised ceiling, so the bigger number only helps if the model reasons over it.
Recency: Microsoft Phi-4 is the newer model by about 36 days (released January 10, 2025), usually meaning fresher training data and capabilities.
Specifications
Spec
Amazon Nova Pro
Microsoft Phi-4
Provider
Amazon (US)
Microsoft (US)
Released
December 5, 2024
January 10, 2025
Context window
300K (~450 pages)
16K (~25 pages)
Price (in/out)
$0.8/$3.2 per 1M tokens
$0.07/$0.14 per 1M tokens
Open weight?
No — API only
Yes — self-hostable
Modalities
text, image, video, code
text, code
SWE-Bench Verified
Not published
Not published
MRCR v2 @ 1M
Not published
Not published
Who wins what
Multimodal input across text, image and video at $0.80/$3.20: Amazon Nova Pro — Microsoft Phi-4 is comparatively weak here — text only — no image, audio or video input
Deep AWS and Bedrock integration for enterprise pipelines: Amazon Nova Pro — Amazon's multimodal Bedrock model at $0.80/$3.20 with a 300K window — an enterprise-integrated generalist, not a frontier model — and it carries the larger 300K context.
Balanced cost-to-capability for general business tasks: Amazon Nova Pro — Microsoft Phi-4 is comparatively weak here — an early-2025 small model, outclassed on hard tasks by 2026 flagships
Strong reasoning for a small 14B open-weight model: Microsoft Phi-4 — Open weights make this possible at all — Amazon Nova Pro is API-only, so it cannot leave the vendor's servers.
MIT-licensed — fully self-hostable at no per-token cost: Microsoft Phi-4 — At $0.07/$0.14 per 1M tokens it undercuts Amazon Nova Pro ($0.8/$3.2 per 1M tokens), and that gap compounds at volume.
Runs on modest or local hardware: Microsoft Phi-4 — Microsoft's MIT-licensed 14B open model — strong reasoning for its size and very cheap, but a tiny 16K context and text-only — and it runs cheaper at $0.07/$0.14 per 1M tokens.
Lowest cost at scale: Microsoft Phi-4 — At $0.07/$0.14 per 1M tokens, it is the cheaper of the two — the gap dominates the bill on high-volume workloads.
Largest single-prompt input: Amazon Nova Pro — Its 300K window is about 18× larger than Microsoft Phi-4's 16K, fitting roughly 450 pages in one prompt.
Which should you pick?
A cost-sensitive startup shipping high volume: Microsoft Phi-4 — At $0.07/$0.14 per 1M tokens it undercuts Amazon Nova Pro, and on millions of tokens that margin decides the monthly bill.
Someone analysing very long documents or codebases: Amazon Nova Pro — Larger 300K window fits more in one prompt.
A team with data-privacy or self-hosting needs: Microsoft Phi-4 — Open weights let you run it on your own hardware; Amazon Nova Pro is API-only.
Anyone whose priority is multimodal input across text, image and video at $0.80/$3.20: Amazon Nova Pro — It is specifically built for that.
Anyone whose priority is strong reasoning for a small 14b open-weight model: Microsoft Phi-4 — That is its strongest area.
Amazon Nova Pro: where it fits
Amazon's multimodal Bedrock model at $0.80/$3.20 with a 300K window — an enterprise-integrated generalist, not a frontier model. Released December 5, 2024 by Amazon, it is built for multimodal input across text, image and video at $0.80/$3.20, deep AWS and Bedrock integration for enterprise pipelines, balanced cost-to-capability for general business tasks, and a 300K context for long documents and mixed media.
Its trade-offs are real: not a frontier reasoning or coding model against 2026 flagships, no published SWE-Bench Verified score, best value is realised inside the AWS ecosystem, and late-2024 model — older than most of the field here. At $0.8 in / $3.2 out per million tokens, it sits in the budget price band.
Microsoft Phi-4: where it fits
Microsoft's MIT-licensed 14B open model — strong reasoning for its size and very cheap, but a tiny 16K context and text-only. Released January 10, 2025 by Microsoft, it is built for strong reasoning for a small 14B open-weight model, mIT-licensed — fully self-hostable at no per-token cost, runs on modest or local hardware, and very cheap hosted inference at about $0.07/$0.14.
Its trade-offs: a tiny 16K context — by far the smallest window in this comparison, text only — no image, audio or video input, an early-2025 small model, outclassed on hard tasks by 2026 flagships, and no first-party per-token API; hosted prices are third-party. At $0.07 in / $0.14 out per million tokens, it sits in the budget price band.
The bottom line for this matchup
The defining split here is open vs. closed. Microsoft Phi-4 gives you weights you control — self-host it, fine-tune it, keep data in-house, pay only for hardware. Amazon Nova Pro gives you a managed, always-updated API with no infrastructure to run. Teams with GPUs, privacy requirements, or huge volume often favour the open model; teams that want zero ops and the latest capabilities favour the closed one. Capability is close enough that this operational question, not the benchmark, usually decides it.
