- Pick it if you are:
- Full-time professional developers; VS Code users wanting AI upgrade
- Top complaint:
- Cursor agent not working: High Load, Reconnecting and timeouts
- Price:
- Free plan, paid from $8/mo
- Pick it if you are:
- Rust and Go developers; VS Code users annoyed by slowness
- Top complaint:
- Zed not working on Linux: Vulkan and GPU errors
- Price:
- Free plan, paid from $10/mo
Score Comparison
Signals Comparison
Cursor
- Updates break functionality and corrupt data(9/10)
- File saving failures reported(8/10)
- Cursor agent not working: High Load, Reconnecting and timeouts(8/10)
Zed
- Zed not working on Linux: Vulkan and GPU errors(8/10)
- Zed blank or invisible window on Linux and WSL(7/10)
- Zed on Windows: later and rougher than macOS(7/10)
- Zed Max tokens reached error in the agent panel(5/10)
Cursor
- Remote code execution vulnerabilities documented(9/10)
- Enterprise data privacy concerns(7/10)
Zed
No signals
Cursor
- AI makes unwanted code changes autonomously(8/10)
- Extensions missing or blocked in Cursor (Open VSX, Microsoft extensions)(5/10)
- Agent auto-run can cause production disasters(9/10)
Zed
- Migrating from VS Code to Zed: settings and keymaps(5/10)
Cursor
- Why is Cursor so confusing and expensive? Usage pools and plan changes(6/10)
- Is Cursor worth it? Pricing for part-time coders and third-party models(4/10)
- Usage limit reached but the usage bar is not full(7/10)
Zed
- Is Zed Pro worth it? $10/month with only $5 of tokens(6/10)
- Zed AI usage stops when the spend limit is reached(6/10)
Cursor
- Poor customer support and censorship allegations(6/10)
Zed
- Zed language support gaps: C#, Vue and niche languages(6/10)
Cursor
- Quality reportedly declining over time(7/10)
- Slows down with large repositories(5/10)
- High memory and CPU use, freezes on large repos(7/10)
Zed
- Why is Zed using 100% CPU or freezing?(7/10)
Cursor
- MCP servers show connected but agent sees 0 tools(6/10)
Zed
- Zed extensions: why is the library so small?(7/10)
- Zed debugger and remote development less polished than VS Code(7/10)
- Zed git integration is less mature than GitLens(5/10)
- Zed AI agent less polished than Cursor(6/10)
Pricing Comparison
Cursor
Users: Individual
Limits: Limited usage, no third-party models, no cloud agents
Users: Individual
Limits: Cursor models only at fixed settings (Fast off, medium effort)
Users: Individual
Users: Individual
Limits: Weekly pool; Auto is Cost mode only on individual plans
Users: Individual
Users: Individual
Users: Individual
Users: Per user (from)
Users: Individual
Limits: Legacy plan, no longer sold to new customers
Zed
Users: 1
Storage: N/A
Limits: No Zed-hosted AI models and no hosted edit predictions, no included tokens
Users: 1
Storage: N/A
Limits: Trial lasts 14 days with $5 of one hosted model
Users: Per seat, no minimum
Storage: N/A
Limits: SSO, SAML and SCIM not yet available
Feature Comparison
| Feature | Cursor | Zed |
|---|---|---|
| Core | ||
| Multi-file editing (Composer) Signature feature, industry-leading | ||
| Inline code completions Tab completions | ||
| Debugger | ||
| AI chat interface Chat about code | ||
| SSH remote development | ||
| Vim mode | ||
| AI | ||
| Built-in AI agent | ||
| Edit predictions Hosted ones need Pro | ||
| Multiple AI models GPT-4, Claude, etc. | ||
| Custom AI models Uses provider models | ||
| Context | ||
| Codebase indexing Indexes entire repo for context | ||
| Integrations | ||
| VS Code extensions Most work, some lag | ||
| Git integration Built-in via VS Code | ||
| Security | ||
| Privacy Mode Business tier, zero data retention | ||
| SOC 2 certification Type II certified | ||
| Ecosystem | ||
| Extensions Much smaller than VS Code | ||
| VS Code extension compatibility | ||
| Enterprise | ||
| Team management Business tier | ||
| Platforms | ||
| Windows, macOS, Linux Linux needs Vulkan | ||
| Reliability | ||
| Offline mode Requires internet | ||
| Deployment | ||
| On-premises deployment Cloud only | ||
| Collaboration | ||
| Real-time collaboration Not currently available | ||
Have an app idea? Our small team builds any software: web and mobile apps, games, desktop, AI tools. Price agreed together.
Talk to us