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Head-to-head comparison

Llama 3.1 SuperNova Lite vs Phi 3 medium 4k instruct

Llama 3.1 SuperNova Lite (Arcee AI) and Phi 3 medium 4k instruct (Microsoft) compared on the ModelCap Index, API price, context window, provider availability, weight access and every public benchmark board they share. Figures are the same ones shown on the live rankings; nothing here is a hidden score.

Snapshot as of 23 September 2026

As of 23 September 2026, Phi 3 medium 4k instruct holds the stronger ModelCap Index position (#240 vs #241); and Phi 3 medium 4k instruct ships open weights.

Which should you choose?

Choose Llama 3.1 SuperNova Lite if…

  • you want the more recently listed model — Llama 3.1 SuperNova Lite was listed 10 September 2024, Phi 3 medium 4k instruct 7 May 2024.

Choose Phi 3 medium 4k instruct if…

  • you want the stronger overall ModelCap Index position — #240 against #241 (9.2 vs 9.2 points).
  • you want to self-host: Phi 3 medium 4k instruct ships open weights while Llama 3.1 SuperNova Lite is restricted license.

Llama 3.1 SuperNova Lite vs Phi 3 medium 4k instruct: specs, pricing and context

Specification comparison of Llama 3.1 SuperNova Lite and Phi 3 medium 4k instruct
FieldLlama 3.1 SuperNova LiteArcee AIPhi 3 medium 4k instructMicrosoft
ModelCap Index position#241#240
Index score9.29.2
EvidenceInheritedMeasured
Input price / 1M tokensUnlistedUnlisted
Output price / 1M tokensUnlistedUnlisted
Context window— tokens— tokens
Max output tokens——
API providers listed00
Weight accessRestricted licenseOpen weights
Input modalitiesTextText
First listed10 September 20247 May 2024
PublisherArcee AIMicrosoft

Evidence: base of meta-llama/llama-3.1-8b-instruct · base (100%) · 2 public benchmark observations across 2 boards. Prices are the lowest listed API offer per million tokens observed on the OpenRouter catalogue.

Benchmark scores: Llama 3.1 SuperNova Lite vs Phi 3 medium 4k instruct

Public benchmark boards where Llama 3.1 SuperNova Lite or Phi 3 medium 4k instruct has a published result
BoardLlama 3.1 SuperNova LitePhi 3 medium 4k instructLeads
Arena codingArena (LMArena)—12311221–1242Only one result

Scores are the sources' own published figures for each model's best evaluated configuration; ModelCap never re-runs a benchmark.

Want a different pairing? Open the interactive comparison tool to swap either model for any current ranked language model.

Llama 3.1 SuperNova Lite vs Phi 3 medium 4k instruct: common questions

Is Llama 3.1 SuperNova Lite better than Phi 3 medium 4k instruct?

Phi 3 medium 4k instruct ranks higher on the ModelCap Index as of 23 September 2026: #240 against #241. That is a capability ranking built from public benchmark evidence with published uncertainty; whether it is "better" for you also depends on price, context and where you can run it. Their published uncertainty intervals overlap, so the rank difference alone does not establish a reliable capability advantage for your workload.

Is Llama 3.1 SuperNova Lite cheaper than Phi 3 medium 4k instruct?

At least one of the two has no listed API price on ModelCap right now, so no price comparison is made.

Which has the bigger context window, Llama 3.1 SuperNova Lite or Phi 3 medium 4k instruct?

Both publish a —-token context window.

Which is better for coding, Llama 3.1 SuperNova Lite or Phi 3 medium 4k instruct?

The two models do not share a coding benchmark board on ModelCap yet, so no head-to-head coding score is published; the ModelCap Index position is the closest overall signal.

Are Llama 3.1 SuperNova Lite and Phi 3 medium 4k instruct open-weight models?

Llama 3.1 SuperNova Lite: Restricted license. Phi 3 medium 4k instruct: Open weights. Open weights mean the checkpoint can be downloaded and self-hosted under its licence; API-only models are available solely through hosted endpoints.

Where can I run Llama 3.1 SuperNova Lite and Phi 3 medium 4k instruct?

ModelCap currently lists 0 API providers for Llama 3.1 SuperNova Lite and 0 for Phi 3 medium 4k instruct, from the OpenRouter catalogue snapshot the site serves; each model page lists the providers and their prices.

How current is this Llama 3.1 SuperNova Lite vs Phi 3 medium 4k instruct comparison?

Every figure comes from the sealed ModelCap dataset published 23 September 2026; the page re-renders within a minute of each data refresh, and the ModelCap Index positions are the same ones shown on the live rankings.

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