# Visual Studio vs Zed

| Attribute | Visual Studio | Zed |
|---|---|---|
| **vioscaleAI score** | 50.4 (55% (medium)) | 54.3 (53% (medium)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | - | 100 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | - | 0 |
| adoption.github_stars | - | 91,706 |
| content.faq | `[{"answer":"Comprehensive integrated development environment for .NET and C++ development with AI-powered assistance, integrated debugging, testing, and CI/CD integration. Available as Visual Studio IDE for Windows and macOS, plus Visual Studio Code for cross-platform web development. It is indexed under IDEs & Code Editors.","source":"https://visualstudio.microsoft.com","question":"What is Visual Studio?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Visual Studio offers a free tier, so you can start without paying. Paid plans start at $45 per user per month. Prices are published openly on the vendor's own pricing page. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://visualstudio.microsoft.com","question":"Is Visual Studio free?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Visual Studio supports Windows, macOS and Linux. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://visualstudio.microsoft.com","question":"What platforms does Visual Studio support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Visual Studio can be deployed self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://visualstudio.microsoft.com","question":"Can Visual Studio be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6}]` | `[{"answer":"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. It is indexed under IDEs & Code Editors.","source":"https://zed.dev/blog/pricing-change-llm-usage-is-now-token-based","question":"What is Zed?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Zed offers a free tier, so you can start without paying. Paid plans start at $0.10. Prices are published openly on the vendor's own pricing page. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://zed.dev/blog/pricing-change-llm-usage-is-now-token-based","question":"Is Zed free?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Zed supports Windows, macOS and Linux. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://zed.dev/blog/pricing-change-llm-usage-is-now-token-based","question":"What platforms does Zed support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Not fully, on what we have confirmed. Zed is offered as cloud / SaaS and hybrid, and a hybrid deployment usually means some components can run on your own infrastructure while the rest stays vendor-hosted. We have not confirmed a completely self-hosted option, so check with the vendor if that is a requirement.","source":"https://zed.dev/blog/pricing-change-llm-usage-is-now-token-based","question":"Can Zed be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 8 integrations for Zed, including Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, xAI, GitHub, OpenRouter, AWS Bedrock and Ollama. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://zed.dev/blog/pricing-change-llm-usage-is-now-token-based","question":"What does Zed integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have independently confirmed GDPR for Zed. Certifications we do not list are ones we have not been able to verify from public sources, which is not the same as Zed not holding them. Always confirm compliance directly before you rely on it.","source":"https://zed.dev/blog/tagged/security","question":"What security certifications does Zed have?","confidence":0.7},{"answer":"Zed is available worldwide. Its primary market is the United States.","source":"https://zed.dev/blog/pricing-change-llm-usage-is-now-token-based","question":"Where is Zed available?","confidence":0.5}]` |
| deployment.options | `{"self_hosted":true}` | `{"cloud":true}` |
| description.long | An integrated development environment providing tools for coding, debugging, testing, and deploying software across multiple programming languages and platforms, with support for cloud services, version control, and AI-assisted development. | 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. |
| features.capabilities | `{"type":"full_ide","builtin_ai":"native","deployment":"desktop","os_support":"Windows, macOS, Linux","remote_dev":true,"open_source":"closed","base_platform":"original","extensibility":"marketplace","language_scope":"polyglot","git_integration":true,"code_intelligence":"ide_grade","integrated_debugger":true}` | `{"type":"code_editor","lsp_dap":true,"builtin_ai":"native","deployment":"desktop","os_support":"macOS 10.15+, Windows, Linux","remote_dev":true,"open_source":"oss","base_platform":"original","extensibility":"plugins","pricing_model":"subscription","language_scope":"polyglot","git_integration":true,"code_intelligence":"ide_grade","integrated_debugger":true}` |
| integrations.count | 5 | 10 |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"GitHub"},{"name":"Azure"},{"name":"GitHub Actions","native":true,"category":"ci_cd","direction":"bidirectional"},{"name":"Application Insights","native":true,"category":"monitoring","direction":"inbound"},{"name":"Team Foundation Server","native":true,"category":"version_control","direction":"bidirectional"}]` | `[{"name":"Anthropic"},{"name":"OpenAI"},{"name":"Google"},{"name":"xAI"},{"name":"GitHub"},{"name":"GitHub Copilot"},{"name":"OpenRouter"},{"name":"AWS Bedrock"},{"name":"Ollama"},{"name":"Claude","native":true,"category":"ai","direction":"bidirectional"},{"name":"Grok","native":true,"category":"ai","direction":"bidirectional"},{"name":"Gemini","native":true,"category":"ai","direction":"bidirectional"},{"name":"Google Gemini","native":true},{"name":"Gemini CLI","native":false},{"name":"Claude Code","native":false}]` |
| language.primary | - | Rust |
| market.availability | `{"primaryMarkets":["US"],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | `{"primaryMarkets":["US"],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| platform.support | `{"windows":true}` | `{"mac":true,"linux":true,"windows":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"hybrid","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"Community","summary":"Free","features":["Full IDE capabilities for .NET and C++ development"],"description":"Best comprehensive IDE for .NET and C++ developers on Windows","contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"Professional standard","summary":"$99.99/user/mo (paid annually), renews at $66.59/user/mo","features":["Visual Studio Professional","Azure DevOps (Basic plan)","$50 Azure credit per month","Basic dev/test software","Training and support"],"commitment":"annual","components":[{"kind":"per_unit","unit":"seat","amount":99.99,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"Enterprise standard","summary":"$499.92/user/mo (paid annually), renews at $214.09/user/mo","features":["Visual Studio Enterprise","Azure DevOps (Basic + Test plan)","$150 Azure credit per month","Premium dev/test software","Extended training and support","Power BI