# Zed Published January 1, 2026 · Updated August 10, 2026 High-performance multiplayer code editor Category: Developer Tools · Free · Replaces Sublime Text ($99) · [Official website](https://zed.dev) ## Install with Homebrew `brew install --cask zed` ## Quick take In August 2026 Zed is no longer a promising beta. It is a 1.0+ native editor with serious agent orchestration, transparent freemium AI pricing, and still-best-in-class performance on Mac. Choose it when speed, multiplayer, and multi-agent workflows matter more than VS Code's infinite marketplace. Stay on Personal with BYOK if you already buy models elsewhere; upgrade to Pro when unlimited predictions and hosted multi-model access pay for themselves. Best for: Developers who want native speed without giving up AI agents, Teams that pair-program remotely inside the editor, Vim users who want a modern graphical shell ## What is Zed? Zed is a high-performance, multiplayer code editor written in Rust by the people who created Atom. Nathan Sobo, Max Brunsfeld (creator of Tree-sitter), and Antonio Scandurra spent years at GitHub building Atom, watched it lose to VS Code, and started over with a clear thesis: an editor should be fast, multiplayer, and AI-native from the ground up. As of August 2026, Zed is fully past its 1.0 milestone (shipped 29 April 2026). The headline product story since spring is agentic editing at native speed: parallel agents in one window, Agent Client Protocol (ACP) so external agents such as Claude Agent, Codex CLI, OpenCode, and Cursor can run inside Zed, Zeta2 edit predictions, and a Business plan for org-level AI policy. Stable builds have continued weekly; community installs report releases in the 1.1x line through mid-August, with Mac, Linux, and Windows treated as first-class platforms after 1.0 parity work. The speed difference is still the first thing most people notice. Zed opens large projects in well under a second, scrolls 10,000-line files without jank, and keeps memory in a much lower band than Electron editors for the same monorepo. That comes from GPUI, the team's GPU-accelerated UI framework that paints via Metal on macOS. Collaboration remains built into the core, channels, multiple cursors, voice chat, and screen following, rather than bolted on as an extension. AI is optional but deep. Hosted models on Zed Pro currently include Claude Fable 5, Claude Opus 4.x / Sonnet 5 / Sonnet 4.x, the GPT-5.6 Sol/Terra/Luna family, GPT-5.5/5.4 variants, and Gemini 3.x Flash/Pro. Free Personal users get 2,000 accepted edit predictions plus unlimited BYOK and external agents. You can disable every AI surface if you only want a fast editor. The honest trade-off remains the extension ecosystem. It is growing via WebAssembly extensions, but it is still smaller than VS Code's marketplace. For TypeScript, Python, Rust, Go, and web stacks the daily experience is excellent; niche languages and specialized VS Code-only tooling may still require staying put or dual-driving. Operationally, treat Zed as three products that share one binary: a GPU-native editor, a multiplayer runtime, and an agent host. Many Mac users only need the first layer and should stay on Personal with AI disabled or BYOK. Teams that standardize on hosted models should budget Pro seats plus a spend cap, then graduate chatty org policies to Business when compliance asks who can send code to which vendor. Compared with May-era content that still described $20 prompt bundles and older model codenames, the August 2026 story is cheaper entry for Pro, clearer token metering, and a much stronger external-agent story. Apple Silicon Macs benefit immediately from Metal rendering; keep macOS permissions for accessibility and full-disk access only if your extensions require them. ## Features - **GPUI: Custom GPU-Accelerated UI.** Zed does not use Electron. GPUI is a Rust GPU UI framework that renders the editor via Metal on macOS (and Vulkan on Linux). Text, the file tree, panes, terminal, and command palette share one GPU pipeline, which is why ProMotion displays stay smooth and memory stays far below a typical VS Code session. - **Parallel Agents & Agent Client Protocol.** Since the April 2026 parallel-agents launch and 1.0, you can run multiple agent threads in one window, mix Zed's built-in agent with Claude Agent, Codex CLI, OpenCode, Cursor, and other ACP agents. Threads can span projects; the Threads Sidebar keeps orchestration visible without leaving the editor. Context compaction (/compact) helps long agent sessions stay inside model windows. - **Edit Predictions (Zeta2).** Zed's edit predictions suggest multi-token next edits at keystroke granularity. Personal includes 2,000 accepted predictions per month; Pro and Business unlock unlimited predictions. Hosted prediction quality is tuned for speed so it does not undo the editor's latency advantage. - **Hosted Frontier Models + BYOK.** Zed Pro hosts Claude Fable 5, Claude Opus/Sonnet 5-class models, GPT-5.6 Sol/Terra/Luna, GPT-5.5/5.4, and Gemini 3.x at API list price +10% after included credits. Bring your own keys for Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, Ollama, LM Studio, OpenRouter, Amazon Bedrock, GitHub Copilot Chat, and more, even on the free Personal plan. - **Real-Time Collaboration.** Multiplayer is still core product: join a channel, co-edit with live cursors, use built-in voice, and follow a teammate's viewport. Signaling uses Zed's servers with peer-to-peer data paths where possible. Collaboration does not require a paid AI seat. - **Tree-sitter, Vim Mode, and WASM Extensions.