Zed in our research
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AI Agent Pricing Index, October 2026
Price in Coding agents
$10a month
Cheaper than 15 of the other 21 agents with a monthly price.
Price checked 29 September 2026.
What we checked on Zed
Writes code
The Agent Panel authors and edits code from a written task description, with the agent gathering its own context and writing files through edit_file and write_file tools.
Describe the task, the agent does the rest: discovering context, editing files, and staying on track until it's done.
zed.dev/aiChecked
Debugs and fixes
Vendor names debugging as a core Agent Panel use, and the agent has a diagnostics tool that pulls language-server errors per file or project-wide to drive the fix.
It's the core of Zed's AI code editing experience — use it for code generation, refactoring, debugging, documentation, and general questions.
zed.dev/docs/ai/agent-panelChecked
Reviews code
Review is aimed at the agent's own diff, accepted or rejected hunk by hunk in a multibuffer; nothing in the docs describes reviewing a pull request another person wrote.
Review the agent's work in an editable unified diff. Accept or reject all changes before committing them.
zed.dev/aiChecked
Whole-codebase work
The agent searches the repository with grep and find_path and can spawn subagents for parallel investigation, but Zed asks you to supply context explicitly and documents no repository-wide index.
The agent can search your codebase to find relevant context, but providing it explicitly improves response quality and reduces latency.
zed.dev/docs/ai/agent-panelChecked
Ships it
There is no deployment feature; the agent stops at a reviewable diff, though its terminal tool can execute any shell command you permit, which is how a deploy script would run.
Executes shell commands and returns the combined output, creating a new shell process for each invocation.
zed.dev/docs/ai/tools.mdChecked
Done-for-you service
Zed sells software you download and run yourself; the plans page offers only self-serve subscriptions, with sales contact reserved for larger order forms.
No minimum. Business is self-serve and available to organizations of any size. Month-to-month plans are available to everyone. Order form contracts…
zed.dev/pricingChecked
Runs autonomously
The agent works a task through to completion on its own, but permission-gated tool calls default to asking first, so unattended running requires setting tool_permissions.default to allow.
"confirm" (default) — Prompts for approval before running any tool action, including MCP tool calls
zed.dev/docs/ai/mcpChecked
Multi-agent
A parent agent can delegate to subagents with their own context windows, and separate threads run concurrently, optionally isolated in their own Git worktrees.
Spawns a subagent with its own context window to perform a delegated task. Useful for running parallel investigations, completing self-contained…
zed.dev/docs/ai/tools.mdChecked
Agent permissions
Permissions are per tool and pattern-based, with allow, deny and confirm rules, plus hardcoded rules for recursive deletes that no setting can override.
Configure which Agent Panel tools run automatically and which require your approval.
Claude
The pricing page's FAQ says you can bring your own Anthropic API keys, and the Personal plan card names Claude Agent as a supported external agent; it does not say Claude is among the Zed-hosted models on Pro.
You can use Zed-hosted AI at standard usage rates, or bring your own API keys from Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, and others – in which case spend goes…
zed.dev/pricingChecked
GPT
GPT models are reachable both as Zed-hosted inference (GPT-6 Luna is the trial's hosted model) and through your own OpenAI key, per the pricing page FAQ answers on trials and bring-your-own keys.
We offer a 14-day free trial of Pro with $5 of GPT-6 Luna usage and unlimited accepted edit predictions.
zed.dev/pricingChecked
Open models
Open-weight models run locally through llama.cpp, Ollama or LM Studio, or any local OpenAI-compatible server; the docs walk through pulling and selecting such a model.
Use local models when you run the model on your machine or on infrastructure you control.
Model choice
You choose the model from a selector and can route through Zed hosting, your own API keys, an existing subscription, a gateway or a local server.
Use this page to choose which models power the Zed Agent and other Zed-owned AI features
In your editor
Zed is itself the editor: the agent lives in a panel beside the buffers, and edits stream into the same window you are working in.
Smoothly collaborate with agents in Zed, editing files, navigating code, and running tools at the speed of the editor itself.
zed.dev/aiChecked
On the command line
The zed CLI opens files and can be driven from scripts, but it launches the editor rather than running an agent headlessly; agent CLIs instead run as Terminal Threads inside Zed.
Use Zed's command-line interface (CLI) to open files and directories, integrate with other tools, and control Zed from scripts.
In your pipeline
Zed's own inventory of agent paths is three, and each runs inside the editor's Agent Panel, Threads Sidebar or terminal; no pull-request or CI runner surface is offered.
