Where Zed fits in the great war of text editors

For years, developers have debated the best text editor: VS Code, Vim, Emacs, Sublime, or Jetbrains IDEs. Each has its strengths and weaknesses, but none have excited me as much as Zed.

Zed is a blazing-fast, minimalist, and modern text editor built for serious developers. Since switching to it, I’ve been blown away by its performance, seamless collaboration features, and distraction-free UI. If you're tired of sluggish editors that get in your way, Zed might be what you’ve been looking for.

The Need for Speed: Zed’s Performance is Unmatched

If there’s one word to describe Zed, it’s snappy. Built in Rust, Zed leverages raw performance without sacrificing usability.

Some things that immediately stood out to me:

• Instant file navigation – Opening large projects? Feels effortless.
• Super-responsive UI – No lag, no stutter, no waiting.
• Fuzzy search that works as expected – It’s incredibly smooth, even in massive codebases.
• Typing is instant – No noticeable input delay, even with multiple files open.

If you’ve ever felt like your text editor was slowing you down, Zed eliminates that problem entirely. It’s the first editor that feels as fast as NeoVim, but with a modern, intuitive interface.

A Minimalist UI That Just Feels Right

One of the things I love most about Zed is how clean and distraction-free the UI is.

Unlike most editors that try to do everything (and often become bloated), Zed keeps things simple:

• No cluttered menus
• No bloated side panels
• Just a sharp, efficient coding experience

It reminds me of Sublime Text in its prime, but with modern power under the hood. Instead of overwhelming you with features, Zed ensures that everything is just a keystroke away.

Multiplayer Coding: Collaboration Done Right

One of Zed’s biggest innovations is real-time multiplayer collaboration—and it actually works.

Unlike VS Code’s Live Share, which often feels clunky and requires extra setup, Zed makes remote pair programming effortless:

• One-click sharing – No extensions, no complicated setups.
• Real-time collaboration – Feels like working in the same file locally.
• Perfect for remote teams – Code reviews and debugging are seamless.

If you’ve ever tried pair programming over Zoom or struggling with Git conflicts, Zed’s built-in multiplayer support is a game-changer.

The Integrated Terminal Experience

I spend a lot of time in the terminal, so an efficient terminal integration is crucial. Zed nails this.

Unlike VS Code, where the terminal often feels like an afterthought, Zed makes the terminal a natural part of the workflow. It’s fast, non-intrusive, and perfectly integrated into the editor. If you use tmux, fzf, or other CLI tools, Zed fits perfectly into that workflow.

Who Should Use Zed?

If you’re a developer who values:

• Speed and responsiveness
• A clean, clutter-free UI
• A keyboard-first experience
• Seamless real-time collaboration

Then Zed is absolutely worth trying. It’s fast like NeoVim, smooth like Sublime, and polished like VS Code—without the bloat.

Should You Switch?

Zed isn’t just another text editor—it’s a rethink of how modern developers write, navigate, and collaborate on code.

Since switching to Zed, I haven't looked back. It’s fast, lightweight, and powerful—everything a great editor should be.