Continue is an open-source IDE extension focused on local LLM integration with privacy, while Tabnine is a commercial AI code completion platform using proprietary models with stronger enterprise support and faster inference speeds.
Continue vs Tabnine — Side-by-side comparison on A Versus B
Open-source AI code completion IDE extension with local and remote model support
Enterprise-focused AI code completion supporting 22+ languages with flexible deployment options.
Deployment Model. Pricing Model. LLM Support. Average Code Completion Speed. Enterprise SSO Support. IDE Coverage. Data Privacy (Code Handling)
Choose Continue if you prioritize privacy, want free access, and can tolerate slightly slower completions with local LLM processing. Choose Tabnine if you need enterprise-grade deployment, faster inference speeds, team collaboration features, and don't have strict data residency requirements.
Continue: 10-20 (API key + config required) | Tabnine: N/A
Continue: Unlimited with local models | Tabnine: N/A
Continue: 200-500ms average | Tabnine: N/A
Continue: Up to 100,000+ tokens | Tabnine: 2,048 tokens
Continue: VS Code, JetBrains suite, Vim, Neovim (4 major platforms) | Tabnine: N/A
Continue: Free (optional donations for commercial use) | Tabnine: N/A
Continue: 50+ (with LLM-dependent support) | Tabnine: 20+ languages
Continue: $0 (self-hosted) | Tabnine: N/A
Continue: Claude, GPT-4, Llama, Mistral, local | Tabnine: N/A
Continue: Local (on-device) | Tabnine: Cloud (with self-hosted option)
Continue: Unlimited (depends on API usage) | Tabnine: Unlimited
Continue: Full JSON config (prompts, model params, shortcuts) | Tabnine: N/A
Continue: Free (+ API costs) | Tabnine: $15
Continue: 5+ (Claude, GPT-4, Llama 2, custom, local) | Tabnine: N/A
Continue: VS Code, IntelliJ, PyCharm, CLion, Rider, WebStorm | Tabnine: N/A
Continue: 6+ (Claude, GPT-4, Ollama, local) | Tabnine: N/A
Continue: 5+ (VS Code, JetBrains, Vim) | Tabnine: N/A
Continue: 8000-200000 (model-dependent) | Tabnine: N/A
Continue: Yes (Ollama, LLaMA) | Tabnine: N/A
Continue: Yes (full local support) | Tabnine: N/A
Continue: ~0.05 million (2025 estimate) | Tabnine: N/A
Continue: No (community-driven) | Tabnine: N/A
Continue: Optional (local or cloud) | Tabnine: N/A
Continue: Yes (default) | Tabnine: Yes (optional)
Continue: Full open-source (Apache 2.0) | Tabnine: Proprietary closed-source
Continue: 2-5 sec (Claude/GPT-4) | Tabnine: N/A
Continue: $50-150 for power users | Tabnine: N/A
Continue: 10+ providers supported | Tabnine: N/A
Continue: Required for cloud models | Tabnine: N/A
Continue: 2-4 GB (extension only) | Tabnine: N/A
Continue: Native VS Code extension | Tabnine: N/A
Continue: Depends on provider, some cloud processing | Tabnine: N/A
Continue: 15-30 minutes (model download + config) | Tabnine: N/A
Continue: 5-15 seconds (hardware-dependent) | Tabnine: N/A
Continue: 4 major platforms (VS Code, JetBrains, Vim, Neovim) | Tabnine: N/A
Continue: Unlimited (fully free and open-source) | Tabnine: N/A
Continue: $0 (open-source) or hosted option available | Tabnine: $12/month
Continue: Local-only, zero cloud transmission | Tabnine: N/A
Continue: Yes (GitHub public repository) | Tabnine: N/A
Continue: 200,000 | Tabnine: 30,000 tokens
Continue: Varies by provider | Tabnine: N/A
Continue: Free + $20 Pro | Tabnine: Free + $15 Pro
Continue: 3 major editors (VS Code, JetBrains, Vim) | Tabnine: N/A
Continue: 15+ providers including premium APIs | Tabnine: N/A
Continue: 2 minutes (IDE extension) | Tabnine: N/A
Privacy Level (0=cloud-only, 100=fully local)
Continue: 80 (optional local via Ollama backend) | Tabnine: N/A
Continue: Comprehensive with config examples | Tabnine: N/A
Continue: $0 (free + optional API costs) | Tabnine: N/A
Continue: Fully local option available | Tabnine: N/A
Continue: Free | Tabnine: $15 (Professional)
Continue: 1 (VS Code) | Tabnine: 15+ IDEs
Continue: 4+ (Claude, Llama, GPT-4, Mistral) | Tabnine: 2 (Tabnine + OpenAI)
Continue: High (manual LLM configuration required) | Tabnine: Low (install and use immediately)
Continue: Depends on LLM vendor (Claude, OpenAI, Google store data per ToS) | Tabnine: N/A
