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Zed alternatives (2026)
Zed is a coding tool: High-performance, multiplayer code editor from the creators of Atom and Tree-sitter, with built-in AI agent editing for macOS, Linux and Windows. Pricing, as the maker states it: Open source. Its GitHub repo has 91,879 stars. We found 182 tools in the directory that do overlapping work (writing code); 134 of them are open source and 22 list a free or freemium plan. Below are the 10 closest, ranked by how many tasks and sub-tasks they share with Zed, then by GitHub stars.
Updated
Quick comparison Top 10 of 11 listed below. Pricing as the maker states it; blank means we don't have it.
| Tool | Pricing | Best for | Open source |
|---|---|---|---|
 Cursor | Freemium | Write code | |
 21st Magic MCP | Freemium | Write code | |
 ThinkRail | Open source | Write code | Yes |
 Amp | Usage-based | Write code | |
 TRAE | Paid | Write code | |
 Claude Code | Paid | Write code | |
 Cline | Open source | Write code | Yes |
 Goose | Open source | Write code | Yes |
 Oh My Pi | Open source | Write code | Yes |
 Kilo Code | Open source + cloud | Write code | Yes |
- Cursor (Freemium): AI code editor with an agent mode and background agents. Consider it because it does the same job with a different approach (freemium).
- 21st Magic MCP (Freemium): MCP server from 21st.dev that lets Cursor, Claude Code and Windsurf search and generate React and Tailwind UI components inside the editor. Consider it because it is aimed at developers who want to build on it; it also covers MCP servers.
- ThinkRail (Open source): JetBrains' lightweight agentic IDE that pairs you with the pi coding agent, with isolated git-worktree workspaces, editor tabs, terminals and diffs. Consider it because it is aimed at developers who want to build on it; it also covers code review and running many agents in parallel.
- Amp (Usage-based): Agentic coding tool for the terminal and editor. Consider it because it is a managed commercial product, if you'd rather not run it yourself; it is aimed at developers who want to build on it; it also covers terminal and CLI agents.
- TRAE (Paid): AI coding IDE and agent that works alongside you in your editor to write, edit and run code. Consider it because it is a managed commercial product, if you'd rather not run it yourself.
- Claude Code (Paid): Anthropic's terminal coding agent that edits code, runs commands and handles git. Consider it because it is a managed commercial product, if you'd rather not run it yourself; it is aimed at developers who want to build on it; it also covers terminal and CLI agents.
- Cline (Open source): Autonomous coding agent inside VS Code with step-by-step approvals. Consider it because it is aimed at developers who want to build on it; it also covers autonomous and cloud coding agents.
- Goose (Open source): Extensible open-source AI agent that installs, runs, edits and tests code on your machine with any LLM and MCP extensions. Consider it because it is aimed at developers who want to build on it.
- Oh My Pi (Open source): Terminal coding agent with IDE features wired in, from Stencil Labs. Consider it because it is aimed at developers who want to build on it; it also covers terminal and CLI agents.
- Kilo Code (Open source + cloud): Open-source AI coding agent for VS Code, JetBrains, the CLI and the cloud that works with 500+ models at no markup. Consider it because it is aimed at developers who want to build on it; it also covers terminal and CLI agents.
Zed vs alternatives at a glance
| Tool | Pricing | Open source / licence | GitHub stars | Good for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Zed | Open source | Yes | 91,879 | writing code |
| Cursor | Freemium | No | 33,283 | writing code |
| 21st Magic MCP | Freemium | ISC | 6,161 | writing code, research |
| ThinkRail | Open source | Yes | 961 | writing code, coding in the terminal |
| Amp | Usage-based | No | — | writing code, coding in the terminal |
| TRAE | Paid | No | — | writing code |
| Claude Code | Paid | Proprietary (All rights reserved; Anthropic Commercial Terms of Service) | 150,707 | writing code, coding in the terminal |
| Cline | Open source | Apache License 2.0 | 70,289 | writing code |
| Goose | Open source | Apache License 2.0 | 55,347 | writing code, connecting tools with MCP |
| Oh My Pi | Open source | MIT | 35,686 | writing code, coding in the terminal |
| Kilo Code | Open source + cloud | MIT | 27,649 | writing code, coding in the terminal |
More: Zed listing · All coding tools · All alternatives pages
Alternatives are picked from directory data only: same category plus shared tasks and sub-tasks. Pricing is as each maker states it; GitHub stars as recorded on each listing.