It's close: Ghostty edges it 9.1 to 9.1, so the right pick depends on what you need. Ghostty wins on 2 of the 5 scores, Zed on 2, with 1 tied.
Developers on Mac or Linux who live in the terminal
Developers who want a quick, modern editor with AI and pair programming built in
Score by score
The details
| Feature | Ghostty | Zed |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Developer Tools | Developer Tools |
| Category rank | #2 of 10 | #3 of 10 |
| Developer | Mitchell Hashimoto and contributors | Zed Industries |
| Pricing | Free | Free + paid plans |
| Usable for free | Yes | Yes |
| Mac | ✓ | ✓ |
| Windows | — | ✓ |
| Linux | ✓ | ✓ |
Common questions
Is Ghostty better than Zed?
It's close: Ghostty edges it 9.1 to 9.1, so the right pick depends on what you need. Ghostty wins on 2 of the 5 scores, Zed on 2, with 1 tied.
Which is cheaper, Ghostty or Zed?
Ghostty: Free and open source; optional donations go through the non-profit Hack Club. Zed: Free with your own API keys; Pro is $10 a month with $5 of AI tokens included. On value for money, Ghostty scores higher.
Do Ghostty and Zed work on the same devices?
Only Zed runs on Windows.
Which is more private, Ghostty or Zed?
Ghostty scores higher on privacy (9.8/10). No account needed. Crash reports are saved locally and never sent anywhere automatically; you can share them yourself if you choose.
Strengths and weaknesses
Ghostty
- Fast GPU rendering with a native look
- Free, open source and run as a non-profit
- Hundreds of themes that follow light and dark mode
- No Windows app planned
- SSH hosts may need its terminfo installed
- AppleScript support is still a preview
Ghostty is a terminal emulator that refuses to choose between speed and polish. It renders on the GPU, uses real native tabs and splits on Mac and Linux, ships hundreds of themes that follow light and dark mode, and supports the Kitty graphics protocol and ligatures. Version 1.3 added scrollback search. It's free, MIT-licensed and run as a non-profit project. There's no Windows version, and remote SSH hosts may need its terminfo installed.
Full Ghostty review
Zed
- Native, GPU-rendered and quick to open
- Free and open source, with bring-your-own AI keys
- Collaboration and AI agents built in
- Hosted AI use is billed beyond the $5 included
- Still missing requests like smooth scrolling
- No built-in test runner integration yet
Zed is a code editor written in Rust with its own GPU-rendered interface instead of Electron, built to feel instant. You get real-time multiplayer editing, a debugger, Git, SSH remoting, edit predictions and parallel AI agents that can run Claude, Codex and others. It reached 1.0 in April 2026 and runs on Mac, Windows and Linux. Bring your own API keys for free, or pay for hosted AI. Some long-requested features, like smooth scrolling, are still missing.
Full Zed review
