vioscaleAI
Comparison

Theia vs Zed

On the evidence we track, Theia leads this comparison with a composite score of 63/100. Scores are only directly comparable because these tools share a category; the full breakdown and every source is below.

Theia full profile →Zed full profile →
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★Theia63
Zed54
Score
vioscaleAI score
Theia63 / 100medium · 64%
Zed54 / 100medium · 53%
Pricing
Free tier
Theia✓
Zed✓
Model
Theiafree
Zedfreemium
Price level
Theiafree
Zedmid
Starting price
Theia–
Zed$20
Transparent
Theia✓
Zed✓
Integrations
Count
Theia3,000
Zed10
Security
Disclosure policy
Theia–
Zed✓
Gdpr
Theia–
Zed✓
Scorecard
Theia5
Zed–
Vulnerabilities
Reliability
Status page
Theia–
Zed✓
Adoption
Dependent repos
Theia324
Zed0
Github stars
Theia21,710
Zed91,706
Activity
Commits last 30d
Theia94
Zed100
Release
Cadence days
Theia12
Zed–
History
License
Spdx
TheiaEPL-2.0
Zed–
Language
Primary
Market
Availability
Content
Faq

Capabilities

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

Core
Type
TheiaFull IDE
ZedCode editor
Language scope
TheiaPolyglot
ZedPolyglot
Deployment
Deployment
TheiaBoth
ZedDesktop
Platform support
OS support
TheiaCross-platform (browser and desktop via Electron)
ZedmacOS 10.15+, Windows, Linux
Base platform
TheiaOriginal
ZedOriginal
Extensibility
Extensibility
TheiaExtension marketplace
ZedPlugins
DX
LSP / DAP support
Theia✓
Zed✓
Remote / dev-containers
Theia-
Zed✓
Integrated debugger / profiler
Theia-
Zed✓
Code intelligence depth
TheiaLSP-grade
ZedIDE-grade
Built-in git integration
Theia-
Zed✓
AI
Built-in AI
TheiaNative
ZedNative
Licensing
Openness
TheiaOpen-source
ZedOpen-source
Pricing
Pricing model
TheiaFree
ZedPer-seat subscription

What each one is

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

Theia

Leader

Theia IDE is an extensible, multi-language development environment for both cloud and desktop deployment. It combines integrated AI assistance with privacy-preserving architecture where users maintain full control over their code, data, and AI model choices.

Independently observed

Zed

An open-source IDE emphasizing speed and real-time team collaboration, with optional integrated AI features for code assistance. Runs on macOS, Windows, and Linux.

Independently observed

Pricing

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

Theia

Leader
FreeFree tier
as of verify ↗

Zed

from $20/moSubscriptionFree tier14-day trial

Free tier available. Pro at $20/month with token-based overages.

  • FreeFree
  • Pro$20/month with $5 token credits; overages at API list price + 10%
    • Unlimited accepted edit predictions
    • 500 prompts per month
    • Claude Sonnet, Claude Opus, GPT-5, Gemini 2.5 Pro/Flash
  • Pro TrialFree
as of verify ↗

Platform & deployment

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

Platforms
Web
Theia✓
Zed✗
macOS
Theia✓
Zed✓
Windows
Theia✓
Zed✓
Linux
Theia✓
Zed✓
Deployment
Cloud / SaaS
Theia✓
Zed✓
Self-hosted
Theia✓
Zed✗

Integrations

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

In common (7)
  • GitHub
  • GitHub Copilot
  • OpenAI
  • Anthropic
  • Google
  • Ollama
  • Claude Code

Theia

Leader
21 total - 14 not shared
  • Python
  • Java
  • C++
  • JavaScript
  • Go
  • YAML
  • Docker
  • ESLint
  • NPM
  • GitHub Pull Requests
  • GitLens
  • Mistral
  • HuggingFace
  • VS Code Extensions
Independently observed

Zed

15 total - 8 not shared
  • xAI
  • OpenRouter
  • AWS Bedrock
  • Claude
  • Grok
  • Gemini
  • Google Gemini
  • Gemini CLI
Independently observed
Still deciding?

Theia or Zed: which one depends on you

A composite score cannot know your constraints. Describe them and both get re-weighted against what you actually need, with the evidence behind every position.

Free to run, no account needed to start. How the evaluation works

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