Frequently asked questions
Is Amazon Nova Pro or Microsoft Phi-4 better for coding?
Public SWE-Bench figures are not available for either model, so the honest test is your own repository — run an identical real bug through both. By design, Amazon Nova Pro leans toward multimodal input across text, image and video at $0.80/$3.20 while Microsoft Phi-4 leans toward strong reasoning for a small 14b open-weight model, and that positioning usually predicts which feels better on your codebase.
Which is cheaper, Amazon Nova Pro or Microsoft Phi-4?
Microsoft Phi-4 is open-weight, so self-hosting means no per-token fee (you pay for hardware instead), while Amazon Nova Pro is API-metered at $0.8/$3.2 per 1M tokens. For most teams without GPUs, the API model is cheaper to start; at very high volume, self-hosting can win.
Which has the bigger context window?
Amazon Nova Pro — 300K vs 16K, about 18× larger. Useful only if the model actually reasons over the full window, which not all do.
Can I use both Amazon Nova Pro and Microsoft Phi-4 together?
Yes — a multi-model platform like LumiChats gives you Amazon Nova Pro, Microsoft Phi-4 and 40+ others under one ₹69/day pass (about $1/day), so you can draft with one and cross-check with the other instead of buying two subscriptions.
Which is newer, Amazon Nova Pro or Microsoft Phi-4?
Microsoft Phi-4 — released January 10, 2025, about 36 days after Amazon Nova Pro.
Amazon Nova Pro vs Microsoft Phi-4
Amazon · US | Microsoft · US · Updated June 2026
Quick verdict
Pick Amazon Nova Pro for multimodal input across text, image and video at $0.80/$3.20 or deep aws and bedrock integration for enterprise pipelines. Pick Microsoft Phi-4 for strong reasoning for a small 14b open-weight model or mit-licensed — fully self-hostable at no per-token cost. Choose Microsoft Phi-4 if you need self-hosting or data privacy; Amazon Nova Pro if you want a managed API.
Amazon Nova Pro (Amazon) and Microsoft Phi-4 (Microsoft) are two of the models people most often weigh against each other in 2026. Amazon Nova Pro is amazon's multimodal Bedrock model at $0.80/$3.20 with a 300K window — an enterprise-integrated generalist, not a frontier model. Microsoft Phi-4 is microsoft's MIT-licensed 14B open model — strong reasoning for its size and very cheap, but a tiny 16K context and text-only. They diverge most on price, context window and open vs. closed weights — each quantified below from the models' real specs.
Key differences at a glance
▸Price: Microsoft Phi-4 is about 11× cheaper on input ($0.07/$0.14 per 1M tokens vs $0.8/$3.2 per 1M tokens) — a large enough gap that at scale it can be the single biggest line item in the decision.
▸Context window: Amazon Nova Pro holds 18× more — 300K (~450 pages) vs 16K (~25 pages). But effective recall usually fades long before the advertised ceiling, so the bigger number only helps if the model reasons over it.
▸Recency: Microsoft Phi-4 is the newer model by about 36 days (released January 10, 2025), usually meaning fresher training data and capabilities.
Side-by-side specs
Spec
Amazon Nova Pro
Microsoft Phi-4
Provider
Amazon (US)
Microsoft (US)
Released
December 5, 2024
January 10, 2025
Context window
300K (~450 pages)
16K (~25 pages)
Price (in/out)
$0.8/$3.2 per 1M tokens
$0.07/$0.14 per 1M tokens
Open weight?
No — API only
Yes — self-hostable
Modalities
text, image, video, code
text, code
SWE-Bench Verified
Not published
Not published
MRCR v2 @ 1M
Not published
Not published
Who wins what
Multimodal input across text, image and video at $0.80/$3.20
Amazon Nova Pro
Microsoft Phi-4 is comparatively weak here — text only — no image, audio or video input
Deep AWS and Bedrock integration for enterprise pipelines
Amazon Nova Pro
Amazon's multimodal Bedrock model at $0.80/$3.20 with a 300K window — an enterprise-integrated generalist, not a frontier model — and it carries the larger 300K context.
Balanced cost-to-capability for general business tasks
Amazon Nova Pro
Microsoft Phi-4 is comparatively weak here — an early-2025 small model, outclassed on hard tasks by 2026 flagships
Strong reasoning for a small 14B open-weight model
Microsoft Phi-4
Open weights make this possible at all — Amazon Nova Pro is API-only, so it cannot leave the vendor's servers.
MIT-licensed — fully self-hostable at no per-token cost
Microsoft Phi-4
At $0.07/$0.14 per 1M tokens it undercuts Amazon Nova Pro ($0.8/$3.2 per 1M tokens), and that gap compounds at volume.
