Zed AIVS
Zed AI vs Windsurf IDE
An in-depth comparison of Zed AI and Windsurf IDE — pricing, features, ratings, and more.
Zed AI4.7
★★★★★
26 reviews
4.9
★★★★★
164 reviews
Higher ratedSide-by-Side Comparison
Zed AICategory
AI Coding Assistant
AI Coding Assistant
Pricing
freemium
Free tier; Pro at $15/month; Teams at $35/user/month
Pricing model
freemium
freemium
Rating
4.7 ★
4.9 ★
Reviews
26
164
Platforms
macOS, Linux
Windows, macOS, Linux
API Access
✗ No
✗ No
Open Source
✓ Yes
✗ No
Key Features
Zed AI- ✓ Rust-powered native performance
- ✓ Multi-LLM AI support (Claude, GPT, Gemini)
- ✓ Real-time collaborative editing
- ✓ Open source (GPL)
- ✓ Inline AI code generation
- ✓ Cascade agentic AI
- ✓ Multi-file code editing
- ✓ Terminal command execution
- ✓ Codebase understanding
- ✓ VS Code compatible
- ✓ Multiple AI models
- ✓ Flows for automation
Pros & Cons
Zed AIPros
- + Extremely fast — native performance
- + Open source
- + Collaborative editing built-in
Cons
- − Less mature plugin ecosystem than VS Code
- − macOS-first development
Pros
- + Cascade is very capable autonomously
- + Good VS Code compatibility
- + Free to start
- + Fast and responsive
Cons
- − Cascade can make mistakes requiring review
- − Newer than Cursor
- − Credits can run out quickly on free tier