Zed — The Complete Guide: A Very Fast Open-Source Code Editor
Zed, from Zed Industries, is a code editor built around speed. It is written in Rust, opens almost instantly and scrolls large files without lag. The editor is open source and runs on Windows, macOS and Linux.
Zed
Zed Industries
Very fast open-source code editor with built-in LSP, real-time collaborative editing and optional AI.
Get it from the vendorWhat you get
- Built-in LSP support — completion, navigation and code checking for Python, C and other languages.
- Terminal and Git — run code and manage versions from inside the editor.
- Collaborative editing — work on the same code with a colleague in real time.
- Performance — comfortable even with long data files and logs.
- AI by choice — connect a model with your own API key, or switch it off entirely.
What is free and what is paid
The editor itself is GPL-licensed and free for any use, commercial work included. The free Personal plan allows unlimited work with your own API keys and includes a limited allowance of Zed-hosted AI. Paid Pro and Business plans add edit predictions and hosted AI without that cap. If you do not use AI, you lose nothing on the free plan.
Related tools
For a larger extension library — Visual Studio Code. For that editor without telemetry — VSCodium. For keyboard-driven work in a terminal — Neovim.
Visual Studio Code
Microsoft
Free code editor with a huge extension library, built-in terminal, Git and debugger — for Python, scripts, CSV, LaTeX and more.
Get it from the vendor
VSCodium
VSCodium project
The VS Code editor as a fully open build — Python, MATLAB, C, Markdown and more, without telemetry.
Get it from the vendor
Neovim
Neovim project
A modern Vim with built-in Lua, LSP and Tree-sitter — a fast keyboard-driven editor that also works in a terminal and on remote servers.
Get it from the vendor
Pulsar
Pulsar community (pulsar-edit)
The community continuation of the discontinued Atom editor — a fully hackable code editor with a package manager, LSP and Git.
Get it from the vendorThe bottom line
Zed suits anyone who finds VS Code too heavy and is willing to give up some extensions in exchange for speed.