Yes, Zed has a permanent free tier alongside its paid plans. The free plan includes 2,000 accepted edit predictions included. FreeTier.co estimates the free tier at about $3.00/mo, and no credit card is required to sign up.
About
Zed is a fast, collaborative code editor designed for modern software development. Built from the ground up for performance, it combines a minimal interface with native support for editing, navigation, and team workflows across macOS, Linux, and Windows.
The editor emphasizes speed and responsiveness while supporting real-time collaboration, AI-assisted coding, remote development, and a growing extensions ecosystem. It is positioned as a full-featured developer tool for individuals and teams who want a streamlined editing experience without sacrificing advanced capabilities.
- Minimal code editor focused on speed and low-latency interaction
- Real-time collaboration features for teammates and shared workspaces
- AI-assisted workflows for generating, transforming, and analyzing code
- Remote development support and command-line access
- Extensions ecosystem for language support, themes, and tooling
- Cross-platform availability for macOS, Linux, and Windows
Free Tier Value
This free tier is a capped but genuinely usable starter option: it includes 2,000 accepted edit predictions, which is a meaningful slice of the Pro plan’s unlimited predictions, plus unlimited use with your own API keys or external agents. Since the cheapest paid plan is $10/month and the free tier is limited on Zed-hosted AI, its practical value lands around $3/month; there’s no credit card requirement mentioned, and the offer is perpetual rather than time-limited.
What's included in the free tier
Verified
- 2,000 accepted edit predictions included.
- Unlimited use with your own API keys or external agents like Claude Agent.
- Free forever personal plan access.
See Zed pricing for current limits.
Paid plans
Pro
- token credits included
- $5
- trial length
- 14 days
- edit predictions
- unlimited
- Unlimited edit predictions
- $5 of tokens included
- Usage-based billing beyond $5
Business
- seat
- 1
- minimum seats for order forms
- 25+
- edit predictions
- unlimited
- Org-wide AI model policies
- Data governance controls
- Unified spend visibility
- Unlimited edit predictions
- Role-based access controls
Pricing extracted from Zed's pricing page. Always verify current pricing before committing.
Common questions
Is Zed free forever?
Yes. Zed has a permanent free tier alongside its paid plans, though the allowance typically resets each month.
Does Zed require a credit card?
No. You can start on Zed's free tier without entering card details.
What happens when you exceed Zed's free tier?
You move to a paid plan. Zed's cheapest paid plan is Pro at $10 / month.
What is Zed's free tier worth?
Zed's free tier is worth about $3.00 per month. That maps to an FTV score of 49/100. The FTV score is explained at freetier.co/ftv.
