Open source code editor with agents and collaboration vs local process dashboard
Official product sites
Zed is an open source Rust code editor from the creators of Atom and Tree-sitter. It includes GPU-backed rendering, real-time multiplayer collaboration, remote development, built-in AI with several provider paths, and the Agent Client Protocol (ACP) for external coding agents. Zed 1.0 shipped in April 2026 and runs on macOS, Windows, and Linux.
Solo is a desktop workspace for local agents and project commands, with automatic self-exit and file-watch restart for commands, notifications, resource visibility, and shared configuration through solo.yml.
Choose Zed for editing, collaboration, remote work, and ACP agents. Choose Solo for the surrounding local project environment.
Choose Zed when editing, collaboration, remote development, and ACP agents should stay in the editor. Choose Solo when local agents and project commands should live in a separate app.
Solo fits best when you want local agents, shell sessions, services, and shared startup commands visible in one dedicated app outside the editor.
Zed fits best when you want editing, collaboration, and both first-party and external agents to stay inside a modern editor workflow.
| Feature | Solo | Zed |
|---|---|---|
| Primary purpose | Local process dashboard for agents and project commands | Code editor with AI agents and real-time collaboration |
| Replaces your editor | — |  |
| Built-in AI agent | — | Yes — agentic editing with Zed-hosted models (Claude, GPT, Gemini, Grok) or BYOK |
| External agent support | Supported agents get first-party status and session features; other CLIs run as generic processes | Yes — through ACP and its agent registry, including Claude, Codex, OpenCode, Copilot, Cursor, and Pi |
| Edit predictions | — | Yes — Zeta (open source model), plus Copilot, Codestral, and others |
| MCP integration | Yes — exposes an MCP server for external tools | Yes — MCP tools and prompts via extensions or settings |
| Real-time collaboration | — | Yes — multiplayer editing with CRDT, voice chat, and screen sharing |
| Local process dashboard | Yes — sidebar with CPU/memory stats per process | Terminal panel and task runner, but not a dedicated process supervisor |
| Auto-restart for project commands | Yes — self-exit and file-watch restarts with rate limiting | — |
| Process notifications | Yes — native desktop notifications, in-app toasts, OSC escape sequences | Editor-level notifications only |
| Shared project command config | solo.yml — version-controlled, team-shareable | Editor settings and extensions, but no process manifest |
| Native debugger | — | |
| Native Git UI | — | Yes — staging, branching, committing, file history |
| Extension system | — | Yes — WASM-based extensions and ACP agent registry |
| Open source | — | Yes — GPL v3 (editor), Apache (ACP, GPUI framework) |
| Free tier | 4 projects, 20 processes — all features included | Free editor with 2,000 edit predictions/month; BYOK and external agents unlimited |
| Paid plans | Pro plan | Pro $10/month with $5 included tokens; Business $30/seat/month |
| Funding | Bootstrapped | ~$42M raised (Sequoia, Redpoint, angels) |
| Platform | macOS and Windows | macOS, Windows, Linux |
Solo is a native desktop app that gives you one dashboard for all the commands a project needs running locally. It is not a code editor and does not bundle an AI model.
Zed is a code editor written in Rust with GPU-accelerated rendering, built by the team behind Atom and Tree-sitter. It is open source under GPL v3.
Solo does not bundle an AI model. It runs supported CLI agents as first-class processes alongside generic commands.
Zed has two agent paths: built-in agentic editing and an open protocol for external agents.
Solo manages long-running commands outside the editor.
Zed has a built-in terminal and tasks, but its reviewed docs do not describe a generic process-supervision layer.
Zed and Solo are complementary.
Zed and Solo can run together.
Zed has both a free editor path and paid AI plans. Solo is a focused local workflow tool. The real comparison is editor platform plus optional AI spend versus a separate local environment layer.
Solo pricing lens
Solo has a free tier for up to 4 projects and 20 processes, with Pro above that.
Zed pricing lens
Zed offers Personal free, Pro at $10 per month with $5 in included tokens, and Business at $30 per seat per month.
Decision shortcut
If you want a fast editor with optional hosted or external agent paths, Zed has more product breadth. If you want local workflow clarity outside the editor, Solo is the sharper tool.
Zed and Solo can run together, with Zed handling editor work and Solo handling local agents and project commands.
Zed combines a Rust editor, real-time collaboration, built-in AI, and external agents through ACP. Solo is not an editor; it provides a separate workspace for local agents and project commands, with command restart policies, resource views, notifications, and shared configuration. Choose Zed for editing and collaboration, Solo for local process supervision, or use both.
Solo is a lightweight desktop terminal workspace for local agents, project commands, interactive terminals, and long-running services. It sits beside your editor, keeps your stack visible, and gives Claude Code, Codex, and the rest of your tools one shared local control surface.
Solo is built by Aaron Francis, creator of faster.dev and Database School, and VP of Marketing at Laravel. He built Solo after running Claude Code alongside his own dev stack and getting tired of juggling nine terminal tabs just to keep local agents, services, and project commands visible.
He is also a dad to two sets of twins, which tends to create a strong preference for software that reduces chaos instead of adding more of it. That is why Solo keeps showing up in these comparisons as the local workspace around your tools, not another editor or orchestrator trying to absorb the whole workflow.
Related comparisons
If you are evaluating Solo, Zed, these are the closest next comparisons in the matrix.
Start with one project and a small task. These guides walk through the setup and what to check when the work finishes.
Set up both tools in one project, give one agent implementation work, and ask the other to review the diff.
Read the guide →Give a lead agent a plan, shared todos, and a scratchpad so workers have clear assignments and a useful handoff.
Read the guide →Put a Laravel server, Vite, and a queue worker in solo.yml, then manage their output and restart behavior in Solo.
Read the guide →The Free plan includes every feature, so you only need Pro after you outgrow four projects.
Team seats
Buy seats under one Stripe subscription, then share a claim link in Slack or email. Each claimant signs in or registers and receives a normal Solo Pro license. Optional auto-grow adds prorated seats automatically when the pool is full, so your team never hits a license wall.
Seats 1–3
$99/seat/yr
Seats 4–10
$89/seat/yr
Seats 11–50
$79/seat/yr
Seats 51+
$69/seat/yr
Brackets apply per seat — a 10-seat team pays $99 each for seats 1–3 and $89 each for seats 4–10.
Free for four projects on macOS and Windows.
Start with a terminal and add the programmable meta-harness when you need to coordinate agents with your local development stack.
“I can't live without it.”
