Zed Ai vs Cursor

Detailed comparison across 10 dimensions

Winner: Cursor

Cursor clearly comes out ahead of Zed AI on Staquest's weighted six-dimension score. Both offer a free tier. Cursor's paid plans start at $20/mo.

Quick Overview

Overview	Zed AIRust-based high-performance editor with AI features.	CursorAI-first code editor
Type	ai tool	ai tool
Company	Zed Industries	-
Free Tier
Has API
Open Source
Learning Curve	-	easy
Integration	-	low
Trending	Stable	Hot
GitHub Stars	-	-
Industries	-	Development
Categories	-	developer-tools
Website	Visit	Visit

Dimension Scores

Winners by Dimension

Overall Winner

Cursor

Zed Ai: 4.2Cursor: 6.3(+21.3 pts)

Pricing Value

Cursor15% weight

Zed Ai

5.0

Cursor

9.0

Features

Tie15% weight

Zed Ai

3.0

Cursor

3.0

Free Tier

Cursor10% weight

Zed Ai

7.0

Cursor

7.5

Ease of Use

Cursor10% weight

Zed Ai

5.0

Cursor

10.0

Scalability

Cursor10% weight

Zed Ai

4.0

Cursor

10.0

Integrations

Cursor10% weight

Zed Ai

4.0

Cursor

6.0

API Quality

Tie10% weight

Zed Ai

2.0

Cursor

2.0

Momentum

Cursor10% weight

Zed Ai

3.0

Cursor

7.0

Community

Cursor5% weight

Zed Ai

3.0

Cursor

3.6

Open Source

Zed Ai5% weight

Zed Ai

7.0

Cursor

2.0

Pricing Comparison

Zed AI

No pricing data available.

Cursor

Ultra

$200/mo

View pricing

flat

20x usage on all OpenAI, Claude, Gemini models
Priority access to new features

Teams

$40/mo

View pricing

per user

Shared chats, commands, and rules
Centralized team billing
Usage analytics and reporting
Org-wide privacy mode controls
Role-based access control
SAML/OIDC SSO

Hobby

Free

View pricing

freemium

No credit card required
Limited Agent requests
Limited Tab completions

Pro

$20/mo

View pricing

flat

Extended limits on Agent
Access to frontier models
MCPs, skills, and hooks
Cloud agents

Pro+

$60/mo

View pricing

flat

3x usage on all OpenAI, Claude, Gemini models

Enterprise

Contact sales

View pricing

custom

Pooled usage
Invoice/PO billing
SCIM seat management
AI code tracking API and audit logs
Granular admin and model controls
Priority support and account management

Frequently asked questions

Is Zed AI or Cursor better?

On Staquest's weighted six-dimension scoring, Cursor comes out ahead overall, though Zed AI can be the better fit depending on your priorities — see the dimension-by-dimension breakdown above.

Does Zed AI or Cursor have a free tier?

Both Zed AI and Cursor offer a free tier.

Which is better for pricing value, Zed AI or Cursor?

Cursor scores higher on pricing value in Staquest's analysis. It is the highest-weighted dimension in this comparison.

What are the main differences between Zed AI and Cursor?

Zed AI is open source. The feature comparison and dimension scores above cover the full breakdown.

View Zed Ai View Cursor