Zed
Fast open-source code editor with built-in AI agents
Overview
Zed is a GPU-accelerated, Rust-built code editor from the team behind Atom, with real-time collaboration, an Agent Panel, Zeta edit predictions and support for external agents through the Agent Client Protocol. It reached 1.0 on 29 April 2026 and runs on macOS, Windows and Linux; the source is GPL-3.0-or-later with Apache-2.0 parts. The editor is free; Pro is $10 a month and Business $30 per seat.
Pricing
Pricing shown for reference only. These figures reflect RECATOOLS research as of 14 Oct 2026 and may be out of date or incomplete. This is not financial or purchasing advice — always confirm the current price on the provider’s official website before making any decision.
- 2,000 accepted edit predictions
- Unlimited use with your own API keys or external agents
- Unlimited edit predictions
- $5 of tokens included
- Usage-based billing beyond $5
- Zed-hosted models
- Org-wide AI model policies
- Data governance controls
- Unified spend visibility
- Unlimited edit predictions
- Role-based access controls
Use cases
What you can produce with Zed
- Edit large files and monorepos with near-instant startup and keystroke response, thanks to GPU-accelerated rendering.
- Run AI agents in the editor: Zed-hosted models on Pro, your own API keys, or external agents such as Claude Code, Codex and Gemini CLI via the Agent Client Protocol.
- Run several agents in parallel on separate tasks from the Agent Panel.
- Pair-program in real time through Zed channels, with shared projects and built-in voice chat.
- Apply one edit across every search result or diagnostic at once using multibuffers.
- Debug code with the built-in debugger, including breakpoints, stepping and variable inspection.
- Use Vim mode out of the box, and add or override bindings in JSON keymaps.
Zed is a very fast native editor with AI built into the core: its own agent, parallel agents, Zeta edit predictions and an open protocol that runs Claude Code, Codex and other agents inside the editor. Real-time collaboration with voice chat, a built-in debugger and a GPL-licensed core that is free to use make it strong value.
Its extension catalogue is far smaller than VS Code's, and Business still lacks SSO and SCIM. There is no ASEAN-specific provisioning, just global access. Best for developers who prize speed and choice of AI provider; teams tied to particular VS Code extensions should test first.
What we found
Zed Industries, the team behind Atom, Electron and Tree-sitter, builds Zed and writes it in Rust on its own GPU-rendered UI framework, GPUI. It declared version 1.0 on 29 April 2026, citing Git integration, SSH remoting and a debugger across macOS, Windows and Linux. Windows became a fully supported platform in October 2025.
Most of the past year's change has been in AI. The Agent Panel runs Zed's own agent, and since August 2025 the Agent Client Protocol, an open standard Zed created with Google's Gemini CLI as the first integrated agent, lets outside agents such as Claude Code, Codex CLI and GitHub Copilot CLI work inside the editor. JetBrains agreed to co-develop the protocol in October 2025, and a shared ACP Registry went live in January 2026. Parallel agents followed in April 2026, and Zed ships its own open edit-prediction model, Zeta.
Pricing moved twice. In September 2025 Pro dropped from $20 to $10 a month and switched to token billing, with $5 of usage included and further use charged at API list price plus 10%. In May 2026 Zed for Business arrived at $30 per seat a month, adding org-wide AI policies, data-sharing controls and unified billing; it bundles no AI credits, and SSO and SCIM are still only planned. The free Personal plan keeps 2,000 accepted edit predictions and unlimited use of your own API keys or external agents.
The source is GPL-3.0-or-later with Apache-2.0 parts; the last AGPL code moved to GPL in May 2026. The next bet is Delta, a separate multiplayer app for coding with agents and reviewing their work without pull requests, in public beta since September 2026.
The trade-off is ecosystem depth. The extension registry lists more than 1,500 entries, far fewer than VS Code offers, and Vim mode is an emulation configured through JSON keymaps rather than a home for an existing vimrc. For developers who prize speed and a free choice of AI provider, Zed is easy to recommend.
Compiled by RECATOOLS from public sources: vendor documentation and pricing, code repositories and published reporting.
About this listing
This entry was compiled from publicly available data including Zed's official website, press releases, documentation, and reputable third-party publications. RECATOOLS is not affiliated with Zed unless explicitly stated.
Third-party AI tools update their pricing, features, availability, and policies frequently. Information here may be outdated by the time you read this — we make reasonable efforts to keep listings current, but cannot guarantee absolute accuracy.
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