Continue vs Tabnine

Option A

Continue

Open VS Code / JetBrains plugin: autocomplete and chat against models you configure.

Best for

• Teams that want model choice inside VS Code or JetBrains
• Local plus API mixes
• People willing to own config

Strengths

• No forced IDE migration
• Control

Trade-offs

• Config tax
• Not a managed agent product

Verdict

Continue is the open plugin path. Cursor is managed agent UX. Copilot is the seat switch. Cody is Sourcegraph context. Tabnine is private completion. Pick Continue when someone will own the config file. Write that name down. If the name is “we’ll figure it out,” buy Copilot and stop pretending you run a platform. Pick Continue when a named person owns the YAML. Pick Copilot when nobody will. Document allowed models. Surprise local weights are how two teammates debug two different worlds.

Option B

Tabnine

Privacy-first completion: where code goes matters more than an agent demo.

Best for

• Orgs with a real residency question
• Completion plus policy hooks
• Teams that will not switch IDEs

Strengths

• The legal conversation is possible
• Stays in the current IDE

Trade-offs

• Not Cursor
• Easy to over-buy if nobody asked

Verdict

Tabnine is privacy-shaped completion. Cursor is the agent IDE. Copilot is GitHub. Continue is open config. Buy Tabnine when legal asked the question and the answer must be boring. Confirm the deploy mode in writing. If developers wanted an agent, run that trial separately instead of stretching this product. Buy Tabnine when legal asked where code goes. Confirm deploy mode in writing. Trial Cursor separately if developers wanted an agent. Do not stretch this product. If legal never asked the question, you may be buying a story.