Zed
A blazingly fast, collaborative editor in Rust
- No reviews yetCategory: Dev ToolsUpdated May 2026
Zed is a high-performance code editor written in Rust by the team behind Atom and Tree-sitter. It targets near-instant responsiveness, ships real-time multiplayer editing and shared projects, and now includes built-in AI assist that can use hosted models or your own keys.
Highlights
- Exceptional editing and scrolling performance
- Real-time collaboration built in, not bolted on
- Open source with built-in AI that supports your own keys
- Low memory footprint versus Electron editors
Zed is the editor to reach for when speed and a native feel matter more than ecosystem breadth. The collaboration is genuinely real-time, and the AI is open and key-flexible. The honest caveats are Windows (still in preview) and a thinner plugin catalogue — if either is a dealbreaker, VS Code remains the pragmatic default and Cursor the AI-heavy one.
When to use it
- solo_dev
- performance_sensitive_developers
- open_source_advocates
Avoid if
- need_windows_today
- depend_on_a_specific_vscode_extension
Free
Free and open source (GPL). Optional paid plans cover hosted collaboration and managed AI usage.
- Extensions / pluginsLimited
- ThemingNative
- Dark modeNative
- Keyboard shortcutsNative
- Command paletteNative
- Open sourceNative
- Real-time collaborationNative
- AI assistanceNative
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