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Zed vs Kilo Code: license, pricing and features compared (October 2026)

Zed and Kilo Code are both listed under AI coding agents. Pricing model: Zed is "Freemium"; Kilo Code is "Free and open source with usage-based inference". License: Zed is GPL-3.0 for the editor (per GitHub; some components use other licenses); Kilo Code is MIT. Zed is the better fit for: developers who want a fast editor and optional AI. Kilo Code is the better fit for: developers who want an open-source agent with many models. Facts were read from vendor and GitHub pages on Oct 25, 2026 and are Reported; what we ran ourselves is under What we measured.

Our pick: Pick Zed for developers who want a fast editor and optional AI; pick Kilo Code for developers who want an open-source agent with many models. No overall winner: we have not benchmarked them against each other. Updated (America/Chicago).

By Agentic Weekly, operated independently from Texas, US · Published · Last updated (America/Chicago) · How we work

Evidence: Reported for both tools. The facts in the tables were read from each vendor's own pages and the public GitHub API on 2026-10-25 (America/Chicago). The What we measured section says what we have not run yet; anything we could not confirm is marked as not captured.

Zed

Zed Industries

Reported

High-performance, multiplayer code editor from the creators of Atom and Tree-sitter, open source with AI optional.

Kilo Code

Kilo Code (Kilo-Org) · v7.8.17

Reported

Open-source AI coding agent for VS Code, JetBrains, CLI and Cloud, with 500+ models at zero markup or your own keys.

Side by side, from what we recorded

Each row compares one recorded fact for both tools. Rows are not weighted and nothing is added up into a score; the note under each row says what the marker means.

  • Evidence

    Reported for Zed
    Reported for Kilo Code

    Tested = we ran it (smoke test); Reported = we read official sources

  • GitHub stars

    92,184 (Zed is ahead on this row) for Zed
    27,753 for Kilo Code

    Attention, not quality. Read Oct 25, 2026 / Oct 25, 2026

  • Most recent release we saw

    Oct 25, 2026 (Zed is ahead on this row) for Zed
    Oct 23, 2026 for Kilo Code

    More recent = newer release date; says nothing about quality

  • Pricing we could verify

    Verified from official page for Zed
    Verified from official page for Kilo Code

    About our evidence only, not about the price

  • Steps in our setup guide

    2 for Zed
    2 for Kilo Code

    Counts our guide's steps, not difficulty

  • Sources we cite

    3 for Zed
    3 for Kilo Code

    How much we had to read; more is not better

A list of recorded differences, not a quality score or a ranking. We have not benchmarked these tools against each other; the smoke-test row links each tool's own log. How we label evidence.

What we measured

We have not run either Zed or Kilo Code ourselves yet, so nothing on this page is Tested; it is Reported from vendor and GitHub pages. Below is what we will run, so the comparison can rest on our own results.

Our own tests for Zed and Kilo Code
TestZedKilo Code
Hands-on test log (install and a real task)Not tested yet. What we will run: the same failing-unit-test fix in a fresh repository, scored by whether the tests pass, with wall time and tool calls.Not tested yet. What we will run: the same failing-unit-test fix in a fresh repository, scored by whether the tests pass, with wall time and tool calls.

How we test and label results: methodology. All test logs: test hub.

Zed vs Kilo Code at a glance

Zed and Kilo Code are both listed under AI coding agents. Zed: High-performance, multiplayer code editor from the creators of Atom and Tree-sitter, open source with AI optional. Kilo Code: Open-source AI coding agent for VS Code, JetBrains, CLI and Cloud, with 500+ models at zero markup or your own keys.

