head to head · open source
react vs Zed
react has 250,566 GitHub stars, 51,372 forks, 1,377 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Zed has 90,512 stars, 10,680 forks, 3,159 open issues and last shipped yesterday. react leads on adoption by 177% (250,566 vs 90,512 stars). react is written in JavaScript under MIT; Zed is written in Rust under a custom or non-standard licence. react has attracted 21% as many forks as stars, Zed 12%. Zed was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| react | Zed | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 251K | ★ 91K |
| License | MIT | Custom / other |
| Written in | JavaScript | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 51K | ⑂ 11K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick react if
- You weight community size — 251K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Zed if
- You want the Zed feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and Zed fits your workflow better
About react
React is a JavaScript library under the MIT licence for building user interfaces, using a declarative, component based model that renders both on the web and, through React Native, on mobile.
read the full react overview →
About Zed
Zed is a high performance, multiplayer code editor written in Rust, built by the creators of Atom and Tree sitter and aimed at developers who want a native, fast editing surface with AI assistance built in.
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Frequently asked questions
Is react or Zed more popular?
react has 250,566 GitHub stars and Zed has 90,512. react has the larger community by that measure.
Are react and Zed free?
Both are open source. react is licensed under MIT, and Zed has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between react and Zed?
react is written in JavaScript and Zed in Rust. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, react or Zed?
Choose react if you want the larger community (250,566 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Zed if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.