Zed AI
High-performance, multiplayer editor from the creators of Atom
Zed is a next-generation code editor written in Rust, engineered for extreme performance and responsiveness. Zed AI is its integrated assistant, powered by Anthropic's Claude 3.5 Sonnet. Unlike Electron-based editors (VS Code, Cursor), Zed uses GPU acceleration to render instantly. Its "Assistant Panel" offers a unique, text-editor-first approach to AI chat, allowing you to edit context and conversation history like code.
Category
IDE
Rating
Users
150K+
Platform Support
Pricing Plans
Free Plan
$0
Open Source Editor + Free AI (Beta)
Pro Plan
Zed AI: Currently free access to Claude 3.5 Sonnet for signed-in users (subject to change)
Enterprise Plan
定制
Zed Pro: Team collaboration features, private server hosting
Core Features
1 Core Features
Rust Architecture
Built from scratch in Rust with GPUI for sub-millisecond latency
Assistant Panel
A text-centric AI interface where you can edit the conversation, context, and prompts like code
Slash Commands
Use /tab, /file, /symbol to precisely inject context into the AI model
Native Multiplayer
Google Docs-style collaborative editing built into the core
2 Flexibility
Model Support
First-party support for Anthropic (Claude) and OpenAI, plus local models via Ollama
Inline Assist
Ctrl+Enter to transform code in-place using natural language
3 Developer Experience
Vim Mode
First-class Vim emulation that feels faster than Neovim due to native architecture
Integrated Terminal
GPU-accelerated terminal that is incredibly responsive
Clean UI
Minimalist design focused purely on code, distraction-free
Pros and Cons
Advantages
- The fastest editor on the market, period (Rust + GPU)
- Open source (GPL/Apache licenses)
- Assistant Panel treats AI chat as editable text, offering more control
- Native multiplayer collaboration is seamless
- Minimalist, beautiful UI out of the box
- Support for local LLMs (Ollama) is built-in and easy to configure
Disadvantages
- Not based on VS Code, so it lacks the massive extension ecosystem
- Plugin system is still growing (WebAssembly based)
- Windows support is still in beta/catching up to macOS/Linux
- Lack of a "Composer" mode (multi-file agentic editing) compared to Cursor
Best For
Rust developers and performance enthusiasts
Users tired of Electron/VS Code sluggishness
Teams needing real-time collaborative coding
Minimalists who prefer keyboard-centric workflows
Early adopters willing to trade extensions for speed
Tech Stack
Architecture
Native (Rust, GPUI)