I've been coding for 7 years now. I've seen, Code::Blocks, Dreamweaver, Vim and Neovim. I moved to VSCode and stayed with it for 5 years. Then came the flood of VSCode based "AI code editors" like Cursor, Claude, and others and I've tried them all.
Cursor's autocomplete is buttery smooth, Claude writes cleaner code, but VS Code still was my baseline for what a code editor should look and perform like. But recently, one tool completely shifted my workflow and it's name is Zed. It's a ridiculously fast, Rust-powered editor, and within a week it became my default editor for everything.
Let's look at what Zed is doing right and what it means for the future of code editors.
Zed feels good to use
I write a lot. Before Zed, I've been using Notepad++, NeoVim or Gedit for editing text files for even quick code edits, depending on the system I'm on. I have a very disorganized workflow, with multiple active projects. So, a lot of times, going with above mentioned editors made sense instead of VS Code.
With Zed, I finally feel, I've an editor which is just as fast and lightweight as notepad++ while having all the most of the critical features of VS Code without having to feel like I'm trying to maneuver an elephant in the room.
If you've only ever used VS Code (or any Electron-based editors), I'm going to explain, simply and clearly, why Zed feels dramatically faster, how it sets itself apart, and whether you should actually switch.
What Is Zed?
Zed is an open-source, high-performance code editor built entirely in Rust. The team behind it includes the original creators of Atom (RIP), and this time they built something lean, modern, and insanely fast.
It gives you:
- A minimal, distraction-free UI
- GPU-accelerated rendering
- Real-time collaboration
- Smart native autocomplete
- AI integrations for Claude, Gemini, OpenAI, or any other AI model of your choosing
- macOS, Linux, and stable Windows support
- Zero subscriptions for the core editor
Why VS Code, Cursor, and Claude Feel Slow (Vibe Coders Read Carefully)
Most people don't know this, but VS Code isn't a "native app."
VS Code is basically a Chrome browser pretending to be a code editor
It's built on Electron, which bundles:
- a whole Chromium browser
- a Node.js runtime
- HTML/CSS/JS for every UI element
- and a complex extension engine
This gives VS Code superpowers, cross-platform, custom themes, endless extensions, but also an unavoidable downside:
Electron is heavy. And that heaviness slows everything down.
If you've ever felt VS Code or Cursor:
- lag slightly when typing
- eat RAM like the chrome browser
- freeze when opening a huge file
- stutter when scrolling
- slow down when too many extensions load
…have you ever seen those symptoms on another application?
Chrome? What'd you just say?
Electron-based editors have to:
- layout and re-render code using HTML
- paint text in the DOM
- run UI logic in JavaScript
- simulate a full browser inside your editor
This works, but it comes with cost:
- High RAM usage
- Slower startup times
- Typing latency under load
- Performance issues in giant codebases or large files
Cursor improves some things, but at the end of the day, it's still an Electron editor. Same with Claude Desktop. Same with most new "AI-first" editors.
Why Zed Feels Lightning Fast
Zed takes the opposite approach.
Zed is a native, GPU-accelerated editor written in Rust
There's no browser engine hidden inside. No DOM. No HTML layouts. No JavaScript for rendering text.
Zed talks directly to your GPU and CPU.
Here's what that means in practice:
1. GPU-Accelerated Text Rendering
Zed renders text using GPU shaders, the same "kind of tech" games use to draw pixels fast.
VS Code paints text using the DOM, which is slower and gets worse as files grow.
Result: Scrolling, typing, cursor movement, all feel much smoother. Even 50,000-line files don't lag.
2. Rust = Native Performance
Rust compiles to machine code.
JavaScript (VS Code) runs inside a browser engine.
That alone explains:
- faster autocomplete
- lower RAM usage
- zero garbage-collector pauses
- instant response to keystrokes
Zed's entire core, buffers, editing operations, syntax trees, runs with zero browser overhead.
3. True Multithreading Everywhere
Rust gives Zed inexpensive, reliable parallelism.
Zed uses all your CPU cores to:
- index your project
- analyze syntax
- update LSP output
- manage undo/redo history
VS Code is bottlenecked by its single-threaded JS execution model.
4. No Electron = 5× Lower Resource Usage
Typical idle RAM:
- VS Code: 900MB, 1.5GB
- Cursor: 1.2GB+ with agents
- Claude Desktop: ~800MB
- Zed: 200, 350MB
The difference is noticeable even on high-end machines.
5. Instant Startup
Zed opens almost instantly. On my machine it's actually even faster than Notepad++. VS Code feels fast… until you see Zed.
Once I set it up and got used to it's instant editing, it was impossible to go back.
AI Integration: Claude & Gemini Setup in Zed
You can easily choose whatever AI provider you prefer. You can even bring in your custom or local LLM if you're into something more tuned to your taste.
Adding Claude (Anthropic)
- Generate a Claude API key.
- Open Zed → Settings → AI → LLM Providers.
- Paste your key.
- Use Cmd/Ctrl + I for inline edits (amazing for refactoring).
Adding Gemini
- Create a Gemini API key (AI Studio).
- Paste it in the same LLM Providers section.
- Use it for large-context tasks and multimodal reasoning.
Zed's Native Autocomplete: Criminally Underrated
Even without AI, Zed's autocomplete is extremely good because it's based on:
- Tree-sitter parsing
- LSP intelligence
- Local code analysis
- Sub-20ms latency
It feels more "in sync" with you than most editors. Add AI on top, and the suggestions feel like a natural extension of your own typing.
Why I Moved My Workflow to Zed
After weeks of real-world usage, here's what keeps me in Zed:
- It's stupid fast: You cannot unfeel the difference.
- It never breaks your flow: No lag. No stutters. No "indexing workspace…"
- AI model freedom: Claude, Gemini, OpenAI, local models, choose anything.
- The UI is clean and calming: You focus on code, UI is dead simple.
- Naturally Collaborative: You'll love the collaborative features once you start using them.
- It's fully open-source: No vendor lock-in. No mystery.
The Downsides (So You Know What You're Signing Up For)
Zed is relatively new. It's still under active development and a lot of features are still being added. Here are its weak spots:
- Smaller extension ecosystem than VS Code
- No full-blown debugger (project-dependent via LSP)
- Fewer UI settings (everything can be JSON-configured)
- Windows support slightly behind macOS/Linux
- You may miss certain VS Code plugins
I feel that for most of the developers these won't be dealbreakers. But they're worth noting.
Should You Switch?
After all this is what you're really interested in. If your current editor feels:
- slow
- heavy
- laggy
- battery-draining
- cluttered
- or you want AI freedom beyond proprietary tools
Then yes, Zed is absolutely worth switching to.
If you're happy with VS Code's plugin ecosystem and don't mind the Electron heaviness, you might stay.
Even if Zed doesn't fit in your current workflow, you'll love it if you love programming and writing.
Final Thoughts
Zed's development team is on to something I've missed for years. A truly modern text editor. I hope they'll keep pushing and we'll all end up with a complete solution in the future as the development continues.
One thing's for sure. Zed has already set a new benchmark. You can check out Zed here.