Built by the original creators of Atom and Tree-sitter, Zed is a high-performance, multiplayer code editor written entirely in Rust. Where VS Code relies on the DOM and Electron (which can feel sluggish), Zed leverages the GPU to render its UI, resulting in sub-millisecond input latency. Typing in Zed feels closer to a terminal editor like Vim or Alacritty than a modern GUI IDE.
It features built-in real-time collaboration that doesn't require a clunky extension, and it integrates AI directly into the editing experience natively. While it lacks the massive extension ecosystem of VS Code—meaning niche languages or specific linting tools might not be fully supported yet—its raw speed makes it incredibly attractive. For developers suffering from "Electron fatigue" who value absolute responsiveness over having 50 plugins installed, Zed is proving to be a formidable challenger.