Zed vs Cursor
Zed is free and open source (GPL-3.0) and works with models from many providers; you pay the model provider per token. Cursor is a paid product at $8 to $200 a month. Running Zed for regular daily work costs roughly $74 a month in API fees on Claude Sonnet 5.5, or $9.25 on DeepSeek V4.1 Flash.
GitHub data updated October 18, 2026; Cursor prices verified October 18, 2026.
Side by side
| Zed | Cursor | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free; you pay for model usage | $8 to $200 a month |
| Source code | Open source (GPL-3.0) | Proprietary (Anysphere) |
| Made by | Zed Industries | Anysphere |
| Runs in | Desktop editor | Its own VS Code-based editor, a CLI and cloud agents |
| Models | Your own API keys for Anthropic, OpenAI-compatible and other providers, gateways, local models, or an existing ChatGPT, Claude or Copilot subscription | Cursor’s own Grok and Composer models; Claude, GPT and Gemini at API list price on Premium and above |
| Local models | Yes | Not officially supported |
| GitHub stars | 91,891 | — |
| Last commit | October 18, 2026 | — |
What is Zed?
A fast open-source code editor written in Rust by the creators of Atom and Tree-sitter, with a built-in agent panel and edit predictions.
Licensed mainly under GPL-3.0-or-later, with some Apache-2.0 components.
Zed on GitHub ↗Docs ↗91.9k stars
Zed on your own API key vs Cursor plans
Estimated monthly API fees for Zed, by model and usage:
| Model on your API key | Light 300 steps/mo | Regular 1,500 steps/mo | Heavy 6,000 steps/mo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Opus 5.5 | $28 | $140 | $562 |
| Claude Sonnet 5.5 | $15 | $74 | $298 |
| GPT-6.1 Sol | $14 | $70 | $281 |
| Gemini 3.8 Flash | $5.58 | $28 | $112 |
| DeepSeek V4.1 Flash | $1.85 | $9.25 | $37 |
| Claude Haiku 5.5 | $0.74 | $3.72 | $15 |
For comparison, Cursor: Plus $8/mo; Premium $30/mo; Super $100/mo; Ultra $200/mo.
Each agent step is assumed to send about 40,000 input tokens (70% read from the prompt cache) and return about 2,000 output tokens, as in our cost calculator’s coding-agent scenario. Light is about one short task a day, regular is several tasks every working day, heavy is agents running most of the day. Real usage varies with the size of your codebase and how each tool manages context, so treat these as orders of magnitude. A local model costs nothing per token but needs hardware that can run it.
Which should you pick?
- Choose Cursor if you want a flat monthly price with usage included; it runs Cursor’s own Grok and Composer models; Claude, GPT and Gemini at API list price on Premium and above.
- Choose Zed if you want to choose your own models or run local ones, pay only for the tokens you use, or read and change the source code.
- Light or occasional use? Paying per token often costs less than any plan; check your numbers in the subscription vs API calculator.
Frequently asked questions
- Is Zed free?
- Yes, Zed is free and open source under GPL-3.0. The models it calls are not: you pay your provider per token, unless you run a local model. Regular use costs roughly $74 a month on Claude Sonnet 5.5.
- Is Zed better than Cursor?
- Neither wins outright. Cursor gives you a flat monthly price ($8 to $200 a month) with usage included. Zed is better if you want to choose your own models or run local ones, pay only for the tokens you use, or read and change the source code.
- Can Zed use Claude models?
- Yes. Zed works with your own API keys for Anthropic, OpenAI-compatible and other providers, gateways, local models, or an existing ChatGPT, Claude or Copilot subscription. With an Anthropic API key you can run Claude Sonnet 5.5 or Claude Opus 5.5 and pay Anthropic’s per-token prices.
- How much does Zed cost per month?
- Zed itself costs nothing. API fees at about 1,500 agent steps a month come to roughly $140 on Claude Opus 5.5, $74 on Claude Sonnet 5.5 and $70 on GPT-6.1 Sol.
All open-source Cursor alternatives · Also compared: Cline vs Cursor.