Tabnine alternatives

AI coding assistants like Tabnine were supposed to change how we write code, and for a lot of us, they did. But maybe you're starting to bump up against its limits, searching for a free option, or you're just a little curious about what else is out there. I've been there. The market is flooded with tools like GitHub Copilot, Amazon Q, and a bunch of others, and picking the right one can feel like a whole project on its own.

This guide is my attempt to cut through that noise. I’ll break down the top 5 direct Tabnine alternatives for coding, comparing them on the things that actually matter: features, price, and how they feel to use day-to-day.

But we'll also go a step further. Writing code is only one piece of the puzzle. We’ll also look at a different kind of AI assistant, one that tackles the other massive time-sink for developers: digging for information and getting help internally.

What are AI coding assistants and why look for Tabnine alternatives?

Let's make sure we're on the same page. AI coding assistants are tools that plug right into your IDE (think VS Code or JetBrains) and act as a sort of pair programmer. They offer real-time code suggestions, can complete entire functions for you, and might even build code from a simple sentence you type in a comment. The whole point is to reduce repetitive typing, help you learn new syntax, and just generally make the development process a bit smoother.

My criteria for picking the best Tabnine alternatives

To make this list actually useful, I put each tool through its paces based on a few key things. This isn't just about which one has the fanciest feature list; it's about what works for real developers in the trenches.

• Quality of suggestions: How good are the code completions? Does it feel like the tool actually understands your project's context, or is it just making educated guesses?

• IDE integration: How well does it play with popular IDEs like VS Code and JetBrains? Is it a seamless experience or a clunky add-on that gets in the way?

• Features beyond completion: Does it offer more than just autocomplete? I looked for things like a chat interface for asking questions, debugging help, or tools for generating unit tests.

• Privacy and security: What's happening with your code? Is it being used to train some other model? Is there a self-hosted option for teams that need to keep their codebase under lock and key?

• Pricing and value: Is there a decent free tier? How do the paid plans compare to the features you get? Is the pricing straightforward or are there hidden costs?

Comparison of the top 5 Tabnine alternatives in 2025

Here’s a quick side-by-side look at how my top picks compare.

Feature	GitHub Copilot	Codeium	Amazon Q Developer	Google Gemini	Sourcegraph Cody
Best For	Individuals & teams in the GitHub ecosystem	A powerful free alternative	AWS-centric development teams	Versatility and Google Cloud integration	Enterprise code search & context
Free Tier	Yes, limited	Yes, generous	Yes, generous	Yes, in IDE	Yes, generous
Starting Price	$10/month	$15/month (Pro)	$19/month (Pro)	$19.99/month (Gemini Advanced)	Credit-based (at-cost)
Key Feature	Deep GitHub integration	High-speed, low-latency suggestions	AWS service integration	Advanced reasoning capabilities	Whole-repo context awareness

The top 5 Tabnine alternatives for coding in 2025

Alright, let's get into the details of each tool and see what makes it a solid choice.

1. GitHub Copilot

As the original AI pair programmer, GitHub Copilot is pretty baked into the developer workflow, especially if your team lives and breathes GitHub. It’s powered by OpenAI’s models and has kind of become the standard that all other tools are measured against.

• What I liked:

  • The integration with GitHub repositories, issues, and actions is fantastic.
  • It gives high-quality suggestions for most common languages and frameworks.
  • The "Copilot Chat" feature is genuinely useful for debugging and asking questions without having to switch windows.

• What could be better:

  • The free tier is quite limited, which pushes most serious users toward a paid plan.
  • It can occasionally suggest outdated or insecure code, so you still have to keep your wits about you.
  • Its context is mostly limited to the files you have open, which can be a pain on larger projects.

• Pricing:

  • Free: 50 agent/chat requests and 2,000 code completions per month. It's also free for verified students and maintainers of popular open-source projects.
  • Pro: $10 per month for unlimited completions and chats, plus access to better models.
  • Business: $19 per user/month, adding organization-level policy management.

• The verdict: Copilot set the bar. It’s reliable, powerful, and for millions of developers, it’s the default choice for a good reason.

2. Codeium

Codeium has blown up in popularity, mostly thanks to its speed and a very generous free tier for individual developers. It supports a ton of languages and IDEs and has carved out a niche as a fast, accessible alternative. You might see it called Windsurf or Qodo, as the company has been doing some rebranding, which is a little confusing.

• What I liked:

  • It has one of the best free tiers out there, making it a no-brainer to at least try.
  • The code completions are blazing fast, so it rarely feels like it's interrupting your flow.
  • It offers a self-hosting option for enterprise teams who are serious about privacy.

• What could be better:

  • On really complex projects, I found its suggestions could be a bit less contextually aware than Copilot's.
  • The brand confusion between Codeium, Windsurf, and Qodo is a small but real headache when you're trying to find documentation or support.

• Pricing:

  • Free: Includes a 2-week Pro trial and 25 prompt credits per month.
  • Pro: $15 per month for 500 prompt credits.
  • Teams: $30 per user/month, also with 500 credits per user plus admin features.

• The verdict: This is my top pick for any developer looking for a powerful and genuinely free alternative to paid tools like Tabnine and Copilot.

3. Amazon Q Developer

Formerly known as CodeWhisperer, Amazon Q Developer is AWS's entry into the AI coding assistant ring. And as you might guess, its biggest strength is its deep, native understanding of the entire AWS ecosystem.

• What I liked:

  • The integration with AWS services like Lambda, S3, and DynamoDB is amazing. It knows the SDKs inside and out.
  • It includes security scanning to help you spot vulnerabilities in your code as you write it.
  • The free tier for individuals is pretty generous, giving you 50 agentic chats a month.

