As AI developer tools continue to transform how we write and review code, Cursor and Tabnine stand out as two powerful AI-driven solutions.
While both provide AI-powered code completion and assistance, their approaches differ—Cursor functions as a full-featured AI-enhanced code editor, whereas Tabnine specializes in flexible AI-powered completions that integrate seamlessly into existing IDEs.
But writing code efficiently is just one part of the equation—maintaining high-quality code is equally crucial. If you're looking for an AI-powered code review tool, Greptile provides automated AI code reviews to catch issues, enforce best practices, and improve long-term maintainability.
This comparison will highlight the key differences, helping you choose the best AI-powered coding tool for your workflow.
🔍 Feature Comparison
⚡ Code Completion
Cursor
Cursor offers intelligent code suggestions, supporting full-line and multi-line completions. It can modify existing code, adapt to recent changes, and highlight linter errors. Cursor also enables partial acceptance of suggestions, allowing developers to refine AI-generated code seamlessly.
Tabnine
Tabnine provides whole-line and full-function completions, adapting to coding style over time. It includes comment-to-code completions and partial acceptance features, making it useful for developers who want a lightweight AI coding assistant integrated into their preferred IDE.
💬 AI Chat Capabilities
Cursor
Cursor integrates AI chat directly into the editor, allowing for context-aware discussions, real-time code explanations, and multi-model support. It automatically includes relevant file context and preserves chat history, enhancing usability for long-term projects.
Tabnine
Tabnine Chat offers in-IDE AI coding assistance, with support for interactive conversations, code review insights, and documentation lookups. While focused primarily on immediate code-related queries, it helps developers quickly understand and refine their code.
🔍 Context Awareness
Cursor
Cursor automatically indexes codebases for improved AI understanding, using embeddings-based search for accurate references. It allows developers to configure indexing rules via .cursorignore, ensuring relevant project files are processed while maintaining privacy.
Tabnine
Tabnine personalizes completions based on coding patterns, recognizing team-wide conventions and enabling custom fine-tuning for more accurate suggestions. It continuously improves recommendations as developers interact with the tool.
🔒 Privacy & Security
Cursor
Cursor includes an optional Privacy Mode that prevents AI models from storing code. It processes sensitive data locally and ensures that plaintext code is never permanently saved.
Tabnine
Tabnine maintains strict security protocols with end-to-end encryption and does not share code with third parties. It supports local AI processing and offers private installation options for enterprise users who need enhanced control over their development environment.
💰 Pricing
Cursor
- Hobby – Free, includes 2,000 completions per month.
- Pro – $20/month, unlimited completions, fast premium requests.
- Business – $40/user/month, privacy mode, centralized billing, SAML/OIDC SSO.
Tabnine
- Dev – $9/month, AI-powered completions, Jira integration, enterprise-grade security.
- Enterprise – $39/user/month, private installation, infrastructure control, enhanced security.
🏆 Verdict: Cursor or Tabnine?
Cursor and Tabnine cater to different developer needs:
- Cursor is a full-featured AI-enhanced editor, making it ideal for those seeking an all-in-one development environment with deep AI integration.
- Tabnine is a lightweight, IDE-friendly code completion tool, offering adaptable AI assistance while allowing developers to stay within their preferred workflow.
Regardless of which AI coding assistant you use, maintaining code quality is essential. If you're looking for a way to automate code reviews, Greptile’s AI code review tool ensures better security, maintainability, and accuracy for your projects.