Zed

A fast, collaborative code editor written in Rust by the creators of Atom and Tree-sitter, with built-in AI agents and support for external ones.

92.5k stars, 11.3k forks Rust On GitHub since February 2021

Visit website View on GitHub How to run it

What is Zed?

Zed is a native code editor for macOS, Linux and Windows, designed for speed: it renders the interface on the GPU and starts and searches quickly even in large projects. Collaboration is built in, so several people can edit and talk in the same project. For AI work it has an agent panel and can run external coding agents through the Agent Client Protocol, alongside inline edit predictions. It comes from the team that created Atom and Tree-sitter.

Good fit if

  • You want an editor that stays fast on large codebases.
  • You want AI agents inside the editor without an Electron app.
  • You pair-program and want real-time collaboration built in.

Look elsewhere if

  • You depend on a specific VS Code extension: Cline and Kilo Code work inside VS Code.
  • You prefer agents in the terminal: OpenCode.

Before you adopt it

Most of Zed is GPL-3.0, with some components, such as the GPUI framework, under Apache-2.0 where marked. Zed Industries requires a signed CLA from contributors. Hosted AI features are sold as a subscription, but the editor itself is free.

Drafted with AI from the project's README and repository data, then checked against that data on 30 October 2026. Report a correction

Zed health: is it still maintained?

92 of 100, actively developed

  • Activity
    1,282 commits in the last 90 days, the latest on 1 November 2026.
    30 / 30
  • Contributors
    43 people wrote the latest 100 commits; the most active wrote 23% of them.
    20 / 20
  • Releases
    8 releases in the last 12 months; the latest, v1.26.2, on 28 October 2026.
    17 / 20
  • Replies to issues
    Maintainers answered 100% of recent issues, with a median first reply after 8 hours.
    20 / 20
  • Security practices
    No OpenSSF Scorecard for this repository yet, so this part gets a neutral score.
    5 / 10

Read from GitHub on 1 November 2026. How the score works

Zed license: is it open source?

Zed uses GPL-3.0, an open-source license approved by the OSI. Contributors sign a contributor license agreement, which lets the owner relicense their work later.

  1. February 2021First published on GitHub.
  2. TodayGPL-3.0. A contributor license agreement is required.

How to run Zed yourself

Docker
Dockerfile or compose file in the repository
Compose file
compose.yml: 2 services (minio)
Setup effort
2 of 5, judged from the compose file
Kubernetes
No Helm chart in the repository
Desktop and mobile
Builds for macOS, Windows, Linux, including ARM in GitHub releases
Interface languages
English only

Install instructions: zed.dev or the README on GitHub.

Alternatives to Zed

  • CC SwitchA cross-platform desktop All-in-One assistant for Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode,DeepSeek Harness and more.… 93 health · MIT · 151k stars
  • Goosean open source, extensible AI agent that goes beyond code suggestions - install, execute, edit, and test… 85 health · Apache-2.0 · 56.1k stars
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All 27 projects in AI coding agents

Questions about Zed

Is Zed open source?

Yes. Zed is published under GPL-3.0, an OSI-approved open-source license.

Is Zed still maintained?

Its health score is 92 of 100 (actively developed). It had 1,282 commits in the last 90 days, the latest on 1 November 2026, and its latest release came out on 28 October 2026.

How do I run Zed?

You can run it with Docker, as an app for macOS, Windows, Linux, including ARM. The README on GitHub has the exact steps.

What are the alternatives to Zed?

Close alternatives in the AI coding agents category include CC Switch, Goose, Orca.