Last updated: January 12, 2026
An honest security analysis of Tabnine for developers considering it for their projects.
Tabnine is privacy-focused with models trained from scratch (not fine-tuned on customer code). It offers local models for zero cloud exposure. Unlike Copilot, Tabnine never trains on your code. SOC 2 Type II certified with enterprise self-hosted options.
Tabnine's 'never trains on your code' policy and local-first options make it the most privacy-focused mainstream AI coding assistant. The trade-off: local models are less capable than cloud. For enterprises with strict data requirements, Tabnine's self-hosted option provides complete isolation.
Understanding Tabnine security in the context of broader industry trends and research.
of Lovable applications (170 out of 1,645) had exposed user data in the CVE-2025-48757 incident
Source: CVE-2025-48757 security advisory
average cost of a data breach in 2023
Source: IBM Cost of a Data Breach Report 2023
developers using vibe coding platforms like Lovable, Bolt, and Replit
Source: Combined platform statistics 2024-2025
“There's a new kind of coding I call 'vibe coding', where you fully give in to the vibes, embrace exponentials, and forget that the code even exists.”
“It's not really coding - I just see stuff, say stuff, run stuff, and copy paste stuff, and it mostly works.”
No. Tabnine explicitly states they never train models on customer code. Their models are trained only on permissively licensed public code. This is a key differentiator from Copilot Individual, which may use your code for training improvements.
Tabnine offers a local model that runs entirely on your machine - no code is sent to the cloud. It's less capable than cloud completions but provides maximum privacy. Enable it in settings with 'Local Model Only' mode for zero cloud exposure.
Tabnine offers local-only mode (Copilot doesn't). Tabnine never trains on your code (Copilot Individual may). Tabnine uses their own models; Copilot uses OpenAI. Tabnine has self-hosted enterprise; Copilot is cloud-only. Tabnine is generally more privacy-focused.
Yes. Tabnine Enterprise offers self-hosted deployment, SOC 2 Type II compliance, SAML SSO, and audit logs. The 'never trains on customer code' policy and local model option make it suitable for proprietary codebases with strict data requirements.
Don't guess - scan your app and know for certain. VAS checks for all the common security issues in Tabnine applications.