Mousepad vs Zed

Mousepad is a free Linux editor for quickly changing text files, rather than a development environment. It supports column editing, extensions, and content search. Editing options such as word wrap and automatic indentation are available in the preferences dialog and Document menu. Settings can also be accessed through Dconf Editor, gsettings, or dconf. Printing settings are kept separately in ~/.config/Mousepad/mousepadrc. After first use, Mousepad generates a configurable keybindings file. Version 0.5.9 added a shortcuts editor, which requires Libxfce4ui 4.17.5, and a CSS style class named “mousepad” for theming. Required packages are GLib 2.52.0 or later, GTK 3.22.0 or later, and GtkSourceView 3.24.0 or 4.0.0 or later. Optional components include gspell 1.6.0 or later and libxfce4ui 4.17.5 or later. The documentation lists version 0.7.0, released on 2026-03-02, and links to the current source archive and bug-reporting information.

Zed is a code editor for macOS, Windows, and Linux, with Personal, Pro, and Business plans. Personal is free forever and includes 2,000 accepted edit predictions; it also allows unlimited use with API keys or external agents. Pro costs $10.00 per month, includes unlimited edit predictions and $5 of tokens, and bills usage beyond that allowance at API list price plus 10%. The Pro trial lasts 14 days or until its $5 balance is used, with no credit card required. Editing tools include extensions, multi-cursor and column editing, and macro recording; the editor also supports a built-in debugger, remote development, and language servers. Native Git operations include staging, commits, pulls, pushes, and viewing diffs. Users can chat with teammates, code together, and share screens and projects. Supported model providers include Amazon Bedrock, Anthropic, GitHub Copilot, Google AI, and OpenAI; the extension ecosystem has hundreds of extensions. Business costs $30.00 per month and has no minimum seat count. SSO, SAML, and SCIM are planned but not currently available.