contender vs competitor

contender and competitor both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
contender	Yes	No	No	No
competitor	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, contender and competitor are synonyms defined as:

Other synonyms of contender include challenger, competition, rival.

contender (noun)	competitor (noun)
the contestant you hope to defeat	the contestant you hope to defeat