---
type: entity
subtype: tool
title: "Tabnine"
description: "An AI code-completion assistant that fills in large blocks of code, inferring things like a full database schema from just the name you type."
resource: "https://www.tabnine.com"
tags: [ai-coding, coding-agent]
videos: [you-need-these-5-tools-for-coding-better-than-chatgpt]
created: 2026-07-21
updated: 2026-07-21
---

# Tabnine

Tabnine is an AI code-completion assistant from the first wave of in-IDE AI tooling, and Cole positions it by direct comparison: "tab nine is pretty similar to GitHub copilot... they both do a lot of filling in a ton of code for you at the same time so they really take the wheel" ([0:04:15]). It is not a chat interface and not an agent. It watches what you type and pushes automatic inline suggestions, which puts it on the automatic side of the split Cole draws throughout that 2023 roundup between assistants that suggest constantly and assistants you invoke manually with a shortcut.

What made it stand out was the size of the completion. Type a name and Tabnine infers the rest of the structure around it, generating a whole database schema and the helper functions to go with it from that single signal, with Cole reacting simply that "tab 9 is doing the rest super powerful stuff" ([0:05:53]). That schema-from-a-name behavior is the clearest early example of the completion-heavy UX pattern that later tools inherited and then outgrew.

Read today, Tabnine is a marker on the timeline rather than a recommendation. It sits at the "spicy autocomplete" end of coding autonomy, well below the plan-and-edit assistants and the fully agentic harnesses that followed. Its enduring value in this knowledge base is what it teaches about the tradeoff: heavy automatic completion is fast and low-friction, but it hands over the wheel without asking, which is exactly the control problem later tools solved with explicit review, diffs, and validation steps.

## Realizes

- [AI Coding Assistant](../../concepts/ai-coding-assistant.md) - A tool that generates or completes code from short prompts, offloading low-leverage software work.
- [AI Coding Assistant UX Patterns](../../concepts/ai-coding-ux.md) - Automatic inline suggestions versus manual invocation, and schema inference from just a name.
- [Everyday AI Coding Use Cases](../../concepts/ai-coding-use-cases.md) - The tedious work (tests, docs, boilerplate) these early assistants were pitched at.

## Contrasts with

- [GitHub Copilot](./github-copilot.md) - The more popular assistant with the same automatic, take-the-wheel completion behavior.
- [ChatGPT](./chatgpt.md) - The general chat model the roundup's title positions all five tools against.
- [Cursor](./cursor.md) - The later AI-first IDE that replaced pure completion with codebase-aware edits and agent modes.

## Works with

- [Visual Studio Code](./vs-code.md) - The editor these early assistants installed into as extensions.

## Related

- [The Evolution of AI Coding](../../concepts/the-evolution-of-ai-coding.md) - How assistants moved from novelty completion to daily-driver agents.
- [The Five Levels of AI Coding Autonomy](../../concepts/five-levels-of-ai-coding-autonomy.md) - Tabnine sits at level 0, the 'spicy autocomplete' rung of the ladder.
- [Human in the Loop](../../concepts/human-in-the-loop.md) - Heavy automatic completion is the weakest form of review, since acceptance is the only checkpoint.

## Sources

- [You NEED These 5 Tools For Coding!! (Better Than ChatGPT)](../../sources/you-need-these-5-tools-for-coding-better-than-chatgpt.md) - "[0:04:15] tab nine is pretty similar to GitHub copilot... they both do a lot of filling in a ton of code for you at the same time so they really take the wheel"
