Neovim vs Zed

Neovim is a free, Vim-based text editor built for extensibility and usability. It keeps Vim’s editing model and Vimscript v1 support, while configuration lives in init.lua and users can create Lua plugins. Its documented, versioned API and RPC let developers build extensions in many languages; GUIs, IDEs, and web browsers can also embed Neovim. Tree-sitter supports syntax highlighting and text objects, and built-in language-server support provides semantic code inspection and refactoring. Editing tools include multicursor command replay, macro recording, column editing, and large-file handling. A built-in terminal includes modern terminal features. Neovim supports Vim 8.x plugins and more. Stable downloads are listed for Linux, macOS, and Windows, with x86_64 and arm64 builds for each. Windows 8 or newer is required; Windows 7 and older are unsupported. It is licensed under Apache 2.0, with exceptions for parts contributed under the Vim license. Community support is available through GitHub Discussions and vi.stackexchange.com.

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.