LongCat-2.5 vs Microsoft Phi-4
Meituan · China | Microsoft · US · Updated June 2026
Quick verdict
Pick LongCat-2.5 for native multimodal upgrade to longcat-2.0 - 1.6t total parameters, about 48b active per token or limited-time api price of $0.30/$1.20 per million tokens (cached input $0.006). 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; LongCat-2.5 if you want a managed API.
LongCat-2.5 (Meituan, China) and Microsoft Phi-4 (Microsoft, US) line up two different AI ecosystems against each other — a comparison that is as much about cost philosophy and openness as raw capability. LongCat-2.5 is meituan's November 2, 2026 natively multimodal successor to LongCat-2.0 - 1.6T parameters and 1M context at $0.30/$1.20, with open weights planned but undated. 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 4.3× cheaper on input ($0.07/$0.14 per 1M tokens vs $0.3/$1.2 per 1M tokens) — meaningful once you are processing millions of tokens a month.
- ▸Context window: LongCat-2.5 holds 61× more — 1M tokens (~1,500 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: LongCat-2.5 is the newer model by about 22 months (released November 2, 2026), usually meaning fresher training data and capabilities.
- ▸Ecosystem: this is a China-vs-US matchup — they differ in pricing philosophy, data-residency options, and tooling ecosystems, not only benchmarks.
Side-by-side specs
| Spec | LongCat-2.5 | Microsoft Phi-4 |
|---|---|---|
| Provider | Meituan (China) | Microsoft (US) |
| Released | November 2, 2026 | January 10, 2025 |
| Context window | 1M tokens (~1,500 pages) | 16K (~25 pages) |
| Price (in/out) | $0.3/$1.2 per 1M tokens | $0.07/$0.14 per 1M tokens |
| Open weight? | No — API only | Yes — self-hostable |
| Modalities | text, image, code | text, code |
| SWE-Bench Verified | Not published | Not published |
| MRCR v2 @ 1M | Not published | Not published |
Who wins what
Native multimodal upgrade to LongCat-2.0 - 1.6T total parameters, about 48B active per token
LongCat-2.5
Its 1M tokens window holds about 61× more than Microsoft Phi-4's 16K in a single prompt.
Limited-time API price of $0.30/$1.20 per million tokens (cached input $0.006)
LongCat-2.5
Microsoft Phi-4 is comparatively weak here — text only — no image, audio or video input
Meituan-reported Terminal-Bench v2.1 of 88.4, up from 70.8 for LongCat-2.0
LongCat-2.5
Meituan's November 2, 2026 natively multimodal successor to LongCat-2.0 - 1.6T parameters and 1M context at $0.30/$1.20, with open weights planned but undated — and it carries the larger 1M tokens context.
Strong reasoning for a small 14B open-weight model
Microsoft Phi-4
Open weights make this possible at all — LongCat-2.5 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 LongCat-2.5 ($0.3/$1.2 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
LongCat-2.5
Its 1M tokens window is about 61× larger than Microsoft Phi-4's 16K, fitting roughly 1,500 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 LongCat-2.5, and on millions of tokens that margin decides the monthly bill.
Someone analysing very long documents or codebases
→ LongCat-2.5
Larger 1M tokens 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; LongCat-2.5 is API-only.
Anyone whose priority is native multimodal upgrade to longcat-2.0 - 1.6t total parameters, about 48b active per token
→ LongCat-2.5
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.
An enterprise with regional data-residency rules
→ Microsoft Phi-4 or LongCat-2.5
Origin (China vs US) affects where data is processed and which compliance regime applies — check the provider's terms for your region.
LongCat-2.5: where it fits
Meituan's November 2, 2026 natively multimodal successor to LongCat-2.0 - 1.6T parameters and 1M context at $0.30/$1.20, with open weights planned but undated. Released November 2, 2026 by Meituan, it is built for native multimodal upgrade to LongCat-2.0 - 1.6T total parameters, about 48B active per token, limited-time API price of $0.30/$1.20 per million tokens (cached input $0.006), meituan-reported Terminal-Bench v2.1 of 88.4, up from 70.8 for LongCat-2.0, and openAI- and Anthropic-compatible API endpoints with a 1M-token context window.
Its trade-offs are real: aPI-only for now - GitHub and Hugging Face releases are planned but undated, and the license is unconfirmed (LongCat-2.0 is MIT), the $0.30/$1.20 rate is labeled limited-time, and Meituan says prices are subject to change, and benchmarks are Meituan's own, and sources found no independent score at launch. At $0.3 in / $1.2 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. LongCat-2.5 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 LongCat-2.5 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.
See pricingFrequently asked questions
Is LongCat-2.5 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, LongCat-2.5 leans toward native multimodal upgrade to longcat-2.0 - 1.6t total parameters, about 48b active per token 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, LongCat-2.5 or Microsoft Phi-4?
Microsoft Phi-4 is open-weight, so self-hosting means no per-token fee (you pay for hardware instead), while LongCat-2.5 is API-metered at $0.3/$1.2 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?
LongCat-2.5 — 1M tokens vs 16K, about 61× larger. Useful only if the model actually reasons over the full window, which not all do.
Can I use both LongCat-2.5 and Microsoft Phi-4 together?
Yes — a multi-model platform like LumiChats gives you LongCat-2.5, 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, LongCat-2.5 or Microsoft Phi-4?
LongCat-2.5 — released November 2, 2026, about 22 months after Microsoft Phi-4.
Related comparisons
Specifications and benchmarks reflect publicly reported figures as of June 2026 and may change as providers release updates. Always verify on your own workload.