Software Alternatives & Startups

Evil VS Zed

Compare Evil VS Zed and see what are their differences

Evil

The extensible vi layer for Emacs.

Rating
0 reviews
Zed

Zed is a high-performance, multiplayer code editor from the creators of Atom and Tree-sitter.

Rating
0 reviews
Pricing
Open source
Note: These products don't have any matching categories. If you think this is a mistake, please edit the details of one of the products and suggest appropriate categories.

Which is more popular?

Based on our record, Zed should be more popular than Evil. It has been mentioned 99 times since March 2021.

social mentions
62 vs 99
Text Editors popularity
33% vs 67%
alternatives listed
17 vs 240+

Base details

Website, pricing, platforms and company facts side by side.

Evil
Zed
Website github.com zed.dev
Pricing —
Open source
Listed in

Features and specs

What each product offers, as listed by its team.

Evil 4 features
Zed 5 features
  • Vim Emulation
    Evil provides a near-complete emulation of Vim’s features within Emacs, allowing users who are familiar with Vim to transition without losing their preferred keybindings and workflow.
  • Customizability
    Evil allows users to customize their configurations extensively, combining the powerful text-editing capabilities of Vim with the customizability of Emacs.
  • Community Support
    Evil has a large and active community, providing a wealth of plugins and resources to enhance the text editing experience.
  • Mode Integration
    Evil integrates smoothly with various Emacs major and minor modes, allowing users to leverage the full functionality of Emacs alongside Vim's modal editing.

Possible disadvantages

  • Learning Curve
    For users unfamiliar with Vim, the modal editing approach can introduce a significant learning curve, particularly for those accustomed to traditional text editors.
  • Complex Configuration
    Configuring Evil to fully integrate with existing Emacs setups can be complex and time-consuming, especially when customizing keybindings and behaviors.
  • Performance
    In some cases, using Evil with certain Emacs configurations or plugins may lead to performance issues, such as lag or delayed responses.
  • Inconsistencies
    There might be inconsistencies between Evil’s implementation of Vim features and the original, which could affect workflows for power users who rely on specific Vim functionalities.
  • Collaborative Editing
    Zed offers real-time collaborative editing features, allowing multiple developers to work on the same codebase simultaneously, enhancing team productivity and communication.
  • Minimalist Interface
    The interface is designed to be distraction-free and minimalist, which helps developers focus on coding without unnecessary clutter and distractions.
  • Speed and Performance
    Zed is built with performance in mind, offering fast loading times and a smooth user experience, making coding more efficient.
  • Cross-Platform Support
    Zed is available on multiple platforms, including Windows, macOS, and Linux, making it accessible to a wide array of users regardless of their operating system.
  • Innovative Features
    Zed includes several innovative features such as advanced search and navigation capabilities, which can significantly enhance the coding experience.

Possible disadvantages

  • Limited Extensions
    Compared to more established editors like VS Code, Zed currently has a more limited library of extensions and plugins, which might restrict customization and functionality.
  • Learning Curve
    New users coming from other development environments may face a learning curve due to Zed's unique interface and features.
  • Early Development
    As a relatively new tool, Zed may still be in its early stages of development, with potential bugs and missing features that could affect stability and user experience.
  • Community Size
    The community and user base for Zed is still growing, which can mean less community support, tutorials, and shared resources compared to more mature editors.

Analysis

An editorial look at what each product does well and who it suits.

Evil
Zed

No analysis of Evil yet.

Overall verdict

  • Yes, Zed is considered a good code editor by many developers.

Why this product is good

  • Zed offers a modern and efficient code editing experience with features such as real-time collaboration, a clean interface, and high performance. It is built to be fast and responsive, making it suitable for developers who value speed in their editing tools.

Recommended for

    Developers looking for a collaborative and fast code editor with a modern interface would benefit from using Zed. It is especially suited for teams that require real-time collaboration capabilities.

Videos

Walkthroughs and reviews on video.

Evil 3 videos + Add
Zed 2 videos + Add

Evil - Season 1 Review [No Spoilers]

More videos

  • - Evil Season 2 Finale Review! (Episode 13)
  • - Evil (CBS): Finale/Season 1 - TV Review

Zed “kills” VSCode

More videos

  • - Zed - The 'Visual Studio Code Killer' - Now on Linux!

Category popularity

How often each product is chosen within a category, 0–100% relative to the other.

Score bands 0–20 21–40 41–50 51–60 61–100
Evil
Zed
33% 33%
67% 67%
0% 0%
100% 100%
100% 100%
IDE
0% 0%
100% 100%
0% 0%

User comments

Share your experience with using Evil and Zed. For example, how are they different and which one is better?

Log in or Post with

Social recommendations and mentions

Recommendations tracked on public social media and blogs since March 2021.

Evil 62 mentions
Zed 99 mentions
  • Are We Stuck with Lean?
    > It feels exactly like if all the emacs users in the world tried to force all vim users to use emacs. That's why emacs has a vim mode[1]. [1] - https://github.com/emacs-evil/evil. - Source: Hacker News / 3 months ago
  • Switching from the Mac port Build of Emacs to the Standard NS Build
    That said, the default for sis-context-hooks, which decides when it fires, is '(evil-insert-state-entry-hook), which assumes evil. If you don't use evil, this hook never gets called and it won't work, so you'll need to add hooks that... - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
  • Creating an Emacs major mode - because why not?
    For multiple reasons, one of them just being curiosity, I started using Emacs. And before anyone wants to start waging the holy war of editors1, I'll put myself out there and pronounce that the one and only correct answer is: Emacs with... - Source: dev.to / about 2 years ago

View more

View more

Alternatives to Evil and Zed

When comparing Evil and Zed, you can also consider the following products.