Comparison

Emacs vs Zed

On the evidence we track, Zed leads this comparison with a composite score of 57/100. Scores are only directly comparable because these tools share a category; the full breakdown and every source is below.

Emacs full profile →Zed full profile →

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Emacs36

★Zed57

Attribute comparison across 2 tools
Attribute	Emacs	ZedLeader
Vioscale score	36 / 100medium · 53%	57 / 100medium · 57%
Pricing
Free tierpricing.free_tier	✓	✓
Modelpricing.model	open_source	commercial
Price levelpricing.price_level	free	low
Transparentpricing.transparent	✓	✓
Integrations
Countintegrations.count	2	9
Security
Disclosure policysecurity.disclosure_policy	-	✓
Gdprsecurity.gdpr	-	✓
Scorecardsecurity.scorecard	3.2	-
Vulnerabilitiessecurity.vulnerabilities	Count: 0 · Source: https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2Femacs-mirror%2Femacs&per_page=100 · Last 12m: 0	Count: 0 · Source: https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=cargo&package_name=perf-gpui-standalone&per_page=100 · Last 12m: 0
Reliability
Status pagereliability.status_page	-	✓
Adoption
Dependent reposadoption.dependent_repos	0	0
Github starsadoption.github_stars	5,170	89,264
Activity
Commits last 30dactivity.commits_last_30d	100	100
Release
Historyrelease.history	-	20 items
License
Spdxlicense.spdx	GPL-3.0	-
Language
Primarylanguage.primary	Emacs Lisp	Rust
Market
Availabilitymarket.availability	-	Available worldwide · Popular in US

Score

Vioscale score

Emacs36 / 100medium · 53%

Zed57 / 100medium · 57%

Pricing

Free tier

Emacs✓

Zed✓

Model

Emacsopen_source

Zedcommercial

Price level

Emacsfree

Zedlow

Transparent

Emacs✓

Zed✓

Integrations

Count

Emacs2

Zed9

Security

Disclosure policy

Emacs–

Zed✓

Gdpr

Emacs–

Zed✓

Scorecard

Emacs3.2

Zed–

Vulnerabilities

EmacsCount: 0 · Source: https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2Femacs-mirror%2Femacs&per_page=100 · Last 12m: 0

ZedCount: 0 · Source: https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=cargo&package_name=perf-gpui-standalone&per_page=100 · Last 12m: 0

Reliability

Status page

Emacs–

Zed✓

Adoption

Dependent repos

Emacs0

Zed0

Github stars

Emacs5,170

Zed89,264

Activity

Commits last 30d

Emacs100

Zed100

Release

History

Emacs–

Zed20 items

License

Spdx

EmacsGPL-3.0

Zed–

Language

Primary

EmacsEmacs Lisp

ZedRust

Market

Availability

Emacs–

ZedAvailable worldwide · Popular in US

Capabilities

Feature-by-feature on the axes that matter for ides & code editors. “-” means undocumented, not absent.

Capability comparison for IDEs & Code Editors
Capability	Emacs	Zed
Core
Type	Terminal editor	Code editor
Language scope	Polyglot	Polyglot
Deployment
Deployment	Desktop	Desktop
Platform support
OS support	GNU/Linux, Windows, macOS, BSD, Haiku, Android	macOS 10.15+, Windows, Linux
Base platform	Original	Original
Extensibility
Extensibility	Plugins	Plugins
DX
LSP / DAP support	✓	✓
Remote / dev-containers	✗	✓
Integrated debugger / profiler	✓	-
Code intelligence depth	LSP-grade	IDE-grade
Built-in git integration	✗	✓
AI
Built-in AI	None	Native
Licensing
Openness	Open-source	Open-source
Pricing
Pricing model	Free	-

Core

Type

EmacsTerminal editor

ZedCode editor

Language scope

EmacsPolyglot

ZedPolyglot

Deployment

EmacsDesktop

ZedDesktop

Platform support

OS support

EmacsGNU/Linux, Windows, macOS, BSD, Haiku, Android

ZedmacOS 10.15+, Windows, Linux

Base platform

EmacsOriginal

ZedOriginal

Extensibility

EmacsPlugins

ZedPlugins

LSP / DAP support

Emacs✓

Zed✓

Remote / dev-containers

Emacs✗

Zed✓

Integrated debugger / profiler

Emacs✓

Zed-

Code intelligence depth

EmacsLSP-grade

ZedIDE-grade

Built-in git integration

Emacs✗

Zed✓

Built-in AI

EmacsNone

ZedNative

Licensing

Openness

EmacsOpen-source

ZedOpen-source

Pricing

Pricing model

EmacsFree

Zed-

What each one is

The product in its own terms, so the numbers below have context.

Emacs

A free and open-source text editor built on a Lisp interpreter that enables extensive customization through Lisp code. It combines core text editing with broader functionality including project planning, email and news reading, debugging, calendar, and IRC capabilities.

Independently observed

Zed

Leader

A minimal code editor built for fast, responsive coding and seamless collaboration. Includes built-in AI features with multiple model options, real-time code collaboration with teammates, and agent integration for automated editing and navigation.

Independently observed

Pricing

List pricing as published by each vendor, with the date we read it. Always verify at the source before you buy.

Emacs

Open sourceFree tier

Free and open source

as of 2026-08-13verify ↗

Zed

Leader

from $0.10/moHybridFree tier14-day trial

Free tier available. Pro at $10/month with $5 token credits included; token-based billing for additional AI usage at API list price + 10%.

FreeFree
- 2,000 accepted edit predictions
- 50 Zed-hosted prompts per month
Pro$10/month with $5 token credits; overage at API list price + 10%
- Unlimited accepted edit predictions
- $5 of token credits included
- Additional usage at API list price + 10%
- Claude Sonnet and Claude Opus
- GPT-5 + mini/nano
- +1 more
Pro TrialFree
- Unlimited accepted edit predictions
- $20 of token credits

as of 2026-08-14verify ↗

Platform & deployment

Where each product runs and how it can be hosted. A dash means undocumented, not unsupported.

Platform and deployment support comparison
Supports	Emacs	Zed
AndroidPlatforms	✓	✗
macOSPlatforms	✓	✓
WindowsPlatforms	✓	✓
LinuxPlatforms	✓	✓
CLIPlatforms	✓	✗
Cloud / SaaSDeployment	✗	✓
Self-hostedDeployment	✓	✗
HybridDeployment	✗	✓

Platforms

Android

Emacs✓

Zed✗

macOS

Emacs✓

Zed✓

Windows

Emacs✓

Zed✓

Linux

Emacs✓

Zed✓

CLI

Emacs✓

Zed✗

Deployment

Cloud / SaaS

Emacs✗

Zed✓

Self-hosted

Emacs✓

Zed✗

Hybrid

Emacs✗

Zed✓

Integrations

What each product connects to. Counts come from the vendor's own integration directory where one exists.

Emacs

2 total

Tree-Sitter
EditorConfig

Independently observed

Zed

Leader

9 total

Anthropic
OpenAI
Google
xAI
GitHub
GitHub Copilot
OpenRouter
AWS Bedrock
Ollama

Independently observed

Comparison generated from independently-sourced facts. Every value links to its source and retrieval date. See the method.