Comparisons / Zed vs Gemini CLI
AI coding tools · HN opinions Nov 2025 – Nov 2026
Zed vs Gemini CLI: what developers actually say
Based on 668 opinions on Hacker News from developers who discussed these two, most of them first-hand users.
Zed comes out ahead on approval: 59% across 457 opinions, against 29% for Gemini CLI across 211. Zed's UX counts 119 positive mentions to 56 negative, and speed 62 to 16. Gemini CLI's biggest aspect by volume is reliability at 7 positive and 55 negative, and usage limits add 12 negative mentions against 1 positive. No comment in this sample stated a direct preference between the two, so this rests on separate opinion sets.
Choose Zed if
- Want the stronger UX and speed signals in this sample
- Want higher overall approval at 59% versus 29%
- Run several agents and want diffs and worktrees in one editor
Choose Gemini CLI if
- Work in a terminal and want an agent beside your existing IDE
- Want an open-source CLI you can run from anywhere
- Need a fallback agent when another tool hits its limits
Where each one wins and loses
PraiseComplaintsA = ZedB = Gemini CLI
UX
Speed
Reliability
Customization
Privacy & local use
Cost & pricing
Autonomy
Code quality