Zed

91,192 stars — tracking started 2026-10-02. Check back in a few days for growth history.

A GPU-accelerated code editor built from scratch in Rust, with real-time multiplayer editing built into the core rather than bolted on as a plugin.

What it does

Zed is a native, GUI-first editor written entirely in Rust and rendered through GPUI, its own GPU-accelerated UI framework, rather than an Electron/web-view shell. It ships with Tree-sitter syntax highlighting, automatic Language Server Protocol support, and a built-in terminal out of the box. Its defining feature is Zed Channels: multiple people can edit the same project together in real time, with voice calls and screen sharing, by sharing a link — collaboration is a first-class part of the editor rather than a separate tool bolted on afterward. It also ships a built-in AI assistant that can call out to models such as Claude, GPT, and Gemini for code generation and refactoring. It was built by Zed Industries, a team founded by Nathan Sobo, Antonio Scandurra, and Max Brunsfeld — three of the people behind Atom and Tree-sitter at GitHub before Atom was discontinued in 2022.

Why people use it

• GPU-rendered native UI keeps scrolling, search, and startup fast even on large files and projects
• Real-time collaborative editing (shared cursors, voice, screen sharing) is built into the editor itself, not a third-party extension
• LSP and Tree-sitter support work out of the box, without hand-assembling a plugin stack
• A built-in AI assistant panel for code generation and refactoring, with a choice of model providers
• Optional Vim (and Helix-style) keybindings for people switching over from a modal terminal editor

Pros

• Genuinely fast, GPU-rendered interface rather than an Electron/web-view wrapper
• Collaborative editing is deeply integrated rather than an add-on
• Sensible defaults (LSP, Tree-sitter, terminal) work immediately after install
• Actively developed, with Rust/WASM extensions for adding new languages and frameworks

Cons

• GUI-only — unlike Vim, Neovim, or Helix, it isn't usable over a plain SSH terminal session
• Licensing is split across three files (GPL-3.0 for the editor, AGPL-3.0 for the server/collaboration code, Apache-2.0 for the GPUI framework itself), worth reading closely before redistributing or self-hosting the collaboration backend
• Some AI features require a paid plan or your own API keys for the connected model providers
• Much younger plugin/extension ecosystem than VS Code's, despite rapid growth

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