Cursor vs Zed for MCP servers
Cursor and Zed differ in 8 of 10 facts: publisher, kind, runs on, price, licence, connects to, server config, servers that work in it.
| Fact | Cursor | Zed |
|---|---|---|
| Publisher | Anysphere | Zed Industries |
| Kind | Code editor, Terminal, Web app | Code editor |
| Runs on | macOS, Windows, Linux, Web | macOS, Windows, Linux |
| Price | Free plan | Free |
| Licence | Not stated | GPL-3.0-or-later |
| Connects to | Local (stdio), Remote (HTTP), Remote (SSE) | Local (stdio), Remote (HTTP) |
| Headers for remote servers | Yes | Yes |
| Server config | ~/.cursor/mcp.json | ~/.config/zed/settings.json |
| Servers that work in it | 123,045 | 119,287 |
| What we checked | Matches the official docs | Matches the official docs |
| Add a server | In Cursor | In Zed |
From each client's own documentation and site, as linked on its page. The server counts are today's install configs that work in each.