Pro"],"commitment":"annual","components":[{"kind":"per_unit","unit":"seat","amount":499.92,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"Professional monthly","summary":"$45/user/mo","features":["Visual Studio Professional","Azure DevOps (Basic plan)"],"commitment":"monthly","components":[{"kind":"per_unit","unit":"seat","amount":45,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"Enterprise monthly","summary":"$250/user/mo","features":["Visual Studio Enterprise","Azure DevOps (Basic + Test plan)"],"commitment":"monthly","components":[{"kind":"per_unit","unit":"seat","amount":250,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"contactSales":false}],"summary":"Free Community edition; subscriptions from $45/user/mo to $499.92/user/mo","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://visualstudio.microsoft.com","retrievedAt":"2026-08-03T20:23:24.983Z","startingPrice":{"amount":45,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},"billingPeriods":["month","year"]}` | `{"type":"subscription","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"Free","summary":"Free","contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"Pro","summary":"$20/month with $5 token credits; overages at API list price + 10%","features":["Unlimited accepted edit predictions","500 prompts per month","Claude Sonnet, Claude Opus, GPT-5, Gemini 2.5 Pro/Flash"],"commitment":"monthly","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":20,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"edit_predictions":"unlimited","prompts_per_month":"500","token_credits_per_month":"$5"}},{"free":true,"name":"Pro Trial","summary":"Free for 14 days","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"duration_days":"14","token_credits":"$20"}}],"summary":"Free tier available. Pro at $20/month with token-based overages.","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://zed.dev/blog/pricing-change-llm-usage-is-now-token-based","retrievedAt":"2026-10-14T11:29:44.756Z","freeTrialDays":14,"startingPrice":{"amount":20,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},"billingPeriods":["month"]}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | freemium | freemium |
| pricing.price_level | low | mid |
| pricing.starting_price | - | `{"amount":20,"currency":"USD"}` |
| pricing.transparent | no | yes |
| release.history | - | `[{"url":"https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/releases/tag/v1.24.2-pre","date":"2026-10-12T19:35:15Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.24.2-pre"},{"url":"https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/releases/tag/v1.23.3","date":"2026-10-12T18:38:29Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.23.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/releases/tag/v1.24.1-pre","date":"2026-10-07T18:28:21Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.24.1-pre"},{"url":"https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/releases/tag/v1.23.2","date":"2026-10-07T18:27:26Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.23.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/releases/tag/v1.23.1-pre","date":"2026-09-30T18:26:15Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.23.1-pre"},{"url":"https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/releases/tag/v1.22.0","date":"2026-09-30T16:03:00Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.22.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/releases/tag/v1.22.0-pre","date":"2026-09-23T16:21:36Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.22.0-pre"},{"url":"https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/releases/tag/v1.21.0","date":"2026-09-23T15:42:38Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.21.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/releases/tag/v1.20.2","date":"2026-09-17T05:05:25Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.20.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/releases/tag/v1.21.0-pre","date":"2026-09-16T16:53:39Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.21.0-pre"},{"url":"https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/releases/tag/v1.20.1","date":"2026-09-16T16:23:43Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.20.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/releases/tag/v1.20.1-pre","date":"2026-09-14T15:58:36Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.20.1-pre"},{"url":"https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/releases/tag/v1.20.0-pre","date":"2026-09-09T17:41:48Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.20.0-pre"},{"url":"https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/releases/tag/v1.19.2","date":"2026-09-09T17:41:24Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.19.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/releases/tag/v1.19.1-pre","date":"2026-09-04T16:00:43Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.19.1-pre"},{"url":"https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/releases/tag/v1.18.1","date":"2026-09-04T16:59:05Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.18.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/releases/tag/v1.19.0-pre","date":"2026-09-02T18:09:48Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.19.0-pre"},{"url":"https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/releases/tag/v1.18.0","date":"2026-09-02T18:13:31Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.18.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/releases/tag/v1.18.0-pre","date":"2026-08-26T17:33:29Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.18.0-pre"},{"url":"https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/releases/tag/v1.17.2","date":"2026-08-26T15:25:08Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.17.2"}]` |
| reliability.status_page | yes | yes |
| security.disclosure_policy | - | yes |
| security.gdpr | - | yes |
| security.vulnerabilities | - | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=cargo&package_name=gpui&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` |

## Capabilities (IDEs & Code Editors)

| Capability | Visual Studio | Zed |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Core** |  |  |
| Type | Full IDE | Code editor |
| Language scope | Polyglot | Polyglot |
| **Deployment** |  |  |
| Deployment | Desktop | Desktop |
| **Platform support** |  |  |
| OS support | Windows, macOS, Linux | macOS 10.15+, Windows, Linux |
| Base platform | Original | Original |
| **Extensibility** |  |  |
| Extensibility | Extension marketplace | Plugins |
| **DX** |  |  |
| LSP / DAP support | - | ✓ |
| Remote / dev-containers | ✓ | ✓ |
| Integrated debugger / profiler | ✓ | ✓ |
| Code intelligence depth | IDE-grade | IDE-grade |
| Built-in git integration | ✓ | ✓ |
| **AI** |  |  |
| Built-in AI | Native | Native |
| **Licensing** |  |  |
| Openness | Closed | Open-source |
| **Pricing** |  |  |
| Pricing model | - | Per-seat subscription |

*Source: vioscaleAI. Generated 2026-10-16T19:14:27.542Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*