** Tree-sitter powers accurate mid-edit highlighting, folding, and structural selection. First-class Vim mode covers motions, text objects, registers, macros, and marks. Extensions ship as WebAssembly modules for languages, themes, and AI slash commands, sandboxed and faster to start than many Electron extension hosts. - **Debugger, Remoting, and Disable-AI Toggle.** Post-1.0 Zed matured DAP debugging for mainstream languages, native SSH remoting, WSL, and dev-container style remote workflows that used to be VS Code exclusives. Teams that want a pure editor can flip a global disable for all AI features, praised widely when 1.0 launched. ## How to Install Zed on Mac Zed is available as a direct download or via Homebrew. Current macOS builds target modern Apple Silicon and Intel Macs; use the official installer or brew cask for stable releases. 1. **Install via Homebrew.** Run `brew install --cask zed` to install the stable release into /Applications. Use `brew install --cask zed-preview` only if you want the Preview channel. 2. **Install the CLI.** Open Zed, press Cmd+Shift+P, and run 'cli: install' so `zed .` works from Terminal. 3. **Configure settings.json.** Open Settings from the command palette. Set theme, buffer font, tab size, vim_mode, and AI provider preferences. Project overrides live in `.zed/settings.json`. 4. **Connect AI (optional).** Stay on Personal with BYOK, start a Pro trial for hosted models ($20 trial credits for two weeks), or disable AI entirely in configuration if you want a pure editor. 5. **Install Extensions.** Open the Extensions panel and add language servers/grammars for your stack (Python, Go, Docker, Tailwind, etc.). ## Pros - Native Rust + GPUI speed and low memory versus Electron editors - Parallel agents and ACP integrations (Claude Agent, Codex, OpenCode, Cursor, more) - Transparent freemium AI: free BYOK or $10 Pro with $5 hosted credits - Real-time collaboration with voice built into the core - First-class Vim mode, Tree-sitter structure, and open-source core - Can fully disable AI while keeping the fast editor ## Cons - Extension ecosystem still smaller than VS Code - Hosted AI overage is easy to burn through if you do not set a spend cap - Some advanced remoting and niche language workflows remain less mature than VS Code - JSON-first settings (no full GUI settings app) - Collaboration signaling still depends on Zed infrastructure ## Deep Dive: Zed after 1.0 How GPUI, ACP, and token-based Pro pricing reshaped the Atom team's second act. ## FAQ ### Is Zed free in 2026? Yes. Personal is free forever for the full editor, collaboration, and BYOK/external agents, with 2,000 accepted edit predictions monthly. Pro ($10/mo) and Business ($30/seat/mo) add unlimited predictions and hosted-model benefits. ### Which AI models does Zed host today? Hosted lineup includes Claude Fable 5, Claude Opus 4.x and Sonnet 5/4.x, GPT-5.6 Sol/Terra/Luna, GPT-5.5/5.4 family models, and Gemini 3.x variants. Availability changes; check zed.dev/docs/ai/models. BYOK covers additional providers including local Ollama and LM Studio. ### Did Zed reach 1.0? Yes. Zed 1.0 shipped 29 April 2026 with parallel agents, stronger AI defaults, Business controls, and cross-platform parity messaging. Weekly releases continued through summer 2026. ### Can I use Claude Code or Codex inside Zed? Yes via Agent Client Protocol. Zed can host external agents, including Claude Agent, Codex CLI, OpenCode, and Cursor, as separate threads beside the built-in agent. ### Does Zed support macOS Tahoe and Apple Silicon? Yes. Native Apple Silicon builds use Metal via GPUI. Keep the app updated through brew or the in-app updater for the latest OS compatibility fixes. ### How does pricing compare to the old $20 Pro plan? Zed moved Pro to $10/month with token-based hosted usage ($5 credits included, then API+10%). Unlimited edit predictions moved to Pro; free Personal still includes a monthly prediction allowance and unlimited BYOK. ### Is Windows stable now? Windows shipped at parity with Mac/Linux around 1.0. Treat current stable builds as production-capable, but verify your language servers and GPU drivers on each machine. ## Sources - [Zed Pricing](https://zed.dev/pricing) - [Zed-Hosted Models](https://zed.dev/docs/ai/models) - [Zed is 1.0](https://zed.dev/blog/zed-1-0) - [Parallel Agents blog](https://zed.dev/blog/parallel-agents) - [Plans & Pricing docs](https://zed.dev/docs/account/plans-and-pricing) - [Zed GitHub repository](https://github.com/zed-industries/zed) - [Zed official site](https://zed.dev/) - [The Register on Zed 1.0](https://www.theregister.com/software/2026/04/30/zed-team-releases-version-10-of-rust-built-editor/5225716) - [Is Zed ready for AI power users in 2026?](https://www.builder.io/blog/zed-ai-2026) ## Related - [Cursor](https://bundl.run/apps/cursor) - [Claude Code](https://bundl.run/apps/claude-code) - [ChatGPT](https://bundl.run/apps/chatgpt) - [Claude](https://bundl.run/apps/claude) - [Codex](https://bundl.run/apps/codex) - [Windsurf](https://bundl.run/apps/windsurf) - [Zed vs Visual Studio Code](https://bundl.run/compare/zed-vs-vscode) - [Zed vs Cursor](https://bundl.run/compare/cursor-vs-zed) - [Zed vs Windsurf](https://bundl.run/compare/windsurf-vs-zed) - [Zed vs Sublime Text](https://bundl.run/compare/sublime-text-vs-zed) - [Free alternative to Sublime Text](https://bundl.run/https:/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://bundl.run/#organization", "name": "Bundl.run", "url": "https://bundl.run", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://bundl.run/og-image.png", "width": 1200, "height": 630 }, "description": "The Ninite for Mac. 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