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Helix vs Zed: catalog facts
Helix	Zed
Free Free and open source under the MPL 2.0.	Freemium The editor is free and open source. Zed's hosted AI plans are paid, and you can use your…
Windows, macOS, Linux, Command line	Windows, macOS, Linux
Language server and tree-sitter support without installing anything Selection-first editing makes multiple cursors a first-class tool	GPU-rendered and written in Rust, so it stays responsive under load Real-time collaborative editing and a shared terminal
No plugin system, so anything missing stays missing Selection-first keys are genuinely different from Vim muscle memory	A much smaller extension ecosystem than VS Code Windows support arrived late and is still the least mature build
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Open source	Open source
License: MPL-2.0	License: GPL-3.0-or-later
No account needed	No account needed
Works offline	Works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 21, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 21, 2026

Catalog facts only. Anything “not stated” is unconfirmed. Check full listings for details.