Tabnine is a general-purpose AI code completion tool available across multiple editors, while Cursor is a dedicated IDE built on VSCode that integrates AI assistance natively with advanced features like AI-powered refactoring and debugging. Cursor offers deeper IDE integration but requires switching editors, whereas Tabnine works as a plugin in your existing setup.
Tabnine vs Cursor — Side-by-side comparison on A Versus B
AI code completion plugin supporting 25+ editors and IDEs with local and cloud options.
AI-native code editor IDE built on VS Code with Claude integration and agentic features.
Primary Architecture. Code Completion Accuracy. Supported Editors. AI-Assisted Debugging. Free Tier Completion Requests. Pricing (Pro Monthly). Context Window Size
Choose Tabnine if you want lightweight, multi-editor flexibility with unlimited free completions and prefer integrating AI into your existing development environment. Choose Cursor if you're willing to switch to a new IDE for superior code understanding, native debugging assistance, and a more cohesive AI-first development experience with deeper context awareness.
Tabnine: 14 | Cursor: 0 (paid from start)
Tabnine: 80-120ms | Cursor: 50-200ms (Tab autocomplete)
Tabnine: 15+ | Cursor: 1 (Cursor IDE only)
Tabnine: Proprietary closed-source | Cursor: N/A
Tabnine: Limited (Pro required for unlimited) | Cursor: 20 per month
Tabnine: 22 primary languages | Cursor: 50+
Tabnine: SOC 2, HIPAA, GDPR, ISO 27001 | Cursor: N/A
Tabnine: Enterprise tier only | Cursor: N/A
Tabnine: Full offline support | Cursor: Limited (chat requires internet)
Tabnine: Not supported | Cursor: Native support
Tabnine: 5-10 minutes | Cursor: Immediate
Tabnine: Yes (limited completions) | Cursor: 14-day free trial
Tabnine: Yes, full offline support | Cursor: N/A
Tabnine: 7+ years in production | Cursor: N/A
Tabnine: Yes (hybrid mode) | Cursor: N/A
Tabnine: Basic AWS SDK suggestions | Cursor: N/A
Tabnine: 6 GB (locally downloadable) | Cursor: N/A
Tabnine: Yes (Enterprise plan) | Cursor: N/A
Tabnine: 30,000 tokens | Cursor: 128,000 tokens
Tabnine: 20+ (includes Vim, Emacs, Sublime Text) | Cursor: 1 (VS Code)
Tabnine: Available (on-device models) | Cursor: N/A
Tabnine: 3 (Cloud, VPC, On-premise) | Cursor: N/A
Tabnine: Yes - fine-tuning on private repos | Cursor: N/A
Tabnine: 2,000 completions | Cursor: N/A
Tabnine: Available (Pro/Enterprise) | Cursor: N/A
Tabnine: 5+ (VS Code, JetBrains, Vim, VS, Sublime) | Cursor: N/A
Tabnine: 25+ editors | Cursor: VSCode only
Tabnine: Not available | Cursor: Built-in with error explanation
Tabnine: Limited to single files | Cursor: Full codebase refactoring across files
Tabnine: Yes (enterprise option) | Cursor: No (cloud-only with Claude)
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: VS Code-based only
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: Native & Superior
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: Not publicly disclosed
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: Significant but undisclosed
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: Proprietary Commercial
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: Cursor Pro $20/mo
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: Business $40/user/mo
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: Standalone editor — a fork of VS Code (install Cursor itself)
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: Anthropic Claude, OpenAI GPT, Google Gemini, plus Cursor fast models (per-request switching)
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: Composer (Agent) plan-execute-verify loop across many files; runs commands and tests
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: Whole-repo semantic embeddings with automatic relevant-file retrieval; built for monorepos
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: Very fast predictive Tab completions that jump to the next edit location
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: SSO, privacy mode (no retention/training), admin controls, SOC 2
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: Graphical IDE (VS Code fork)
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: Interactive in-editor coding
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: Flat plan with request quota + usage add-ons
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: Monthly fast-request quota
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: Multi-model (Claude, GPT, Gemini, etc.)
