Zed
A blazing-fast, Rust-built editor with AI and multiplayer baked in.
Standout features
Zed was rebuilt from scratch in Rust for raw speed — and it shows in everything from cold start to collaboration.
Worldwide search interest, indexed 0–100 · Google Trends.
Zed is an open-source, GPU-accelerated code editor written from scratch in Rust by the team that built Atom and Tree-sitter.
- Built for speed — no Electron, no DOM; it renders straight to the GPU.
- Open source under GPL-3.0, with 40k+ GitHub stars.
- Native real-time collaboration — the most mature of any editor.
- Runs on macOS, Windows and Linux; reached 1.0 in 2026.
Zed brings agents in through an open protocol rather than locking you to one model.
- Agent Panel runs Claude, OpenAI and others via the open Agent Client Protocol.
- Edit prediction anticipates your next change.
- Tree-sitter parsing gives fast, accurate code intelligence.
- Native Git, terminal, debugger and remote development.
The editor is free and open source; a Pro plan adds hosted AI usage.
Zed suits developers who value speed and a native feel over a vast extension marketplace.
- Developers who want the fastest, non-Electron editor.
- Teams that pair-program — multiplayer is unmatched.
- Rust and systems developers.
- People who depend on VS Code’s huge extension marketplace.
- Windows users who want the most battle-tested build.
No tool is perfect — the trade-offs to weigh:
- Smaller ecosystem — fewer extensions than VS Code.
- Windows build is newer than the macOS and Linux versions.
- Fewer AI bells-and-whistles than Cursor.
- Biggest wins show on large files and projects.
- ✓Fastest editor in the category (GPU-rendered Rust)
- ✓Native real-time multiplayer and collaboration
- ✓Open agent support via ACP — no model lock-in
- ✓Open source (GPL-3.0), built by Atom/Tree-sitter veterans
- ✓Very low memory footprint
- ✕Smaller extension ecosystem than VS Code
- ✕Windows support is newer
- ✕Fewer turnkey AI features than Cursor
- ✕Hosted AI needs the Pro tier
Developers consistently describe Zed as “shockingly fast” and love that it isn’t Electron; the native collaboration and Vim mode draw frequent praise. The common gripe is a thinner extension ecosystem than VS Code and that some features are still maturing. Sentiment is strongly positive among performance-minded developers.
Zed is built by Zed Industries — the team behind GitHub’s Atom editor and the Tree-sitter parser.
Company figures are drawn from public disclosures and reputable trackers (gathered Jun 2026). User and revenue numbers are estimates and move fast.
Pick up to two other coding tools to see them head-to-head on the same rubric.