Zed supports three agent paths. Choose the path based on how you want agentic work to run.
zed.dev/docs/ai/agents.mdChecked
In a browser
The only web surface is the organisation dashboard for admin controls, usage and billing; coding and the agent happen in the installed desktop app, not a browser.
Admin controls are available to owners and admins in the organization dashboard at dashboard.zed.dev.
Self-hosted
Models and edit prediction can run on hardware you control and the editor builds from source, but Zed's hosted AI, collaboration and org dashboard remain Zed-operated services.
Connect models through Ollama and keep everything on your hardware. Nothing leaves your machine.
zed.dev/aiChecked
Open source
The vendor states the editor, its Zeta edit-prediction model and the ACP agent protocol are all open source and developed in public on GitHub.
Zed, Zeta, and ACP are all open source. The editor, the model, and the protocol, built in public.
zed.dev/aiChecked
How it meters
Two units at once: a per-seat monthly subscription, and hosted model usage metered per token at provider list price plus ten percent beyond the included credit.
Usage of Zed's hosted models is measured on a token basis, converted to dollars at the rates listed on Zed-Hosted Models (list price from the…
Free credit
$5 of free usage, a month.
$5 of tokens included … Once you use up your included monthly credits, you'll be billed for additional token usage at API list price +10%.
zed.dev/pricingChecked
Free tier
A standing $0 Personal plan is downloadable with no call and no card, covering the editor plus unlimited use of your own API keys or external agents; Zed-hosted AI is what the paid Pro plan adds.
PERSONAL $0 forever The next-generation code editor. Free forever. Unlimited use with your API keys or external agents like Claude Agent, Codex CLI,…
zed.dev/pricingChecked
API access
No public REST API for the product is documented; programmatic use is limited to the zed CLI from scripts and to extensions and ACP agent integrations built against Zed.
On the page: CLI Reference, opening line
MCP server
MCP runs one way only: Zed is the client that consumes external MCP servers and forwards them to agents, and the docs describe no MCP server exposing Zed to another agent.
Zed uses the Model Context Protocol to interact with context servers.
zed.dev/docs/ai/mcpChecked
Bring your own key
Bring-your-own-key is a first-class path on every plan including the free one, with keys stored in the system keychain rather than settings.json.
We currently support Amazon Bedrock, Anthropic, GitHub Copilot, Deepseek, Google AI, LM Studio, Mistral, Ollama, OpenAI, OpenRouter, Vercel, and more.
zed.dev/pricingChecked
A company can buy it
The Business plan is bought by an organisation, is self-serve with no seat minimum, and order-form contracts open up at twenty-five seats and above.
On the page: FAQ, 'Is there a minimum seat count for Business?'
zed.dev/pricingChecked
Seat model
Business is priced per seat at $30 per seat per month with no minimum seat count and self-serve month-to-month billing; order-form contracts only begin at 25+ seats, so there is a floor for contracts but not for buying.
On the page: FAQ, "Is there a minimum seat count for Business?"
zed.dev/pricingChecked
Pooled budget
Business pools AI spend under one org-wide limit and a single invoice, but seats carry no bundled credit allotment, so the shared pool is spend, not an allowance.
Business seats don't bundle a fixed LLM credit allotment. You can use Zed-hosted AI at standard usage rates, or bring your own API keys
zed.dev/pricingChecked
Admin controls
Business admins can disable hosted models by model, turn off edit predictions and lock data sharing, but the controls do not reach BYOK, gateways, local models, external agents or extensions.
These controls don't cover bring-your-own-key (BYOK) configurations, gateways, local or self-hosted models, External Agents, Terminal Threads, or…
Audit log
Zed's own account of Business admin capability covers AI feature availability, data egress and spend tracking; no administrative audit or activity log is documented anywhere in the Business docs.
Administrators control which AI features are available, what data leaves your environment, and how AI spend is tracked.
Single sign-on
Zed states plainly that enterprise identity is not there yet; members authenticate via GitHub after accepting an invitation instead.
SSO, SAML, and SCIM are planned but not currently available.
zed.dev/pricingChecked
Opt out of training
Nothing is retained or trained on unless you rate a response or opt into training collection; on Business both are off by default and members cannot opt in.
Zed only retains AI data when you explicitly share feedback or opt in to training data collection.
Data residency
Zed's websites, software and service are hosted in the United States, with EEA/UK transfers under Standard Contractual Clauses.
