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Tabnine vs. GitHub Copilot - Best AI Assistance in 2024

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In the ever-evolving field of programming, developers are consistently in search of tools to boost their productivity and simplify the coding process. Among the top contenders in this domain are Tabnine and GitHub Copilot. Tabnine, an AI code assistant, provides developers with instant code completions, chat functionality, and code generation across various programming languages and widely used IDEs. Conversely, GitHub Copilot, a collaborative effort by GitHub and OpenAI, serves as a cloud-based AI tool that excels in autocompleting code, particularly in languages such as Python, JavaScript, TypeScript, Ruby, Go, C#, and C++. Each of these tools offers distinct advantages, catering to the changing requirements of the coding community.



What is Tabnine Copilot?



Tabnine is an advanced AI assistant engineered to expedite code delivery while maintaining a strong emphasis on security. Delivering over 30% code automation, it ensures productivity and safeguards your code. Globally trusted by millions of developers, Tabnine adapts to your codebase, offering exceptional code completion, autocomplete, and even generating code blocks. With a strong focus on privacy, it operates in a fully isolated mode, respecting developers' intentions and adhering to SOC-2 standards. Tabnine's innovative Chat feature responds to queries, generates code, and provides secure AI assistance, making it an essential tool for developers aiming to improve productivity and code quality.



What is GitHub Copilot?



GitHub Copilot is a cloud-based AI tool developed jointly by GitHub and OpenAI, designed to improve coding experiences in IDEs such as Visual Studio Code, Visual Studio, Neovim, and JetBrains. It specializes in autocompleting code, offering suggestions across multiple languages and frameworks, particularly excelling in Python, JavaScript, TypeScript, Ruby, Go, C#, and C++. Furthermore, GitHub Copilot aids in generating database queries. Introduced in June 2021, it is available via subscription for both individual developers and businesses, delivering advanced code autocompletion features.



Table comparison of Tabnine vs. GitHub Copilot



GitHub Copilot Tabnine
GitHub Copilot is an AI-powered code completion tool developed by GitHub and OpenAI. It suggests whole lines or blocks of code as you type, based on the context of the current file and project. Tabnine is an AI code completion tool that provides suggestions based on deep learning models trained on open-source code. It integrates with various IDEs and supports multiple programming languages.
Offers real-time code suggestions and can generate entire functions or classes. Integrated tightly with Visual Studio Code and a few other popular editors. Provides code completions based on the context of the code you're writing. Works with numerous editors and supports various programming languages.
GitHub Copilot's model is centralized, which raises some concerns regarding code privacy and intellectual property protection. Tabnine focuses on code privacy, claiming that it does not store or share users' code, and its models are trained on permissively licensed open-source code.
Supports a limited number of programming languages, mainly those popular among developers. Supports over 30 programming languages, making it versatile for various development environments.
Operates on a subscription model requiring users to pay for premium service. Follows a pay-as-you-go model, providing pricing flexibility based on hourly usage.
Designed to scale seamlessly across projects of any size, from small prototypes to complex enterprise applications. Optimized for handling large codebases with complex interdependencies.




Tabnine vs. GitHub Copilot: An In-Depth Analysis


Introduction

GitHub Copilot and Tabnine are leading AI tools designed to boost developers' productivity through intelligent code completion suggestions. GitHub Copilot serves as an AI pair programmer, while Tabnine functions as an AI coding assistant.


GitHub Copilot Overview

GitHub Copilot, a collaboration between GitHub and OpenAI, integrates with Visual Studio Code to generate code snippets from natural language prompts. It excels in offering real-time code completions and complete function suggestions, providing developers with a robust coding tool.


Tabnine Overview

Conversely, Tabnine positions itself as an AI coding assistant, supporting various programming languages and IDEs. Emphasizing code privacy, Tabnine assures users that it does not store or share their code, relying solely on permissively licensed open-source code for its AI model training.


GitHub Copilot Experience

GitHub Copilot enhances the coding experience by generating code based on function names and descriptions input by users. Its intuitive design suggests complete code blocks, accelerating the coding process and boosting efficiency.


Tabnine's Approach

Tabnine distinguishes itself with individualized language models, facilitating collaboration after evaluating different model sizes. This tailored approach improves code prediction by addressing specific sub-problems, resulting in precise and efficient suggestions.


Code Privacy and Security

GitHub Copilot uses a centralized, monolithic model, raising concerns about code security and intellectual property protection. In contrast, Tabnine's individualized models offer greater IP control, ensuring code remains private.


Language Support and Integrations

GitHub Copilot supports a few major languages, while Tabnine supports over 30 programming languages. Additionally, Tabnine is compatible with a wider array of editors, catering to diverse developer preferences.


GitHub Copilot Subscription Model

GitHub Copilot follows a subscription model, requiring users to pay for its premium service. Some users are dissatisfied with the shift to a paid model, especially since the tool is trained on freely available source code.


Tabnine's Pay-as-You-Go Model

Tabnine employs a pay-as-you-go model, offering pricing flexibility based on hourly usage. This model benefits users who do not need full-time access and prefer a more adaptable payment structure.


Scalability

GitHub Copilot is designed for seamless scalability across projects of any size, suitable for small prototypes to complex enterprise applications. Tabnine is optimized for managing large codebases with intricate interdependencies.


Conclusion

Both GitHub Copilot and Tabnine offer distinct strengths. GitHub Copilot provides maximum control and customization, ideal for experienced developers. Tabnine balances usability and flexibility, appealing to developers of all skill levels. The choice between GitHub Copilot and Tabnine ultimately depends on individual preferences, team needs, and desired coding experience control.


