How do I get started with Microsoft Phi?

Visit Microsoft's Phi project page (microsoft.com/research/project/phi) or aka.ms/phi for documentation. Download model weights from Hugging Face (huggingface.co/microsoft) or GitHub (github.com/microsoft/phi-msft). For API access, use Azure OpenAI S...

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LLMS • CURATED • UPDATED DEC 27, 2025

Microsoft Phi

Q: Is Microsoft Phi free?

Yes, Microsoft Phi is completely free to use with no paid tiers or limitations.

Q: What can I do with Microsoft Phi?

Microsoft Phi is designed for Edge devices, Mobile applications, Cost-effective deployments. Microsoft Phi is a family of small, efficient language models designed for high performance with minimal parameters. Key strengths include Small model sizes with high performance and Strong reasoning capabilities (Phi-4-reasoning variants).

Q: Does Microsoft Phi have an API?

Yes, Microsoft Phi offers an API for developers. API documentation and endpoints are available at https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/products/ai-services/openai-service. The API is a core platform feature, enabling programmatic access to Microsoft Phi's capabilities.

Q: Does Microsoft Phi have an API?

Yes, Microsoft Phi offers an API for developers. API documentation is available at https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/products/ai-services/openai-service.

Microsoft's efficient small language models

Microsoft Phi is a family of small, efficient language models designed for high performance with minimal parameters. Available models include Phi-1, Phi-2 (December 2023, 2.7B parameters), Phi-3 (April 2024), Phi-3.5, and Phi-4 (2025, 14B parameters) with variants: Phi-4-base, Phi-4-reasoning, Phi-4-reasoning-plus, and Phi-4-mini. Marketed as 'small language models' specializing in complex reasoning tasks. Optimized for reasoning tasks, code generation, and efficient inference. Released under MIT license for unrestricted use and modification. Available through Azure OpenAI Service, Hugging Face, and open-source model weights. Designed for edge devices, mobile applications, and cost-effective deployments.

QUICK TIPS

1 Use Phi-4-reasoning for complex reasoning tasks

2 Leverage small model sizes for edge device deployment

3 Take advantage of MIT license for commercial use

4 Optimize for your specific hardware constraints

5 Use Azure OpenAI Service for managed API access

SIMILAR TOOLS

ChatGPT Claude Gemini Grok DeepSeek

USE CASE EXAMPLES

Edge Device Deployment

Deploy Phi models on edge devices, mobile phones, or embedded systems for local AI capabilities.

STEPS:

Download appropriate Phi model size for your device
Convert to optimized format (ONNX, CoreML)
Deploy on target device with minimal resources
Integrate into your application

Reasoning Tasks

Use Phi-4-reasoning or Phi-4-reasoning-plus for complex reasoning and problem-solving tasks.

STEPS:

Select Phi-4-reasoning variant for your use case
Provide detailed problem descriptions
Leverage reasoning capabilities for step-by-step solutions
Review and validate reasoning chains

PRICING

Free Completely free

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Is Microsoft Phi free?

Yes, it's completely free to use with no subscription required.

What can I do with Microsoft Phi?

You can use Microsoft Phi for edge devices, mobile applications, cost-effective deployments. Microsoft Phi is a family of small, efficient language models designed for high performance with minimal parameters. Available models include Phi-1, P...

Does Microsoft Phi have an API?

Yes, it offers an API for developers. API documentation is available at https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/products/ai-services/openai-service.

How do I use Microsoft Phi?

Microsoft Phi is a large language model for text generation, analysis, and conversation. Use the API for programmatic access. Enter prompts or questions to get responses. It excels at small model sizes with high performance.

Is Microsoft Phi open source?

Yes, Microsoft Phi is open source. You can access the source code, contribute to development, and deploy it on your own infrastructure.