head to head · open source
vscode vs Zed
vscode has 194,494 GitHub stars, 44,389 forks, 21,181 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Zed has 92,568 stars, 11,364 forks, 3,159 open issues and last shipped yesterday. vscode leads on adoption by 110% (194,494 vs 92,568 stars). vscode is written in TypeScript under MIT; Zed is written in Rust under a custom or non-standard licence. vscode has attracted 23% as many forks as stars, Zed 12%. vscode 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
| vscode | Zed | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 194K | ★ 93K |
| License | MIT | Custom / other |
| Written in | TypeScript | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 44K | ⑂ 11K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick vscode if
- You weight community size — 194K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- 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 vscode
Visual Studio Code Open Source ("Code OSS") The Repository This repository (" Code OSS ") is where we (Microsoft) develop the Visual Studio Code product together with the community. Not only do we work on code and issues here, but we also publish our roadmap, monthly iteration plans, and our endgame plans. This source code is available to everyone under the standard MIT license. Visual Studio Code Visual Studio Code is a distribution of the Code OSS repository with Microsoft specific customizations released under a traditional Microsoft product license. Visual Studio Code combines the simplicity of a code editor…
read the full vscode overview →
About Zed
Zed Welcome to Zed, a high performance, multiplayer code editor from the creators of Atom and Tree sitter. Installation On macOS, Linux, and Windows you can download Zed directly or install Zed via your local package manager (macOS/Linux/Windows). Other platforms are not yet available: Web (tracking discussion) Developing Zed Building Zed for macOS Building Zed for Linux Building Zed for Windows Contributing See CONTRIBUTING.md for ways you can contribute to Zed. Also... we're hiring! Check out our jobs page for open roles. Licensing Zed source code is licensed primarily under GPL 3.0 or later, with Apache 2.0…
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Frequently asked questions
Is vscode or Zed more popular?
vscode has 194,494 GitHub stars and Zed has 92,568. vscode has the larger community by that measure.
Are vscode and Zed free?
Both are open source. vscode is licensed under MIT, and Zed has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between vscode and Zed?
vscode is written in TypeScript 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, vscode or Zed?
Choose vscode if you want the larger community (194,494 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Zed if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.