Our websites, products, and services are hosted in the United States
zed.dev/privacy-policyChecked
Getting out
Threads can be opened and copied out as Markdown, and monthly included credit resets rather than accumulating, but no bulk account data export is documented.
Monthly included credit resets on your monthly billing date.
Certifications
Certification is in progress rather than held: Zed reports working toward SOC2 Type 1 and points compliance questions at sales, with no ISO or GDPR attestation published.
Zed is working toward SOC2 Type 1 certification.
zed.dev/docs/soc2.mdChecked
Zed price and terms
Terms
- Free plan
- YesYesPersonal plan is $0 forever: "The next-generation code editor
The terms in full
Free forever." with "Unlimited use with your API keys or external agents" but no Zed-hosted AI. Separately, Pro has a 14-day free trial with $5 of GPT-6 Luna usage and no credit card required.
What needs a higher plan
- Business
- Seat model, Pooled budget, Admin controls
For AI agents
- MCP server
- No
- API
- Partly
Pricing page, captured
zed.dev/pricing, checked
Zed alternatives
All 9 alternatives- This spot is openBe the first agent people see on Zed's page.
- First on your rivals' pages
- Top of your category
- First in the home page list
- First in search results
- In comparisons and guides
- In the weekly newsletter
- Visits and AI reads each month
7 more alternatives
All 9 publish a price.
- Muse CodeFrom $5 a monthMeta's terminal and CI coding agent, built on the Muse Spark model.
- Google Antigravity CLIFree, then $30 a seat a monthTerminal agent (agy) that runs Google Antigravity coding agents and parallel subagents.
- OpenCodeFree, then $10 a monthOpen source AI coding agent for the terminal, desktop, IDE and browser, with any LLM provider.
- LettaFree, then $20 a monthStateful agent harness, cloud and SDK for agents with persistent, git-versioned memory.
Questions about Zed
- How much does Zed cost?
- Zed is free to use. From zed.dev/pricing, checked 24 October 2026.
- Does Zed have an API or an MCP server?
- It has a limited API. It has no MCP server.
- Is Zed open source, and can you host it yourself?
- It is open source. You can host part of it yourself.
- What have we checked on Zed?
- 35 facts, under these headings: What it does, how much it does unattended, which models it runs on, where you use it, whose machine it runs on, what it costs to run, buying it for a team, what happens to your code.
- How do we check Zed?
- We hold 35 facts on Zed, quoted from 38 pages. Facts and price last checked 24 October 2026.
Sources and changes
Last changed
Sources38
- zed.dev/pricing
- zed.dev/ai
- zed.dev/docs/ai/agent-panel
- zed.dev/docs/account/plans-and-pricing.md
- zed.dev/docs/ai/tools.md
- zed.dev/docs/ai/tools
- zed.dev/docs/business/admin-controls
- zed.dev/docs/account/plans-and-pricing
- zed.dev/docs/account/zed-hosted-models
- zed.dev/docs/account/zed-hosted-models.md
- zed.dev/docs/ai/agent-panel.md
- zed.dev/docs/ai/agents.md
- zed.dev/docs/ai/mcp
- zed.dev/docs/ai/mcp.md
- zed.dev/docs/ai/parallel-agents
- zed.dev/docs/ai/use-a-local-model
- zed.dev/docs/ai/use-a-local-model.md
- zed.dev/docs/reference/cli.md
- zed.dev/privacy-policy
- zed.dev/docs/ai/agents
- zed.dev/docs/ai/llm-providers.md
- zed.dev/docs/ai/overview
- zed.dev/docs/ai/parallel-agents.md
- zed.dev/docs/ai/privacy-and-security
- zed.dev/docs/ai/privacy-and-security.md
- zed.dev/docs/ai/terminal-threads
- zed.dev/docs/ai/tool-permissions
- zed.dev/docs/ai/tool-permissions.md
- zed.dev/docs/ai/zed-agent
- zed.dev/docs/business/admin-controls.md
- zed.dev/docs/business/overview
- zed.dev/docs/getting-started.md
- zed.dev/docs/git.md
- zed.dev/docs/installation
- zed.dev/docs/installation.md
- zed.dev/docs/soc2
- zed.dev/docs/soc2.md
- api.github.com/repos/zed-industries/zedRepository
Written about it elsewhere1
Repository30 August 2026
- Stars
- 89,447
- Forks
- 10,332
- Last push
- 30 August 2026
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