Abstract We use PHANGS–James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) data to identify and classify 1271 compact 21 μm sources in four nearby galaxies using MIRI F2100W data. We identify sources using a dendrogram-based algorithm, and we measure the background-subtracted flux densities for JWST bands from 2 to 21 μm. Using the spectral energy distribution (SED) in JWST and HST bands plus ALMA and MUSE/VLT observations, we classify the sources by eye. Then we use this classification to define regions in color–color space and so establish a quantitative framework for classifying sources. We identify 1085 sources as belonging to the ISM of the target galaxies with the remainder being dusty stars or background galaxies. These 21 μm sources are strongly spatially associated with H ii regions (>92% of sources), while 74% of the sources are coincident with a stellar association defined in the HST data. Using SED fitting, we find that the stellar masses of the 21 μm sources span a range of 10²–10⁴ M _⊙ with mass-weighted ages down to 2 Myr. There is a tight correlation between attenuation-corrected Hα and 21 μm luminosity for L _ν,F2100W > 10¹⁹ W Hz⁻¹. Young embedded source candidates selected at 21 μm are found below this threshold and have M _⋆ < 10³ M _⊙.