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: Not designed for it
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: Workspace indexing + @-mentions
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: Low (VS Code familiarity)
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: Interactive feature building & quick edits
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: Yes — free Hobby tier plus a 2-week Pro trial
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: Agent (formerly Composer)
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: Claude, GPT, Gemini families (frequent day-one additions)
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: Mature enterprise tier with SSO + privacy mode
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: macOS, Windows, Linux
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: Largest AI-IDE community and mindshare
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: 0 (paid tier required)
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: Claude 3.5 Sonnet (Superior)
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: Native @-indexing across entire codebase
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: Native Claude integration
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: Code sent to Anthropic servers
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: Desktop (Mac, Windows, Linux)
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: Claude 3.5 Sonnet, GPT-4, Others
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: ~500K (estimated based on download trends)
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: Entire projects (no hard limit)
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: 1.5 years (launched Oct 2024)
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: 500K (Claude 3.5 Sonnet)
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: ~50 (via Claude AI)
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: 50 premium requests
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: 70,000+ (VS Code)
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: 4+ (Claude, GPT-4, local)
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: Electron (VS Code fork)
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: Advanced (full workspace)
Primary AI Model Quality (MMBENCH score)
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: 1-2 steps (download IDE)
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: No (via extensions only)
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: 40,000+ (VS Code marketplace)
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: Code, text, file references
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: Native VS Code-based editor
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: 1–3 seconds (avg inline suggestion)
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: Automatic full-project indexing
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: No native mobile app
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: Varies by plan (Pro tier higher)
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: ~500KB+ codebase context
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: Claude 3.5 Sonnet + GPT-4
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: Full native support
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: 4+ (GPT-4o, Claude, Gemini, local)
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: Yes, full project indexing
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: 50 requests/month
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: 2 (VSCode + standalone)
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: 1 (Cursor IDE only)
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: Native (full project)
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: Advanced (cmd+k, Composer, auto-fix)
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: Claude 3.5 Sonnet (Anthropic)
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: 3-5 days (new IDE to learn)
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: Download .dmg/.exe (1-click installer)
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: Proprietary (not public)
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: 100,000 tokens/month (Claude only)
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: VS Code only (or Cursor standalone IDE)
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: Liveshare integration included
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: 3 (GPT-4, Claude 3.5, o1-preview)
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: $20/month unlimited
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: 4GB (practical minimum)
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: 30+ via extensions
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: 82% (AI-assisted, broader context)
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: Basic rename, extract, inline via extensions
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: Community-based, limited official support
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: Yes (cached models)
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: Yes (native support)
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: Local machine only
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: 1 (Proprietary VS Code fork)
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: Claude 3.5 Sonnet (default) + GPT-4o (configurable)
Tabnine: N/A | Cursor: Advanced multi-tab with @files, @docs, @web references
How to choose between Tabnine and Cursor
Tabnine vs Cursor — Structured Comparison Data
Machine-readable comparison dataset for Tabnine vs Cursor. Contains 231 attribute comparisons, 5 FAQ pairs.
Tabnine vs Cursor — Attribute Category Vocabulary
Taxonomy of attribute categories used to classify comparison data for Tabnine vs Cursor.
Which tool is better for beginners learning to code?
Tabnine is better for beginners because of its unlimited free tier with no request limits, allowing you to learn without hitting quotas. However, Cursor's superior accuracy (84% vs 72%) means fewer incorrect suggestions, which actually improves learning quality. Start with Tabnine free tier, then upgrade to Cursor if you want higher accuracy and debugging help.
Can I use Tabnine in JetBrains IDEs like IntelliJ IDEA and PyCharm?
Yes, Tabnine supports JetBrains IDEs including IntelliJ IDEA, PyCharm, WebStorm, GoLand, and RubyMine. Cursor does not support JetBrains IDEs at all (VSCode-only). This makes Tabnine essential for JetBrains users.
Does Cursor offer local/on-device processing like Tabnine?
No, Cursor processes all code through Claude API in the cloud. Tabnine offers a local-only mode where code never leaves your machine, making it better for organizations with strict data security requirements. However, Cursor's cloud processing enables its superior 128,000 token context window.
What's the total cost difference over one year of active development?
Tabnine Pro: $144/year ($12/month). Cursor Pro: $240/year ($20/month). Difference: $96/year in Tabnine's favor. However, Cursor includes debugging and refactoring features (estimated at $5-10/month value separately), reducing the effective difference to $46-96/year depending on how much you value those features.
Which tool has better support for React, TypeScript, and Python?
Both tools support all three languages well. Cursor has higher accuracy across these languages (84% HumanEval vs Tabnine's 72%), resulting in better code suggestions. Tabnine matches in language coverage but with lower precision. For React specifically, Cursor's larger context window (128k tokens) is advantageous for understanding component hierarchies.
How to Choose Between Tabnine and Cursor
Primary Architecture: Tabnine has Plugin/Extension across multiple editors, while Cursor has Standalone IDE (VSCode fork).
Code Completion Accuracy: Tabnine has 70-75% on HumanEval benchmark, while Cursor has 82-85% on HumanEval benchmark.
Supported Editors: Tabnine has VSCode, JetBrains, Vim, Emacs, Sublime, 25+ total, while Cursor has VSCode-based only (Cursor IDE).
AI-Assisted Debugging: Tabnine has Not available, while Cursor has Built-in with Cursor debugging tool.
Free Tier Completion Requests: Tabnine has Unlimited for free users, while Cursor has 50 requests/month (Cursor Free).
Pricing (Pro Monthly): Tabnine has $12/month, while Cursor has $20/month.
Context Window Size: Tabnine has Up to 10,000 tokens, while Cursor has Up to 128,000 tokens (Claude 3.5 Sonnet).