Phi-4 vs SD 3.5 Medium

Compare Phi-4 and SD 3.5 Medium: pricing, performance, context window, latency, and best use cases. Side-by-side comparison on XALEN.

Updated 2026-05-21 · By Abhishek Raj · Our methodology

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Feature Phi-4 SD 3.5 Medium
CategoryCompactImage
Parameters14B2.5B
Context Window16KN/A
Input Price$0.01/1M tokens$0.003/image/1M tokens
Output Price$0.02/1M tokensN/A/1M tokens
Latency~100ms~2s

Choose Phi-4 when:

  • ✓ Edge deployments
  • ✓ Cost-sensitive apps
  • ✓ Classification
Key Strengths:

Very compact, Strong reasoning for size, Extremely low cost

Choose SD 3.5 Medium when:

  • ✓ General imagery
  • ✓ Batch generation
  • ✓ Prototyping
Key Strengths:

Good quality, Fast, Open weights

Verdict: Phi-4 vs SD 3.5 Medium

For cost efficiency, SD 3.5 Medium wins at $0.003/image/1M input tokens. For speed, Phi-4 is faster at ~100ms. Phi-4 excels at Edge deployments while SD 3.5 Medium is better for General imagery. Both are available on XALEN through a single API — try them in the Playground to see which fits your workload.

Detailed Analysis

Pricing Comparison

Phi-4 costs $0.01/1M input tokens and $0.02/1M output tokens. SD 3.5 Medium costs $0.003/image input and N/A output. SD 3.5 Medium is 3.3x cheaper on input tokens. XALEN offers batch processing at 50% discount on both models.

Performance & Context

Phi-4 has a 16K context window with ~100ms latency. SD 3.5 Medium offers N/A context at ~2s. Phi-4 has the larger context window.

Best For

Phi-4 (Compact) is optimized for: Edge deployments, Cost-sensitive apps, Classification. SD 3.5 Medium (Image) works best for: General imagery, Batch generation, Prototyping.

Try Both on XALEN

Both models are available through XALEN's OpenAI-compatible API. Switch between them by changing the model parameter:

from xalen import XALEN

client = XALEN(api_key="xln_test_YOUR_KEY")

# Use Phi-4
response_a = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="phi-4",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Your question here"}]
)

# Use SD 3.5 Medium
response_b = client.chat.completions.create(
    model="stable-diffusion-3-5-medium",
    messages=[{"role": "user", "content": "Your question here"}]
)

Start Building with XALEN

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Get API Key Try in Playground

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is better, Phi-4 or SD 3.5 Medium?

Phi-4 (Compact, 14B) offers Very compact. SD 3.5 Medium (Image, 2.5B) offers Good quality. Choose Phi-4 for Edge deployments or SD 3.5 Medium for General imagery.

How much does Phi-4 cost vs SD 3.5 Medium?

Phi-4: $0.01/1M input, $0.02/1M output. SD 3.5 Medium: $0.003/image/1M input, N/A/1M output. Both available on XALEN with batch processing at 50% discount.

Can I use both models on XALEN?

Yes. XALEN provides 200+ models through a single OpenAI-compatible API. Switch between Phi-4 and SD 3.5 Medium by changing the model parameter. No code changes needed.

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Last updated: 2026-05-21. Pricing and specifications may change. Check pricing page for latest rates.