Been using both for months, one personal, one at work. Intrusiveness comes down to two things: telemetry/data handling and how it messes with your flow.
**Tabnine**
* Local model option is a huge plus. You can run it offline, zero data leaves.
* Even the cloud version feels more contained. It's primarily about code completion, not a chat interface vying for attention.
* Less "helpful" bloat. It doesn't constantly suggest full function rewrites unless you ask.
**CodeWhisperer**
* Deep AWS integration is a double-edged sword. Feels like it's always scanning for AWS SDK patterns to lock you in.
* More aggressive with inline suggestions, often breaking your train of thought with large blocks.
* Telemetry is a black box. You're on AWS's platform, they're collecting everything.
Quick example of the difference in suggestion style:
```python
# Tabnine (after typing 'parse_json'): parse_json(data: str) -> dict:
# CodeWhisperer (after typing 'parse_json'): parse_json(s3_bucket, s3_key) # Immediately pushes AWS
```
Bottom line: If you want minimal intrusion, Tabnine's local mode wins. If you're already all-in on AWS and don't care about data, CodeWhisperer is "free" but you pay in vendor lock-in and noise.
Benchmarks or bust.