Side-by-side comparison · Coding & Dev Tools
Cursor vs Factory vs Zed
Everything that matters when choosing between them, in one place: our rating, what each can do, what they cost, and the trade-offs.
Comparing 3 tools, the maximum.
At a glance
Pick it if: Developers and curious beginners who want AI help but still want a visual editor.
Pick it if: Software teams that want AI agents to take tickets off the backlog and come back with finished pull requests.
Pick it if: Developers who want a fast editor and already pay for Claude or another AI provider.
Overview
| Attribute | Cursor | Factory | Zed |
|---|---|---|---|
| In one line | A code editor with AI built in, for people who want to watch every change happen. | AI coding agents called Droids that take on whole engineering tasks from your backlog. | A fast, free, open-source code editor that runs Claude Code and other AI agents inside it. |
| Pricing model | Freemium | Paid | Open source |
| Starting price | $8/mo | $20/mo | $10/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | No | Yes |
| Works with Claude Code | No | Yes | Yes |
Rating breakdown
Our scores out of 5. The higher bar in each row is highlighted.
| Attribute | Cursor | Factory | Zed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall rating | 3.9 | 3.8 | 4.3Winner |
| Ease of useHow quickly someone non-technical gets value from it. | 4.0 | 3.0 | 3.5 |
| FeaturesHow completely it covers its own job, and how well the pieces fit together. | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.0 |
| Output qualityHow good the results are before you fix them. | 4.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| Value for moneyWhat you get for the price, including the free plan. | 3.0 | 3.5 | 5.0 |
| Speed & reliabilityHow fast it is and how often it falls over. | 4.0 | 4.0 | 5.0 |
Feature comparison
A tick means it does this today. A dash means we haven't checked.
| Attribute | Cursor | Factory | Zed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access & platform | |||
| Free plan | Yes | No | Yes |
| Mobile app | Yes | – | No |
| Desktop app | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Browser extension | No | – | No |
| API access | – | Yes | – |
| Teams & business | |||
| Team workspace | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Enterprise plan or SSO | Yes | Yes | No |
| Connects to other apps | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Open source or self-hosted | No | No | Yes |
| AI abilities | |||
| Works with your files | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Understands images | Yes | – | Yes |
| Makes images | No | No | No |
| Makes video | No | No | No |
| Writes code | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Runs agents or automations | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Learns your brand or style | Yes | – | Yes |
| Works in many languages | Yes | – | Yes |
| Capabilities score | 12/ 17 | 8/ 17 | 11/ 17 |
Pricing
Plans as listed on each vendor's site when we last checked. Confirm before you buy.
| Attribute | Cursor | Factory | Zed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plans | Free Free Trying the editor and a few agent runs. | Pro $20/mo A developer trying agents day to day. | PersonalOur pick Free Almost everyone. |
Plus $8/mo Light users who are happy with Grok models only. | PlusOur pick $100/mo Developers who lean on agents all day. | Pro $10/mo People who want Zed's hosted AI without managing keys. | |
PremiumOur pick $30/mo Most developers, especially if you want Claude alongside Grok. | Max $200/mo Heavy individual users. | Business $30/seat/mo Teams that need spending and access controls. | |
Super or Ultra $100/mo or $200/mo Heavy daily agent users. | Teams $60/mo per team plus $40/seat Small teams up to 10 people. | ||
Legacy Pro $20/mo Existing subscribers only. New customers can't buy it. | Business / Enterprise Custom Larger companies with security requirements. | ||
Teams From $30/user/mo Companies that need admin controls and SSO. | |||
| Which plan to pick | If you are on the old $20 Pro plan and it covers what you use, stay put; switching is permanent. New customers should skip Plus unless they are happy with Grok. Premium is the realistic starting point if you want Claude, and budget for the extra usage billing on top of the $30. Large companies can ask about a custom Enterprise plan. | Try Pro for a month to see if the agents suit your codebase. If you want Droids working in the background while you do other things, you need Plus. | Personal. If you have Claude Pro, run Claude Code inside Zed and you are done. Pro only makes sense if you want Zed's built-in assistant and edit predictions without setting up API keys. |
Key features
| Attribute | Cursor | Factory | Zed |
|---|---|---|---|
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Pros and cons
| Attribute | Cursor | Factory | Zed |
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Who each one is for
| Attribute | Cursor | Factory | Zed |
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Questions people ask
Which is better, Cursor, Factory or Zed?
Zed scores highest overall in our ratings (Cursor 3.9/5, Factory 3.8/5 and Zed 4.3/5). Cursor is best for editing with AI autocomplete and learning by watching changes happen. Factory is best for working through backlog tickets in the background and bug fixes and small features from Jira or Linear. Zed is best for Running Claude Code inside an editor and speed on big projects.
Which is cheaper, Cursor, Factory or Zed?
Cursor: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $8/mo. Factory: There's no free plan. Paid plans start at $20/mo. Zed: There's a free plan, and paid plans start at $10/mo.
Which is easier to use, Cursor, Factory or Zed?
Cursor rates highest for ease of use in our scores. Developers and curious beginners who want AI help but still want a visual editor.
How we compare
Ratings are our own, from using each tool, across ease of use, features, output quality, value for money, speed & reliability.
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