Is Amp or Zed better?

Neither clearly leads. Amp starts at $20/monthly and Zed at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Amp or Zed?

Zed has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $20/monthly for Amp and Free for Zed.

Does Amp or Zed run on more platforms?

Amp runs on Web. Zed runs on macOS, Linux, Windows.

Can I use Zed for free?

Yes. Zed has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Amp starts at $20/monthly.

What is Amp best used for?

Amp is most often used for building and running parallel ai agents for automation, accessing multiple ai models via single subscription, developing ai applications with flexible compute models, running high-capacity agent workloads in ultra mode. Of those, building and running parallel ai agents for automation and accessing multiple ai models via single subscription are not what Zed is typically brought in for.

What can Amp do that Zed cannot?

Zed covers Real-time collaboration, AI code completion, Lightning-fast performance, Rust-based architecture.

Software Development · head to head

Amp vs Zed

Amp

Software Development

Amp is the frontier agent

From: $20/monthly
Rated: -

Full review Website

Zed

Software Development

Code at the speed of thought

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Only Zed has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
Each has a real cost: Amp minimum $20/month subscription cost with limited orb hours (750); Zed newer product with smaller ecosystem than established editors
Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Amp and Zed actually diverge.

Attributes where Amp and Zed differ
Attribute	Amp	Zed
Starting price	$20/monthly	Free
Pricing model	subscription	freemium
Free tier	No	Yes
Platforms	Web	macOS, Linux, Windows
Founded	Unknown	2023

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Software Development).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Amp

Nothing recorded that Zed does not also cover.

Only in Zed

Real-time collaboration
AI code completion
Lightning-fast performance
Rust-based architecture
Multi-language support
Integrated terminal
Git integration
Vim keybindings

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Amp

Building and running parallel AI agents for automationnot Zed
Accessing multiple AI models via single subscriptionnot Zed
Developing AI applications with flexible compute modelsnot Zed
Running high-capacity agent workloads in ultra modenot Zed

Zed

Collaborative codingnot Amp
High-performance editingnot Amp
Real-time pair programmingnot Amp
Systems programmingnot Amp
Web developmentnot Amp

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Amp

Minimum $20/month subscription cost with limited orb hours (750)
High-tier Gigawatt plan at $200/month required for ultra mode agents
Usage limits apply after included quotas are consumed each month
Each user limited to maximum of 2 simultaneous subscriptions

Zed

Newer product with smaller ecosystem than established editors
Limited extensions and plugin marketplace compared to VSCode or Sublime Text

Pricing, plan by plan

Amp

$20/monthly

Megawatt$20/monthly
- All product features
- 750 hours of orbs
- Use your ChatGPT subscription
Gigawatt$200/monthly
- Everything in Megawatt plus: 1
- 000 hours of xxlarge orbs
- $200 included agent usage
Education Discount$10/monthly
- For students and teachers: full access at $10/month (50% off Megawatt)
Unconstrained$undefined/usage
- Pay for what you use at standard rates
- all agent modes
- API pricing for model tokens and orbs

Zed

Free

FreeFree
- Single-player editing
- Local AI assistance
- Fast performance
Plus$10/month
- Multiplayer collaboration
- Cloud AI assistance
- Advanced features

Which should you pick?

Choose Amp if

Nothing in the data separates Amp from Zed on the points above - pick on price and on how each one feels to use.

Amp review

Choose Zed if

You need real-time collaboration.
You want to start without paying.
You work on macOS, Linux, Windows.
You also want ai code completion.

Zed review

Questions people ask

Is Amp or Zed better?: Neither clearly leads. Amp starts at $20/monthly and Zed at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Amp or Zed?: Zed has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $20/monthly for Amp and Free for Zed.
Does Amp or Zed run on more platforms?: Amp runs on Web. Zed runs on macOS, Linux, Windows.
Can I use Zed for free?: Yes. Zed has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Amp starts at $20/monthly.
What is Amp best used for?: Amp is most often used for building and running parallel ai agents for automation, accessing multiple ai models via single subscription, developing ai applications with flexible compute models, running high-capacity agent workloads in ultra mode. Of those, building and running parallel ai agents for automation and accessing multiple ai models via single subscription are not what Zed is typically brought in for.
What can Amp do that Zed cannot?: Zed covers Real-time collaboration, AI code completion, Lightning-fast performance, Rust-based architecture.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Amp: How much does Amp cost per month?

Amp offers two main monthly plans: Megawatt at $20/month (750 hours of orbs) and Gigawatt at $200/month (1,000 hours of xxlarge orbs). Students and teachers get a 50% education discount ($10/month). Source: https://ampcode.com/pricing

Source

Zed: What platforms does Zed support?

Zed is available for macOS, Linux, and Windows, providing cross-platform support for developers.

Source

Amp: What usage is included in Amp subscriptions?

At minimum, Amp subscriptions include agent usage equal to the subscription cost per month. Depending on usage patterns, you may receive additional usage beyond the base guarantee. Megawatt includes 750 orb hours and Gigawatt includes 1,000 hours of xxlarge orbs.

Source

Zed: Is Zed free to use?

Yes. Zed is open-source software available free to download and use. The editor and GPUI framework are available under open-source licenses (GPL for editor, Apache/MIT for GPUI).

Source

Amp: Can I use my own ChatGPT subscription with Amp?

Yes, Amp subscribers who link a ChatGPT subscription pay no per-token fees and can use as many tokens as their third-party subscription allows, making it ideal for users who already have ChatGPT access.

Source

Zed: What makes Zed fast compared to other editors?

Zed is written in Rust and uses GPU-accelerated rendering to achieve startup times under 500ms and keystroke latency below 2ms.

Source

Zed: Does Zed support real-time collaboration?

Yes. Zed provides real-time collaborative editing and screen sharing capabilities, enabling multiple developers to work on the same code simultaneously.

Source

Zed: What AI models does Zed support?

Zed supports multiple AI models and agents for agentic editing, enabling human-AI collaboration during development.

Source

Zed: When was Zed 1.0 released?

Zed 1.0 was officially released on April 29, 2026, marking the stable production release.

Source

Amp vs Zed

Amp

Zed

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Amp

Only in Zed

What people use each for

Amp

Zed

Where each one falls short

Amp

Zed

Pricing, plan by plan

Amp

Zed

Which should you pick?

Choose Amp if

Choose Zed if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Amp

More on Zed

Keep looking

Other head to heads