Zed alternatives for Mac
Zed — Multiplayer code editor — is installed 8,832 times a month through Homebrew. These are hand-picked alternatives that occupy the same slot, ordered by how comparable their user base is.
Run
brew install --cask zed to install Zed itself.- Cursor6,983 installs/mo
- Sublime Text5,224 installs/mo
- Microsoft Visual Studio Code4.1× the installs
- Postman9,104 installs/mo
- Bruno4,776 installs/mo
- Tower84.9× smaller user base
- DBeaver Community Edition9,866 installs/mo
- JetBrains Toolbox4.4× smaller user base
Full comparison
| Zed | Cursor | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | GUI app | GUI app |
| Category | Developer Tools | Developer Tools |
| Open source | Yes (inferred) | Not declared |
| Licence | Not declared | Not declared |
| Apple silicon | Universal | Universal |
| Latest version | 1.25.3 | 3.27.14,69b724ebc67ec522c1b5d287a5025f7a7e81be97 |
| Dependencies | 0 | 0 |
| Installs (30 days) | 8,832 | 6,983 |
| Install command | brew install --cask zed | brew install --cask cursor |
How we picked these
The list comes from a hand-maintained set of same-purpose apps, not from keyword matching. Alternatives are removed automatically when Homebrew no longer carries them. Ordering reflects 30-day install volume, not paid placement. Data updated 2026-10-26.