Tabnine - Lovable alternative
Tabnine is an AI code assistant that accelerates software development while keeping code private, secure, and compliant. It provides real-time code completions and IDE chat functionality. Solo developers who prefer working in established IDEs with autocomplete-style assistance might choose this Lovable alternative over visual builders.
Strengths
- Tabnine is trusted by millions of developers and thousands of companies.
- Code and AI data are never used to train models other than private code models.
- Supports 80+ programming languages across multiple IDE platforms.
- Available in both free and paid tiers, offering flexibility for individual developers and enterprise teams.
- Includes chat functionality for generating code, creating tests, generating documentation, and explaining legacy code.
- Works seamlessly with existing development workflows without requiring platform changes.
Weaknesses
- Focused on code completion rather than full application generation from descriptions.
- Does not provide visual design interfaces or no-code capabilities.
- Requires existing IDE knowledge and development environment setup.
- Enterprise features like team management add complexity for solo developers.
- Context awareness limited to local workspace and connected repositories.
Best for
Developers who want AI-powered autocomplete and chat in VSCode, IntelliJ, Visual Studio, or Eclipse while maintaining full control over their codebase.
Pricing plans
- Basic — Free — Code completion with basic features, requires registration and login.
- Pro — $12 per user monthly (alternate sources indicate $9 per month) — Advanced code completions, chat features, personalized AI.
- Enterprise — $39 and custom pricing — Self-hosted options, team management, admin controls, private model training, compliance features.
Tech details
- Type: IDE plugin with AI code completion and chat assistant
- IDEs: VS Code, IntelliJ, Visual Studio 2022, Eclipse, and other JetBrains IDEs
- Key features: Real-time code completions, inline code suggestions, AI chat, test generation, code explanation, documentation generation, @mentions for context, code review (beta)
- Privacy / hosting: Code never used for public model training. Enterprise tier offers self-hosted deployments, private cloud (VPC), and on-premises installations.
- Models / context window: Supports multiple models with developer selection. Recent support includes Claude 4.5, GPT-5, Gemini 2.5 Pro/Flash, Qwen models. Context window size varies by model; specific limits unknown.
When to choose this over Lovable
- You work primarily in established IDEs and want AI assistance without changing your environment.
- You need autocomplete-style suggestions that integrate with your existing coding workflow.
- Your organization requires self-hosted AI solutions with strict data privacy controls.
When Lovable may be a better fit
- You want to build full-stack websites through natural language descriptions rather than writing code manually.
- You need a platform that generates complete frontends, backends, and databases from English prompts.
- You prefer visual development environments over traditional code editors.
Conclusion
Tabnine serves developers who want AI-powered productivity enhancements within their existing IDE workflows. It prioritizes code privacy, security, and compliance while delivering intelligent autocomplete suggestions and conversational assistance. This Lovable alternative fits teams requiring enterprise-grade security controls and developers comfortable with traditional coding environments.
Sources
FAQ
What makes Tabnine different from Lovable?
Tabnine provides AI-powered code completion within traditional IDEs, while Lovable builds complete applications from natural language. Tabnine enhances manual coding workflows; Lovable generates full-stack solutions without requiring code writing.
Can Tabnine work offline?
Enterprise deployments support self-hosted and on-premises installations that can operate within private networks. Basic and Pro tiers require cloud connectivity for AI model access.
Does Tabnine support team collaboration?
Enterprise tiers include team management, admin controls, user assignment, and reporting features. Multiple teams can be configured with different settings and policies.
Which programming languages does Tabnine support?
Tabnine supports 80+ languages and frameworks including JavaScript, Python, Java, PHP, Go, C, C++, C#, TypeScript, Rust, and more.
Can I customize Tabnine's AI models?
Enterprise customers can train private models on their codebase and select from multiple available AI models. Pro users work with Tabnine's standard models personalized to their coding patterns.
How does Tabnine handle code privacy?
Code and AI data are never used to train any models except private code models. Tabnine Chat is trained only on permissible open-source code. Enterprise customers can deploy fully isolated instances.