Visual Studio Code vs Zed: Rating, Votes and Features
- Pricing: Visual Studio Code — Free; Zed — Free, with paid plans.
- License: Visual Studio Code — MIT (Code - OSS); Zed — GPL-3.0.
Visual Studio Code — November 2026: 3 votes, rating 6.5/10.
Zed — November 2026: 4 votes, rating 7.0/10.
| Visual Studio Code | Zed | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | IDE | IDE |
| Developer | Microsoft | Zed Industries |
| Created by | Erich Gamma | Nathan Sobo, Antonio Scandurra, Max Brunsfeld |
| First release | 2015 | 2023 |
| License | MIT (Code - OSS) | GPL-3.0 |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Pricing | Free | Free, with paid plans |
| Website | https://code.visualstudio.com | https://zed.dev |
| Kind | Code editor | Code editor |
| Written in | TypeScript (Electron) | Rust |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux, web | macOS, Linux, Windows |
| Extension ecosystem | 5 of 5 | 3 of 5 |
| AI assistance | Built in | Built in |
| Language servers (LSP) | Yes | Yes |
| Remote development | Yes | Yes |
| Built-in debugger | Yes | Yes |
| Best for | Almost any language | Almost any language |
| Resource use | Medium | Light |