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Zed IndustriesReported

Zed: what’s new and our verdict

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

Official site

Release Ruler for Zed: marked at its Reported release date on the timeline of every AI model we track.

At a glance

Evidence
Reported
Released
Oct 25, 2026
Last verified
Oct 25, 2026
Pricing
Official page, dated
Best for
AI coding agents

Evidence and ranking

Evidence behind this verdict

  1. Sources read3 cited sources, latest fetched Oct 25, 2026. (done)
  2. Facts re-checkedLast verified Oct 25, 2026. (done)
  3. Not run by us yetWe have not run it, so this is labelled Reported. (not done)

Where we rank it (editorial)

Listed here but not yet ranked. Ranks are editorial picks, not benchmark scores.

Pricing: Read from zed.dev/pricing on 2026-10-25. Pro has a 14-day trial with $5 of usage. (checked 2026-10-25)

Our verdict

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

Good for

  • Developers who want a fast editor and optional AI
  • Teams that want org-wide AI controls (Business)

Skip if

  • You want AI built into every action by default
  • You need SSO, SAML or SCIM: the page says these are planned but not available

Status: Reported. This write-up is based on official release notes and docs; we have not run this release ourselves yet.

Best for

Key facts

Zed's homepage calls it a high-performance multiplayer code editor from the creators of Atom and Tree-sitter, 'open source, AI optional'. The repository shows the editor under GPL-3.0 with other components under other licenses. Its pricing page lists a free Personal plan and Pro at $10 a month.

  • License: GPL-3.0 for the editor (per GitHub; some components use other licenses)
  • Platforms: macOS confirmed on the pages we read; other platforms not checked
  • Pricing model: Freemium
  • Free tier: Personal: $0 forever, bring your own keys or no AI
  • Paid plans: Pro $10/month with $5 of tokens included then usage-based; Business $30 per seat per month
  • GitHub: zed-industries/zed: 92,184 stars on 2026-10-25, last push 2026-10-25
  • Latest release we saw: 2026-10-25
  • How to start: Download Zed from zed.dev/download and open a project; AI features can be switched on with your own keys or a Pro plan.
  • Latest release we saw (2026-10-25): the newest release listed on the official page or repository when we read it on 2026-10-25.

How to set it up: Get started with Zed

These steps come from the vendor's own pages as read on 2026-10-25. We have not run Zed.

  1. Get access

    Download Zed from zed.dev/download and open a project; AI features can be switched on with your own keys or a Pro plan.

  2. Check the limits and costs first

    Personal: $0 forever, bring your own keys or no AI. Paid: Pro $10/month with $5 of tokens included then usage-based; Business $30 per seat per month. Read from zed.dev/pricing on 2026-10-25. Pro has a 14-day trial with $5 of usage.

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Open source editor, free forever Personal plan
  • Bring your own keys supported
  • Active nightly releases

Cons

  • Business plan has no bundled LLM credits and no free trial
  • SSO, SAML and SCIM not yet available

Alternatives and comparisons

  • Cursor: AI code editor and agent platform with cloud agents, a CLI and its own Git hosting (Origin).
  • Windsurf (now Devin Desktop): Windsurf was renamed Devin Desktop on June 2, 2026: a full IDE with an Agent Command Center for managing local and cloud coding agents.
  • GitHub Copilot: GitHub's AI coding assistant in the editor, the CLI, GitHub.com and an agent app.
  • Cline: Open-source coding agent as an IDE extension, a CLI and an SDK.

See all alternatives to Zed

FAQ

What is Zed?

Zed's homepage calls it a high-performance multiplayer code editor from the creators of Atom and Tree-sitter, 'open source, AI optional'. The repository shows the editor under GPL-3.0 with other components under other licenses. Its pricing page lists a free Personal plan and Pro at $10 a month.

Is Zed free?

Personal: $0 forever, bring your own keys or no AI. Paid: Pro $10/month with $5 of tokens included then usage-based; Business $30 per seat per month. Read from zed.dev/pricing on 2026-10-25. Pro has a 14-day trial with $5 of usage. Checked 2026-10-25; prices change, so confirm on the vendor's page.

What license is Zed under?

Its license: GPL-3.0 for the editor (per GitHub; some components use other licenses). Read from the project's own pages on 2026-10-25.

What we have not verified

  • Windows and Linux support status (not read)
  • Agent quality (not tested)

Sources

Last verified · Agentic Weekly

  • Amazon Q Developer: AWS's AI coding assistant for IDEs and the CLI, with a free tier and a $19 Pro tier; IDE plugin support ends April 30, 2027.
  • Augment Code: Coding agent and 'Cosmos' platform with a Context Engine, CLI and cloud agents; plans are flat team prices with usage included.
  • Devin: Cognition's autonomous software engineer: a cloud coding agent that tests in its own browser and aims to hand back a mergeable pull request.

How to cite this page

Agentic Weekly, "Zed: what's new, verdict & setup", last updated 2026-10-25, https://theagenticweekly.com/tools/zed

Keep the Reported or Tested label when you quote a verdict. Plain-text version: https://theagenticweekly.com/tools/zed.md. More for AI assistants: /ai, /tools.json, /llms.txt.