Zed and Kilo Code side by side (vendor pages and GitHub, 2026-10-25)
FeatureZedKilo Code
VendorZed IndustriesKilo Code (Kilo-Org)
Listed underAI coding agentsAI coding agents
LicenseGPL-3.0 for the editor (per GitHub; some components use other licenses)MIT
Pricing modelFreemiumFree and open source with usage-based inference
Free tierPersonal: $0 forever, bring your own keys or no AIFree for individuals; AI usage billed separately (free models, local models, BYOK or Kilo Gateway)
Paid plansPro $10/month with $5 of tokens included then usage-based; Business $30 per seat per monthTeams $15 per user per month; Enterprise custom
PlatformsmacOS confirmed on the pages we read; other platforms not checkedVS Code, JetBrains, CLI, cloud and a desktop app (per site)
Public repositoryzed-industries/zed: 92,184 stars, last push Oct 25, 2026 UTC (GitHub API, Oct 25, 2026)Kilo-Org/kilocode: 27,753 stars, last push Oct 25, 2026 UTC (GitHub API, Oct 25, 2026)
Latest release we sawOct 25, 2026v7.8.17, Oct 23, 2026
EvidenceReported from vendor pagesReported from vendor pages

How Zed and Kilo Code differ

  • Pricing model: Zed is "Freemium"; Kilo Code is "Free and open source with usage-based inference".
  • License: Zed is GPL-3.0 for the editor (per GitHub; some components use other licenses); Kilo Code is MIT.
  • GitHub stars on Oct 25, 2026: Zed 92,184 (zed-industries/zed) vs Kilo Code 27,753 (Kilo-Org/kilocode). Stars measure attention, not quality.
  • Free tier: Zed: Personal: $0 forever, bring your own keys or no AI. Kilo Code: for individuals; AI usage billed separately (free models, local models, BYOK or Kilo Gateway).
  • Plans and prices differ and are not like-for-like (credits, seats and usage limits vary), so we do not name a cheaper tool. The Paid plans row above quotes each vendor's plan list as read on Oct 25, 2026.

Which should you pick?

  • Pick Zed if: developers who want a fast editor and optional AI; teams that want org-wide AI controls (Business). Skip it if: you want AI built into every action by default.
  • Pick Kilo Code if: developers who want an open-source agent with many models; teams that want shared agents and centralized billing. Skip it if: you want a single-vendor model bundle with a flat monthly price.

Strengths and limits

Strengths and limits as listed on each tool page
FeatureZedKilo Code
StrengthsOpen source editor, free forever Personal plan; Bring your own keys supported; Active nightly releasesMIT license; Bring your own keys or free models; Frequent releases
LimitsBusiness plan has no bundled LLM credits and no free trial; SSO, SAML and SCIM not yet availableInference cost is separate and varies; The site promotes Cursor-related offers; check current terms yourself

What we did not verify

  • Zed: Windows and Linux support status (not read).
  • Kilo Code: Agent quality (not tested).
  • Output quality, speed and reliability beyond the smoke tests listed under What we measured: not compared.

FAQ

Is Zed or Kilo Code open source?

Zed: GPL-3.0 for the editor (per GitHub; some components use other licenses). Kilo Code: MIT. Licenses come from each project's GitHub repository or the vendor's own pages, read Oct 25, 2026; read the license text itself before redistributing or building a competing service.

Does Zed or Kilo Code have a free plan?

Zed: Personal: $0 forever, bring your own keys or no AI. Kilo Code: Free: for individuals; AI usage billed separately (free models, local models, BYOK or Kilo Gateway). Checked Oct 25, 2026; prices and limits change, so confirm on each vendor's page.

Which was updated more recently, Zed or Kilo Code?

Zed's newest release we saw is (Oct 25, 2026); Kilo Code's is v7.8.17 (Oct 23, 2026). Read Oct 25, 2026 from the official release page or repository; a newer date is not a quality ranking.

What is the main difference between Zed and Kilo Code?

Pricing model: Zed is "Freemium"; Kilo Code is "Free and open source with usage-based inference". License: Zed is GPL-3.0 for the editor (per GitHub; some components use other licenses); Kilo Code is MIT.

Sources

Page history

  • : First published. Facts read from vendor pages and the GitHub API on 2026-10-25.

Markdown version for agents: /compare/zed-vs-kilo-code.md