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Cursor vs Zed
Cursor is an AI-first editor, whereas Zed combines a fast Rust core with optional AI agents.
Which to pick
Pick Cursor if you want…
- AI-driven coding assistants
- AI-first code editing
- Integrations with Slack, GitHub or Linear (on Cursor's list, not Zed's)
Pick Zed if you want…
- Fast, AI-augmented collaborative editing
- The lower starting price: $10/month against $20/month
- Open-source code (zed-industries/zed on GitHub)
- Integrations with Vim bindings, Debug Adapter Protocol (DAP) or Git (on Zed's list, not Cursor's)
Side by side
- What it is
- Cursor:Cursor is an AI-powered code editor that lets agents turn ideas into code across desktop, CLI, and integrations.
- Zed:Zed is a high-performance, Rust-based code editor with built-in AI agents and multiplayer collaboration.
- Best for
- Cursor:AI-driven coding assistants
- Zed:Fast, AI-augmented collaborative editing
- Who it’s for
- Cursor:Developers and teams who want AI assistance for coding, debugging and automation.
- Zed:Individual developers and teams needing fast editing, AI assistance, and collaborative features.
- Pricing
- Cursor:Freemium
- Zed:Freemium
- Plans
- Cursor:Hobby Free · Individual $20 / mo. per month · Teams $40 / user / mo. per month
- Zed:Personal $0 · Pro $10 per month · Business $30 per seat, per month
- Open source
- Cursor:—
- Zed:Yes, 91,166 GitHub stars
- Works with
- Cursor:Slack, GitHub, Linear, JetBrains IDEs, Vercel
- Zed:Vim bindings, Debug Adapter Protocol (DAP), Git
Cursor features
- Agentic coding. AI agents can generate, edit, and test code based on high-level prompts.
- Multi-surface support. Works in a desktop IDE, terminal CLI, Slack, GitHub, Linear and more.
- Cloud agents. Launch fleets of autonomous agents that run in parallel on cloud resources.
- Mission Control UI. Grid view of open windows for quick navigation and window management.
- Team rules & privacy. Define team conventions, enable privacy mode to prevent data training.
- Model selection. Choose from OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, SpaceXAI and Cursor models per task.
Zed features
- Multicore performance. Written in Rust to leverage multiple CPU cores and GPU for low latency editing.
- Parallel agents. Run multiple AI agents in parallel across projects for tasks like code generation and refactoring.
- Multiplayer collaboration. Chat, share screens, and edit code together in real time with teammates.
- Native Git support. Stage, commit, push, pull and view diffs directly inside the editor.
- Edit prediction. Zeta2 model predicts next code tokens, offering up to 2,000 accepted predictions on the free plan.
- Debugger (DAP). Built-in Debug Adapter Protocol support for debugging many languages.
- Vim-friendly modal editing. First-class Vim bindings with text objects and marks.
- Remote development. UI runs locally while code executes on a remote server.
Cursor vs Zed FAQ
Is Cursor or Zed free?+
Cursor has a free plan (Hobby); paid plans start at $20/month (Individual). Zed has a free plan (Personal); paid plans start at $10/month (Pro).
Which is cheaper, Cursor or Zed?+
Zed is cheaper to start with: Zed's Pro plan ($10/month) against Cursor's Individual plan ($20/month).
Is Cursor or Zed open source?+
Zed is open source (zed-industries/zed on GitHub). DevHunt has no public source repository on record for Cursor.
Do Cursor and Zed integrate with the same tools?+
Their integration lists don't overlap: Cursor lists Slack, GitHub, Linear, JetBrains IDEs and 1 more; Zed lists Vim bindings, Debug Adapter Protocol (DAP) and Git.
On DevHunt
Based on each tool's website and DevHunt data. Details may change; check the official sites.