Alternatives to Tabnine and GitHub Copilot


Sixth

Unlike GitHub Copilot, Sixth understands your local codebase inside VS Code by leveraging the power of embeddings and a vector database. It offers highly relevant AI code completions as you type or via code comments. It features an AI-powered chatbot where you can ask questions regarding your entire codebase. It also maintains a history of your conversations, thereby generating better context-aware answers.

Sixth is the highest rated AI app in the Visual Studio Code marketplace (with a rating of 4.9 out of 5).  It has over 20,000 active monthly users so it seems to be well-liked by developers.

It has many one-click templates to generate unit tests, clean code, explain code, etc. and opens all answers in your IDE’s native diff view to make it easy for you to decide which to keep.

You can start by asking a question and Sixth will reply you with a precise answer. If you don’t like something in the answer, tell Sixth to fix it.

Since Sixth is using sophisticated models from OpenAI (GPT-4, GPT-3.5 Turbo) and Anthropic (Claude 2, Claude Instant) it is very versatile. You can ask it to generate code, improve code performance, explain a concept, etc.

Sixth is based on GPT-4 architecture which enables you to pass large code blocks as input.


Kite

Kite is an AI-powered programming assistant that boosts coding efficiency in Visual Studio Code by reducing keystrokes and providing timely, context-specific information. Supporting a range of major programming languages, Kite automates repetitive coding tasks and offers compatibility with 13 languages and 16 editors/IDEs. It includes an autocomplete plugin for favorite IDEs and a desktop app for Python documentation searches. Kite is known for its security, user-friendly interface, and high code completion confidence, achieved through deep learning models trained on open-source code. Additionally, KITE-Ai Technologies Pvt. Ltd. provides future-ready solutions in Data Science, Analytics, Digital Marketing, Big Data, Machine Learning, and Artificial Intelligence.


DeepCode

DeepCode is an innovative AI Software Platform transforming software engineering with AI. Similar to Grammarly for writing, DeepCode employs advanced, language-independent technology to conduct multi-level program analysis over extensive code repositories. The platform translates analyzed code into representations suitable for large-scale Machine Learning. DeepCode AI, powering Snyk Code, offers unparalleled scanning accuracy, enhancing developer velocity with AI-powered fixes and simplifying rule creation through DeepCode AI Search. Its vision is to automate software engineering tasks, offering services like AI Code Review, AI QA Audit, and AI Code Fixing, contributing to large-scale code synthesis.


Sourcery

Sourcery is an advanced AI-powered pair programming tool that automatically refactors Python code, enhancing its readability and maintainability. Seamlessly integrated into IDEs, Sourcery assists users in querying their code, writing new code or modifying existing code, generating tests and docstrings, and reviewing uncommitted code or branch changes. Offering in-line suggestions for over 160 Python best practices and 40 JavaScript and TypeScript best practices, Sourcery improves code quality and readability. It also provides quantitative insights into code quality through Code Quality Metrics, making coding more enjoyable and efficient.




GitHub Copilot or Tabnine: Which One is Better?


GitHub Copilot and Tabnine are powerful AI tools for coding, each offering unique features. Tabnine's private model trained on user code and mid-line code completion provide advantages over GitHub Copilot as an AI coding assistant. Developers can utilize both tools by using Tabnine for popup completions (CTRL+Space) alongside GitHub Copilot for in-line suggestions while typing, leveraging their combined strengths for enhanced coding efficiency.


GitHub Copilot excels in real-time code suggestions and entire function generation, supporting natural language to code conversion and integrating seamlessly with select IDEs. Tabnine, supporting dozens of languages and frameworks, offers a broader range of IDE integrations, making it versatile for different development environments. 


In terms of privacy, Tabnine ensures code privacy with a model trained on user code, whereas GitHub Copilot's reliance on public code suggestions raises privacy concerns.


The choice between GitHub Copilot and Tabnine ultimately depends on individual preferences and project requirements. However, for a comprehensive AI coding assistant, consider Sixth. It offers personalized AI assistance with hyper-personalization, system skills, and a broad skill library, integrating seamlessly with various tools to provide a versatile solution for developers.


Why Developers Are Choosing Sixth Over GitHub Copilot and Tabnine


Developers are opting for Sixth over GitHub Copilot and Tabnine due to several compelling reasons:


- Enhanced Creativity: Sixth facilitates creative content creation with generative capabilities, expediting document writing, presentation creation, and email composition.

- Improved Productivity: Sixth streamlines workflows with intelligent code completion and suggestions, reducing time on problem-solving and debugging. Microsoft 365 Copilot enhances productivity by efficiently creating content and handling emails.

- Knowledge Discovery and Security: Sixth accelerates knowledge discovery within distributed knowledge bases, improving response accuracy and data searchability. It also aids in data loss prevention.

- Reduced Feature Time: Sixth generates a higher percentage of developers' code files, enabling quicker feature availability and integration.

- Advanced Tools: Sixth offers advanced tools for greater creativity and user experiences, including hyper-personalization and integration with design and development tools.


Conclusion


GitHub Copilot, Tabnine, and Sixth each offer unique benefits for developers. GitHub Copilot excels in real-time suggestions and whole-function generation, while Tabnine emphasizes privacy and broader IDE integration. Sixth stands out with advanced features like hyper-personalization and comprehensive tool integration, making it a top choice for developers seeking versatile and efficient coding assistance.


Developers can harness the strengths of GitHub Copilot and Tabnine in tandem or choose Sixth for an all-encompassing solution that enhances productivity, creativity, and user experiences. The decision ultimately depends on individual preferences, project requirements, and the desired level of control over the coding process.

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