Free alternative to Cursor

Home › Guides · Last checked 2026-10-28 · Facts verified from each project's docs unless marked tested

The closest free alternative to Cursor is Zed, an open-source code editor (GPL-3.0-or-later, with Apache-2.0 parts) for macOS, Windows and Linux. Its Free plan has no AI fee: the Zed Agent and Inline Assistant run on your own API key, an external agent such as Claude Agent or Codex CLI, or a local model through Ollama, LM Studio or llama.cpp. The catch: Zed's hosted models and its Zeta edit predictions need Pro ($10/mo), so free tab completion means setting up a local model or GitHub Copilot, and a model that fits on your laptop is weaker than the frontier models Cursor sells.

	Cursor	Zed (Free plan)
Cost	Free with limited agent and chat requests; Plus $8/mo (Grok models only); Premium $30/mo (Cursor pricing page)	$0 forever; Pro $10/mo is optional (Zed pricing page)
AI models	Grok on Plus; third-party models at API list price from Premium up	Your own API keys, external agents or local models
Tab completion	Included	Copilot or a local model on Free; Zeta needs Pro
Offline	No	Yes, with Ollama, LM Studio or llama.cpp
Extras	Cloud agents, AI code reviews, code hosting (Premium and up)	Agent panel, inline assistant, multiplayer editing
Platforms	Desktop app	macOS, Windows, Linux
License	Commercial service	GPL-3.0-or-later with Apache-2.0 parts

Set it up free in 5 steps

Download Zed from zed.dev/download. On Linux run curl -f https://zed.dev/install.sh | sh.
Install Ollama and pull a model, for example ollama pull mistral (the example in Zed's docs), then make sure Ollama is running.
In Zed, open the Agent Panel and pick your Ollama model from the model dropdown. Zed finds pulled models on its own.
For tab completion, open settings and set edit_predictions to the ollama provider with a code model such as qwen2.5-coder:7b-base, as in Zed's Edit Prediction docs.
Raise the context length: Zed sends Ollama 4,096 tokens by default, so set context_window higher (8192 in the docs' example) if your machine has the memory.

The catches

Hosted AI costs money: Zed's own models and Zeta predictions are Pro features, so the free path is your keys or your hardware.
Local models are smaller: what runs on a laptop trails Cursor's frontier models on big refactors and long agent runs.
Short default context: 4,096 tokens to Ollama unless you change it, which limits how much code the model sees.
Setup: local completion is a settings-file edit, not a toggle.

When Cursor is still worth paying for

If you want cloud agents, AI code reviews and top models with no setup, Cursor's Premium plan bundles them. Zed wins when you want a fast editor that costs nothing, keeps code on your machine with local models or uses API keys you already pay for.

Sources: Zed README (license section) and GitHub license files (GPL and Apache), Zed releases (v1.25.3, October 23, 2026), Zed pricing page, Zed docs: Plans & Pricing, Zed docs: Use a Local Model, Zed docs: Edit Prediction, zed.dev/download, Cursor pricing page (all checked 2026-10-28). We have no affiliate link with either. See all free coding assistants or read free GitHub Copilot alternatives.

FAQ

How much does Cursor cost?

Cursor's pricing page (checked 2026-10-28) now bundles Cursor with Grok and X features. Free is $0 with limited agent and chat requests. Plus is $8 a month and only includes Grok models. Premium is $30 a month with 4x Plus's usage, cloud agents and third-party models at API list price, billed separately by usage. Super is $100 and Ultra is $200 a month, and Teams starts at $30 per user a month. Prices exclude taxes.

Is Zed really free?

The editor is. Zed's pricing page lists the Personal plan at $0 forever, with unlimited use with your own API keys or external agents, and Zed's docs say the editor itself needs no sign-in or subscription. You pay only if you pick a cloud model, which that provider bills, or subscribe to Zed Pro. External agents such as Claude Agent or Codex CLI handle their own sign-in and billing.

What does Zed Pro add?

Pro is $10 a month for Zed-hosted AI models with $5 of token credit included, then usage at API list price plus 10%, and unlimited edit predictions. The 14-day trial includes $5 of GPT-6 Luna usage with no credit card and converts back to Free on its own. Zed's docs say verified university students can get the Student plan free for one year.

Can Zed run AI fully offline?

Yes, with a local model. Zed's docs list llama.cpp, LM Studio, Ollama and any local OpenAI-compatible server for the Zed Agent and Inline Assistant, and Zed finds models Ollama has pulled on its own. Edit predictions can also come from a local model through Ollama, including Zed's open Zeta 2 model.

Do I get tab completion on the free plan?

Not from Zed's hosted Zeta model. Zed's docs say Zeta predictions come with Pro, the Pro trial, Student and Business, and that Free users can use other providers such as GitHub Copilot or a local model through Ollama or an OpenAI-compatible server. The docs' example uses qwen2.5-coder:7b-base in Ollama.

Which systems does Zed run on?

macOS 10.15 or later, Windows and Linux, per zed.dev/download. The latest GitHub release when we checked was v1.25.3, published October 23, 2026. On Linux the install command is curl -f https://zed.dev/install.sh | sh.