Zed: what developers actually say
We read every Hacker News comment from Nov 2025 – Nov 2026 that gave a real opinion on Zed. 376 of the 457 opinions come from people who say they use it themselves.
Approval is 59% across 457 opinions from 378 authors. The 90-day figure is 57%, 2 points lower. UX has 119 positive and 56 negative opinions, and speed has 62 positive and 16 negative. Reliability has 16 positive and 32 negative, with complaints about stale file sync and missed changes in project and git panels. Recent monthly results are volatile: 35% in September 2026 (13 opinions), 90% in October (10), and 100% in November (1).
Pick it if
- Want fast performance and a well-reviewed interface
- Orchestrate several coding agents from the editor
- Value UX and speed over deep customization
Look elsewhere if
- Depend on accurate file sync and git panel updates
- Need VS Code-level customization
- Need strict control over what the AI agent reads or edits
Strengths and weaknesses
Each row counts opinions that mentioned the topic. Bars to the right of the line are praise, bars to the left are complaints.
How opinion has moved
What developers say
Praise
Complaints
Summaries are paraphrased. Each links to the original comment.
Zed compared
Best Zed alternatives, according to developers who switched →
FAQ
Is Zed worth it?
It has 59% approval across 457 opinions. Positive opinions focus on UX and speed, while reliability and file sync draw complaints.
Is Zed better than Cursor?
The data has no direct approval score for Cursor, so it cannot rank the two overall. Among named comparisons, 14 developers preferred Zed to Cursor and 7 preferred Cursor to Zed.
Is Zed reliable?
Reliability is the weakest aspect in the data: 16 positive opinions against 32 negative. Complaints mention stale file sync after external edits, missed changes in project and git panels, and an agent editing code after a read-only mode was hidden.