Best for
Best for developers who want an agent with no vendor lock-in, their own model keys, or a fully local setup.
- Freelancers
- Small and mid-sized
AI Code Comparison
OpenCode vs. Zed
At a glance
At a glance
Best for
Best for developers who want a fast, native, open-source editor with agentic AI and the option to bring their own model keys.
- Freelancers
- Small and mid-sized
- Enterprise
Cataleo does not name a winner. Both statements come from the vendors themselves.
Full Comparison
| Criterion | OpenCode | Zed |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free, MIT licence You bring your own provider keys and pay them directly. The optional OpenCode Zen gateway is pay as you go per million tokens and includes several free models. | Free; Pro $10 / month Business $30 per seat per month. Pro includes $5 of monthly AI token credits, with hosted model usage billed by token beyond that. |
| Free trial | Free open-source agent | Free plan (Personal) |
| Commercial use | Yes, MIT licence | Yes |
| Output | Agentic coding in a terminal, a desktop app or an IDE | Agentic, multi-file AI editing in a native editor |
| API | Local server with a TypeScript SDK | N/A |
| Where it runs | Terminal, a desktop app for macOS, Windows and Linux, and IDE extensions; open source under the MIT licence, installed through npm, Homebrew, Scoop, Chocolatey, Arch, Mise, Docker or a binary | Its own native editor for macOS, Linux and Windows |
| Inline completions | No, OpenCode is driven by prompts rather than by suggestions as you type; its language-server integration feeds diagnostics back to the agent instead of offering inline completions | Yes, edit prediction, with 2,000 accepted predictions on the free plan and unlimited on Pro |
| Agent mode | Yes, an autonomous coding agent with several sessions running in parallel and the option to share a session | Yes, an agentic mode for multi-file edits |
| Model choice | Yes, more than 75 providers through Models.dev with your own keys, plus local models through Ollama, LM Studio or llama.cpp and any other OpenAI-compatible endpoint declared in opencode.json | Yes, Zed-hosted models or your own API keys from Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, Amazon Bedrock and others |
| Data control | Provider keys are stored locally in the user's own auth file rather than on a server, the project states it does not store your code or context data, and local models keep the work on your machine | Bring your own API keys so requests go straight to your provider; Business adds organization data governance |
| Ecosystem fit | Terminal, desktop app and IDE extensions, with language servers and MCP servers configurable; the optional OpenCode Zen gateway supplies models tested for coding agents | Native editor built for speed, with multiplayer collaboration |
| Deployment | Cloud (SaaS), On-premise | Not stated |
| Support | Community forum | Community forum |
| Onboarding | Documentation and knowledge base | Documentation and knowledge base |
| Company size | Freelancers, Small and mid-sized | more entries Freelancers, Small and mid-sized, Enterprise |
| Integrations | Visual Studio Code, Cursor, Windsurf, VSCodium, GitHub, Ollama, LM Studio, llama.cpp | Not stated |
Add a tool
Adds a column to the table, from the tools in this category.
Row where the values differ The small markers point at the lower number, the longer list or the stated feature. They describe the data, they are not a verdict.
The short version
Key Differences
- Starting price OpenCode Free, MIT licence Zed Free; Pro $10 / month
- Free trial OpenCode Free open-source agent Zed Free plan (Personal)
- Company size OpenCode Freelancers, Small and mid-sized Zed Freelancers, Small and mid-sized, Enterprise
- Commercial use OpenCode Yes, MIT licence Zed Yes
- Output OpenCode Agentic coding in a terminal, a desktop app or an IDE Zed Agentic, multi-file AI editing in a native editor
Every line is one datapoint from the table above, picked automatically. Nothing here is written text.
The trade-offs
Strengths and Limitations
OpenCode
Strengths
- MIT-licensed and free, with no restriction on commercial use
- More than 75 model providers plus fully local models, so no vendor lock-in
- One agent across terminal, desktop app and IDE
- Local server and TypeScript SDK for embedding the agent in other tools
Limitations
- You manage provider keys and pay model costs directly, so spend is harder to predict than a seat price
- Topping up OpenCode Zen credit adds a card processing fee of 4.4% plus $0.30 per transaction
- Zen model prices span a wide range, from $0.05 to $180 per million tokens depending on the model
Zed
Strengths
- Fast, native, open-source editor
- Agentic AI editing with a free plan and a bring-your-own-key option
- Model choice across Anthropic, OpenAI, Google and more
Limitations
- Younger ecosystem than established IDEs
- Hosted AI beyond the included credit is billed by token
Plans
Pricing
OpenCode
- OpenCode $0 Open source under the MIT licence. You bring your own provider keys and pay them directly.
- OpenCode Zen Pay as you go Billed per million tokens, from $0.05 per million input tokens on the cheapest model up to $180 per million output tokens on the most expensive. Several models are free. Credit auto-reloads by $20 when the balance falls below $5, and top-ups add a card processing fee of 4.4% plus $0.30. Workspace and per-member monthly spending caps are available.
Zed
- Personal $0 Free forever. 2,000 accepted edit predictions, or unlimited with your own API keys.
- Pro $10 Per month. Unlimited edit predictions and $5 of monthly AI token credits; hosted model usage billed by token beyond that.
- Business $30 Per seat per month. Adds organization AI policies and data governance.
What users say
Review Scores · opens after launch
OpenCode
- Ease of use
- Not rated yet
- User interface
- Not rated yet
- Onboarding
- Not rated yet
- Support and service
- Not rated yet
- Value for money
- Not rated yet
- Features
- Not rated yet
No reviews yet. Be the first to review this tool. Every review is checked for fairness before it appears, and the vendor cannot have one removed.
Zed
- Ease of use
- Not rated yet
- User interface
- Not rated yet
- Onboarding
- Not rated yet
- Support and service
- Not rated yet
- Value for money
- Not rated yet
- Features
- Not rated yet
No reviews yet. Be the first to review this tool. Every review is checked for fairness before it appears, and the vendor cannot have one removed.
Where this comes from
Where this comes from
OpenCode https://opencode.ai · checked against the official source on 2026-09-07
Zed https://zed.dev · no check date recorded yet
This table lists factual criteria taken from information the vendors publish themselves. For how we put it together, see the methodology.