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Alex Spinov
Alex Spinov

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Zed Editor Has a Free Collaborative Code Editor — Faster Than VS Code with Built-In AI and Multiplayer

Why Zed?

Zed is a code editor built in Rust by the creators of Atom and Tree-sitter. It's 2-10x faster than VS Code, with built-in AI assistance and real-time collaboration.

Speed

Zed renders at 120fps. File opening, search, and navigation are near-instant because everything is GPU-accelerated and written in Rust.

Built-In AI

  • Inline assist: Select code, press Cmd+Enter, describe the change
  • AI panel: Chat with your codebase context
  • Multiple providers: OpenAI, Anthropic, Ollama (local)

Multiplayer (Real-Time Collaboration)

  1. Click "Share" in the title bar
  2. Send the link to your teammate
  3. Both of you edit the same files in real-time
  4. See each other's cursors, selections, and edits

No extension needed. No account sync. Just share a link.

Key Features

  • Multi-buffer editing: Open multiple files in one editor pane
  • Tree-sitter: Syntax highlighting that actually understands your code
  • Vim mode: Full vim keybinding support
  • Terminal: Integrated terminal
  • Git: Built-in git status and diff

Zed vs VS Code

Feature Zed VS Code
Speed 2-10x faster Good
RAM ~100MB 300MB+
Collaboration Built-in Live Share ext
AI Built-in Copilot ext
Extensions Growing Massive
Language Rust Electron

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