Runs on modest or local hardware
Microsoft Phi-4
Microsoft's MIT-licensed 14B open model — strong reasoning for its size and very cheap, but a tiny 16K context and text-only — and it runs cheaper at $0.07/$0.14 per 1M tokens.
Lowest cost at scale
Microsoft Phi-4
At $0.07/$0.14 per 1M tokens, it is the cheaper of the two — the gap dominates the bill on high-volume workloads.
Largest single-prompt input
Amazon Nova Pro
Its 300K window is about 18× larger than Microsoft Phi-4's 16K, fitting roughly 450 pages in one prompt.
Which should you pick?
A cost-sensitive startup shipping high volume
→ Microsoft Phi-4
At $0.07/$0.14 per 1M tokens it undercuts Amazon Nova Pro, and on millions of tokens that margin decides the monthly bill.
Someone analysing very long documents or codebases
→ Amazon Nova Pro
Larger 300K window fits more in one prompt.
A team with data-privacy or self-hosting needs
→ Microsoft Phi-4
Open weights let you run it on your own hardware; Amazon Nova Pro is API-only.
Anyone whose priority is multimodal input across text, image and video at $0.80/$3.20
→ Amazon Nova Pro
It is specifically built for that.
Anyone whose priority is strong reasoning for a small 14b open-weight model
→ Microsoft Phi-4
That is its strongest area.
Amazon Nova Pro: where it fits
Amazon's multimodal Bedrock model at $0.80/$3.20 with a 300K window — an enterprise-integrated generalist, not a frontier model. Released December 5, 2024 by Amazon, it is built for multimodal input across text, image and video at $0.80/$3.20, deep AWS and Bedrock integration for enterprise pipelines, balanced cost-to-capability for general business tasks, and a 300K context for long documents and mixed media.
Its trade-offs are real: not a frontier reasoning or coding model against 2026 flagships, no published SWE-Bench Verified score, best value is realised inside the AWS ecosystem, and late-2024 model — older than most of the field here. At $0.8 in / $3.2 out per million tokens, it sits in the budget price band.
Microsoft Phi-4: where it fits
Microsoft's MIT-licensed 14B open model — strong reasoning for its size and very cheap, but a tiny 16K context and text-only. Released January 10, 2025 by Microsoft, it is built for strong reasoning for a small 14B open-weight model, mIT-licensed — fully self-hostable at no per-token cost, runs on modest or local hardware, and very cheap hosted inference at about $0.07/$0.14.
Its trade-offs: a tiny 16K context — by far the smallest window in this comparison, text only — no image, audio or video input, an early-2025 small model, outclassed on hard tasks by 2026 flagships, and no first-party per-token API; hosted prices are third-party. At $0.07 in / $0.14 out per million tokens, it sits in the budget price band.
The bottom line for this matchup
The defining split here is open vs. closed. Microsoft Phi-4 gives you weights you control — self-host it, fine-tune it, keep data in-house, pay only for hardware. Amazon Nova Pro gives you a managed, always-updated API with no infrastructure to run. Teams with GPUs, privacy requirements, or huge volume often favour the open model; teams that want zero ops and the latest capabilities favour the closed one. Capability is close enough that this operational question, not the benchmark, usually decides it.
Want both Amazon Nova Pro and Microsoft Phi-4 without two subscriptions? LumiChats gives you these plus 40+ models under one ₹69/day pass (about $1/day) — draft with one, cross-check with the other.
Is Amazon Nova Pro or Microsoft Phi-4 better for coding?
Public SWE-Bench figures are not available for either model, so the honest test is your own repository — run an identical real bug through both. By design, Amazon Nova Pro leans toward multimodal input across text, image and video at $0.80/$3.20 while Microsoft Phi-4 leans toward strong reasoning for a small 14b open-weight model, and that positioning usually predicts which feels better on your codebase.
Which is cheaper, Amazon Nova Pro or Microsoft Phi-4?
Microsoft Phi-4 is open-weight, so self-hosting means no per-token fee (you pay for hardware instead), while Amazon Nova Pro is API-metered at $0.8/$3.2 per 1M tokens. For most teams without GPUs, the API model is cheaper to start; at very high volume, self-hosting can win.
Which has the bigger context window?
Amazon Nova Pro — 300K vs 16K, about 18× larger. Useful only if the model actually reasons over the full window, which not all do.
Can I use both Amazon Nova Pro and Microsoft Phi-4 together?
Yes — a multi-model platform like LumiChats gives you Amazon Nova Pro, Microsoft Phi-4 and 40+ others under one ₹69/day pass (about $1/day), so you can draft with one and cross-check with the other instead of buying two subscriptions.
Which is newer, Amazon Nova Pro or Microsoft Phi-4?
Microsoft Phi-4 — released January 10, 2025, about 36 days after Amazon Nova Pro.
Specifications and benchmarks reflect publicly reported figures as of June 2026 and may change as providers release updates. Always verify on your own workload.