• What could be better:

  • It's kind of a one-trick pony. If your project isn't on AWS, its usefulness drops off quite a bit.
  • It feels more geared toward infrastructure-as-code and cloud development than general-purpose app programming.

• Pricing:

  • Free Tier: Includes 50 agentic chat interactions and can transform up to 1,000 lines of code per month.
  • Pro Tier: $19 per user/month for expanded agent capabilities, custom code connections, and more.

• The verdict: If your team is building on AWS, you should absolutely try this. It can save you hours of digging through dense AWS documentation.

4. Google Gemini

Google has been busy integrating its powerful Gemini model directly into developer tools like Android Studio and VS Code. Its strength isn't just raw code completion; it's really good at understanding plain English and giving detailed explanations, which makes it a fantastic tool for learning and wrestling with tricky problems.

• What I liked:

  • It's excellent for explaining complex code snippets and giving you step-by-step guidance.
  • As you'd expect, it has strong integration with the Google Cloud Platform.
  • It’s running on one of the most advanced general-purpose AI models available.

• What could be better:

  • The in-IDE code completion can sometimes feel a tad slower than its more specialized competitors.
  • The product is still evolving quickly, and finding a clear, single page for pricing and features can be a bit of a scavenger hunt.

• Pricing: A free tier is usually available in the IDE extensions. For the most advanced models, you'll need a Google One AI Premium plan, which includes Gemini Advanced for around $19.99/month.

• The verdict: Gemini’s reasoning ability makes it more than a code completion tool. It's a true coding companion for brainstorming ideas, learning new things, and untangling complex logic.

5. Sourcegraph Cody

Cody, from the team at Sourcegraph, is built for enterprise teams dealing with massive, complex codebases. Its killer feature is its ability to use Sourcegraph's code search engine to understand your entire repository, not just the files you happen to have open. You might also hear about their newer tool, Amp, which builds on this.

• What I liked:

  • It provides incredibly accurate, context-aware suggestions because it gets the full picture of your codebase.
  • It’s a huge help when onboarding new developers to a complex project.
  • It comes with robust security and privacy features designed for enterprise needs.

• What could be better:

  • It can be complete overkill for small, individual projects.
  • You really get the most value when you're already using the broader Sourcegraph platform.

• Pricing: Sourcegraph Amp (the evolution of Cody) uses a credit-based system. You get $10 in free credits to start. After that, you pay at-cost for the LLM usage. Enterprise plans are 50% more expensive and require a $1,000 minimum credit spend, but include features like SSO.

• The verdict: For large teams drowning in code and struggling to keep track of everything, Cody’s unique, search-first approach is something no other tool can really match.

Beyond Tabnine alternatives: The AI knowledge assistant your dev team is missing

The tools above are great for writing code faster. There's no doubt about it. But let’s be honest: how much of your day is actually spent writing brand new code on a blank screen?

A huge chunk of our time is spent on other stuff: digging through Confluence for that one obscure piece of documentation, asking a senior dev for help in Slack, trying to figure out how an internal API works, or dealing with IT tickets in Jira. This "knowledge gap" is where productivity grinds to a halt.

This is where a different kind of AI assistant comes into play, one that's focused on knowledge and internal support. Instead of just writing code, a tool like eesel AI helps you find and understand the information around the code, which is often the harder part of the job.

Unify your team's scattered knowledge with eesel AI

Here's the basic idea: eesel AI connects to all your company's knowledge sources, like Confluence, Google Docs, Slack, and past Jira tickets, and creates a single, reliable brain for your team.

This helps with some of the most common developer frustrations:

• Endless internal questions in Slack: Instead of developers interrupting each other with the same questions over and over, they can just ask the eesel AI bot and get an instant answer based on your internal docs.

• Repetitive IT tickets: It can plug directly into tools like Jira Service Management to automatically handle all those routine Tier 1 IT tickets, freeing up your support team for actual problems.

• Painful onboarding: A new hire can ask the bot about the codebase, architecture, and team processes without having to book a dozen meetings just to get up to speed.

The best part? It's surprisingly simple to set up. You can go live in minutes, not months, by connecting your existing tools with one-click integrations, all without having to sit through a single sales call.

This video provides a head-to-head comparison of Codeium and Tabnine, two popular AI coding assistants discussed in this review of Tabnine alternatives.

How to choose the right Tabnine alternatives for your team

It's probably not about picking just one tool. The smartest move is to think about your entire workflow and combine a couple of tools that are great at different things.

Here’s a simple, two-step approach:

1. Get a Coding Assistant: Pick one from the list above that fits your team’s environment. If you live on GitHub, Copilot is a solid choice. Building everything on AWS? Go with Amazon Q.

2. Get a Knowledge Assistant: Add a tool like eesel AI to handle all the non-coding parts of the job. This combo helps with both writing the code and finding the info you need to write it correctly in the first place.

Final thoughts on Tabnine alternatives

While there are plenty of great Tabnine alternatives out there to help you write code faster, real developer productivity is about more than just what happens in the IDE. Often, the biggest improvements come from fixing the painful process of hunting for information and streamlining internal support.

So as you think about bringing AI onto your team, consider the whole picture, one that supports the entire development lifecycle, not just the ten minutes you spend typing out a new function.

Ready to solve your team's knowledge problem?

If you're tired of watching your developers waste hours searching for answers, see how eesel AI can unify your team's knowledge and automate internal support.

Sign up for a free trial and build your first knowledge bot in under 5 minutes.