Zed vs JetBrains Fleet: Choosing Speed or Intelligence

Performance and architecture

Zed delivers instant startup and responsive editing because it uses a custom GPU-accelerated GPUI framework and a multi-thread-friendly B-tree buffer. This Rust-native architecture minimizes resource use even during large projects. JetBrains’ Fleet, which evolved into the Air agentic development environment, relies on the IntelliJ code-processing engine for its Smart mode. This transition from Fleet to Air follows the decision to stop Fleet distribution on December 22, 2025. While Zed provides a fast, lightweight experience through its custom GPUI framework, JetBrains’ intelligent tools require the heavy JVM-based engine to provide deep code analysis and smart refactoring for complex polyglot projects. JetBrains developers must still manage higher memory consumption and slower startup times compared to the minimal footprint of Zed. JetBrains’ Smart mode converts the editor into a complete IDE when it downloads language services, such as the ReSharper-based service for C#, from JetBrains servers. This mode supports projects targeting .NET 5.0 and above but does not currently include support for Razor or Blazor. Zed’s extension system utilizes Wasm to provide fast, sandboxed, and cross-language capabilities. The GPUI framework treats the entire interface like a video game to ensure high performance.

The AI workflow divergence

Zed builds its interface around three configurable pane areas: the editor window, a context-aware navigation pane, and a dedicated AI session view. This session view streams micro-changes as a real-time breadcrumb trail using a custom streaming diff protocol that works with CRDT-based buffers. Users see the model output token by token, which preserves the lineage of every modification. Zed also captures full terminal sessions, including test failures and build outputs, within the session history. You should weigh the speed of a native binary against the depth of a mature IDE engine. Zed includes low-latency, built-in collaboration for pair and mob programming. In contrast, the JetBrains "Code With Me" plugin faces a sunsetting process, with the relay scheduled to shut down in the first quarter of 2027. Air focuses instead on the agentic loop where developers guide agents to perform tasks like cleaning code, refactoring modules, or exploring unfamiliar code paths. This workflow allows the agent to return full patches after completing asynchronous runs. The AI in Zed can parse instructions from a Claude.md file and maintain awareness of project requirements across long sessions. When the AI makes a mistake, Zed can re-scope all changes to the proper branch structure. Zed can also work with the GitHub API to create issues and manage branching. Will Air eventually replace the need for traditional IDEs entirely?

Language support and the final verdict

Zed works well for editing embedded Rust code with full rust-analyzer support. However, Zed’s debugging remains basic and lacks the advanced variable inspection found in JetBrains tools. JetBrains provides industry-best debugging with breakpoints, variable inspection, and memory views for remote and embedded targets. For C# development, Fleet’s Smart mode uses the ReSharper engine to provide continuous code quality analysis and renaming refactoring. This mode also allows for variable evaluation and frame inspection during debugging sessions.

Zed’s AI capabilities involve Anthropic’s Claude as the default large language model agent. The pricing model charges $20 per month for 500 prompts, with usage-based billing thereafter. This amount covers mixed human and AI workflows, though users hitting limits within a week may require more prompts. The extension library contains about 800 extensions, which is much smaller than the 50,000 extensions found in the VS Code marketplace. Zed provides a highly responsive experience on Windows because it uses Powershell for its integrated terminal. Zed is the clear winner for developers who prioritize extreme speed and integrated real-time collaboration.