Continue: 120-200 (with cloud LLMs like Claude) | Tabnine: N/A
Continue: GPT-4, Claude 3, Gemini, custom servers | Tabnine: N/A
Continue: 15-30 (with model download) | Tabnine: N/A
Continue: Full offline with local models | Tabnine: N/A
Continue: Free (open-source) | Tabnine: N/A
Continue: Self-hosted (variable) | Tabnine: N/A
Continue: 4 major (VS Code, JetBrains, Vim, Neovim) | Tabnine: N/A
Continue: No data transmission with local setup | Tabnine: N/A
Continue: 8+ (Claude, GPT-4, Llama, Mistral, local models) | Tabnine: N/A
Continue: ~50-100 (estimated) | Tabnine: N/A
Continue: N/A | Tabnine: Limited (Pro required for unlimited)
Continue: N/A | Tabnine: 30+ integrations
Continue: N/A | Tabnine: SOC 2, HIPAA, GDPR, ISO 27001
Continue: N/A | Tabnine: Enterprise tier only
Continue: N/A | Tabnine: Full offline support
Continue: N/A | Tabnine: Yes (limited completions)
Continue: N/A | Tabnine: Yes, full offline support
Continue: N/A | Tabnine: 7+ years in production
Continue: N/A | Tabnine: Yes (hybrid mode)
Continue: N/A | Tabnine: Basic AWS SDK suggestions
Continue: N/A | Tabnine: 6 GB (locally downloadable)
Continue: N/A | Tabnine: Yes (Enterprise plan)
Continue: N/A | Tabnine: 20+ (includes Vim, Emacs, Sublime Text)
Continue: N/A | Tabnine: Available (on-device models)
Continue: N/A | Tabnine: Free (unlimited)
Continue: N/A | Tabnine: 3 (Cloud, VPC, On-premise)
Continue: N/A | Tabnine: Yes - fine-tuning on private repos
Continue: N/A | Tabnine: Available (Pro/Enterprise)
Continue: N/A | Tabnine: Limited to single files
Continue: N/A | Tabnine: Yes (enterprise option)
Continue: N/A | Tabnine: Yes (Pro+ plans)
Continue: N/A | Tabnine: Yes (local mode available)
How to choose between Continue and Tabnine
Continue vs Tabnine — Structured Comparison Data
Machine-readable comparison dataset for Continue vs Tabnine. Contains 143 attribute comparisons, 5 FAQ pairs.
Continue vs Tabnine — Attribute Category Vocabulary
Taxonomy of attribute categories used to classify comparison data for Continue vs Tabnine.
Yes, Continue is open-source under Apache 2.0 license with no cost. However, you may need to host your own LLM server or use a free API provider like Ollama. Some optional cloud features have minimal costs, but the core extension is entirely free.
Does Continue send my code to external servers?
No, by default Continue processes all code locally on your machine when using self-hosted models like Llama 2 or Mistral. You have complete control over data handling. You can optionally connect to cloud APIs, but this is optional and configurable.
Tabnine uses proprietary models trained on open-source code, with optional integration of GPT-4 and other third-party models. The exact training data composition is not publicly disclosed. Enterprise customers can use on-premise models.
Continue supports team usage through shared configuration files and GitHub sync, but lacks built-in team management features. Tabnine offers team dashboards, usage analytics, and permission controls, making it better suited for enterprise deployments.
What's the minimum GPU requirement for Continue?
Continue works with models from 3B to 70B parameters. A 7B model runs on 6GB VRAM (RTX 3060), while 13B needs 10GB (RTX 4060 Ti). CPU-only inference is possible but will be significantly slower (5-10x). Tabnine has no local hardware requirements as it's cloud-based.
How to Choose Between Continue and Tabnine
Deployment Model: Continue has Local/Self-hosted + Cloud, while Tabnine has Cloud-based SaaS.
Pricing Model: Continue has Free (open-source), while Tabnine has $25-40/month (Pro tier).
LLM Support: Continue has Multiple open-source models (Llama 2, Mistral, CodeStral), while Tabnine has Proprietary + GPT-4 integration.
Average Code Completion Speed: Continue has 800-1200ms (local), while Tabnine has 150-300ms (cloud).
Enterprise SSO Support: Continue has No native support, while Tabnine has SAML 2.0 + SCIM provisioning.
IDE Coverage: Continue has VSCode, JetBrains IDEs, Vim, while Tabnine has VSCode, JetBrains, Visual Studio, Sublime.
Data Privacy (Code Handling): Continue has Optional local processing, no code stored, while Tabnine has Optional on-premise, encrypted cloud default.