Zed
Zed is a high-performance, multiplayer code editor from Zed Industries, the creators of Atom and Tree-sitter, licensed mainly under GPL-3.0-or-later with Apache-2.0 components. It has an agent panel that reads, writes and runs code, runs external agents such as Claude Code and Codex over the Agent Client Protocol, predicts edits with an open-source model, supports MCP tools, sandboxes its own agent, and can use local models through Ollama or llama.cpp.
What does Zed do?
Zed's README introduces it as "a high-performance, multiplayer code editor from the creators of Atom and Tree-sitter." The README itself says nothing more about AI; the facts below come from the repository's own documentation under docs/src/ai, which describes three ways to work with agents. The native Zed Agent, in the Agent Panel, "can read, write, and run code in your project" for generation, refactoring, debugging and documentation. External agents such as Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, Copilot and Cursor run inside Zed over the Agent Client Protocol. Terminal threads run any agent CLI in a Zed terminal.
Models come from Zed-hosted models, your own provider keys (Anthropic, OpenAI, Google AI, Mistral, DeepSeek, xAI and compatible endpoints), existing subscriptions such as ChatGPT, Claude, GitHub Copilot and Cursor, gateways such as OpenRouter and Bedrock, or local models through llama.cpp, LM Studio, Ollama or any local OpenAI-compatible server, which Zed discovers automatically. Edit prediction, accepted with tab, defaults to Zeta, an open-source model developed by Zed, with Copilot, Mercury Coder and Codestral as alternatives; the free plan includes 2,000 Zeta predictions a month. MCP tools and prompts are supported. Zed Agent tool calls can run in an operating-system sandbox, which does not cover external agents or terminals. Inline assist, parallel agents across worktrees and commit message generation round it out.
Key facts
- Licence: "primarily under GPL-3.0-or-later, with Apache-2.0 components where marked", per the README. Counted on main on 2026-09-17: 212 crates carry LICENSE-GPL and 34 carry LICENSE-APACHE; there is no AGPL-licensed part, and the repository's own scripts refuse new AGPL crates.
- The Apache-2.0 crates are the GPUI user-interface framework, the extension API, the cloud client libraries and small utilities; the editor, the agent crates, the provider crates and the collaboration server are GPL-3.0-or-later.
- Three agent paths: the native Zed Agent, external agents over ACP (Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, Copilot, Cursor and others), and terminal threads.
- Local models: llama.cpp, LM Studio, Ollama and any local OpenAI-compatible server, with automatic discovery of served models and their context length.
- Edit prediction defaults to Zeta, an open-source model by Zed that needs sign-in; the free plan includes 2,000 predictions a month; Copilot, Mercury Coder and Codestral are alternatives.
- MCP tools and prompts are supported; discovery, sampling and elicitation are not yet.
- Zed Agent tool calls can run in an OS-level sandbox; the docs note Windows sandboxes can be weaker than Linux and macOS ones.
- Downloads for macOS, Linux and Windows; no web version. Latest tagged release when read: v1.20.2 on 2026-09-16; 90,441 stars on 2026-09-18. Zed Industries is a for-profit company and sells a Pro plan.
What does it replace, and where does it fall short?
Zed replaces Cursor and Windsurf as the editor itself: a native application with edit prediction, an agent panel and the ability to host other agents, under an open licence. Unlike an extension, it competes on the whole experience, which is why the open-source alternatives to Cursor page names it the pick for replacing the editor rather than adding to VS Code.
Where it falls short: it is a different editor, so the VS Code extension ecosystem does not carry over. The Zeta edit-prediction model needs a Zed account and its free tier has a monthly cap. No web version exists. And the README does not mention AI at all; every AI fact here comes from the repository's docs folder. A team that wants to stay in VS Code should look at Cline or Kilo Code.
How does Zed run?
Download from zed.dev for macOS, Linux or Windows, or install through a package manager; building from source has per-platform docs. For AI, sign in for Zed-hosted models and Zeta, add your own provider key, use an existing subscription, or run a local model server such as Ollama, which Zed discovers. The repository docs describe a Pro plan that removes the Zeta limit and bills models through Zed; the README states no prices.
Who is Zed for?
A developer who wants a fast native editor with agents built in and the option of local models, and is willing to leave VS Code's extensions behind. A team standardised on VS Code should add Cline, Kilo Code or twinny instead.
What limits does the README state?
From the README: a web version is not yet available. From the repository docs: under some conditions sandboxes on Windows are weaker than on Linux and macOS and may not prevent all escape attempts; MCP discovery, sampling and elicitation are not yet supported.
Questions people ask
Is Zed open source?
Yes. The README says the source is licensed primarily under GPL-3.0-or-later with Apache-2.0 components where marked, and both licences are OSI approved. On the main branch on 2026-09-17, 212 crates were GPL and 34 Apache, with no AGPL part; the repository's own checks refuse AGPL for new crates.
Can Zed use local models?
Yes. The repository docs cover llama.cpp, LM Studio, Ollama and any local OpenAI-compatible server, and say Zed discovers the served models with their context length and capabilities automatically. Edit prediction can also point at a local or self-hosted model instead of Zeta.
Can I run Claude Code or Codex inside Zed?
Yes. The docs describe external agents over the Agent Client Protocol, naming Claude, Codex, OpenCode, Copilot, Cursor and Pi Coding Agent, and terminal threads for running any agent's CLI inside a Zed terminal. Zed's own sandbox applies only to the native Zed Agent, not to those.
How does Zed compare with Cursor?
Both are editors with edit prediction and an agent panel. Zed is open source, runs local models, and hosts other agents over ACP; Cursor is proprietary with its own models and subscription. The open-source alternatives to Cursor page places Zed as the pick for replacing the editor itself.
What is Zeta?
Zed's default edit-prediction model, described in the docs as an open-source model developed by Zed. It predicts the code you are about to write and you accept it with tab. Using it requires signing in to a Zed account, and the free plan includes 2,000 predictions per month; a Pro plan removes the limit.
Sources
- Zed README, LICENSE-GPL and LICENSE-APACHE: github.com/zed-industries/zed, read 2026-09-17.
- Zed AI documentation in the repository: docs/src/ai, read 2026-09-17.
Compared with the others
On the open-source alternatives to Cursor page, Zed is the pick for replacing the editor itself. A native editor under GPL-3.0-or-later with edit prediction, an agent panel, external agents over ACP, MCP tools, sandboxing for its own agent and local models through Ollama or llama.cpp.
Also on that page: Kilo Code for autocomplete plus agent, inside vs code or jetbrains, Cline for an agent with reviewable diffs and any model, Tabby for a completion server for a whole team.
On the open-source alternatives to Windsurf page, Zed is the pick for an open editor that hosts other agents. GPL-3.0-or-later editor with edit prediction, an agent panel, and external agents such as Claude Code, Codex and OpenCode over the Agent Client Protocol.
Also on that page: Kilo Code for autocomplete plus agent in vs code or jetbrains, Cline for an agent with reviewable diffs, Tabby for team completion on your own gpu.
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Added September 17, 2026. Every claim above comes from the project's README, LICENSE or model card, read on September 17, 2026, or from the GitHub API on the date shown in the panel. Found an error? Write to reveneau@licheo.com and it is fixed in the next weekly pass. Repository: github.com/zed-industries/zed.
Running one of these inside your own environment, with your own data and your own security rules, is the kind of work Reveneau does. Read how a forward deployed engagement works.