Is Zed Editor Ready to Replace VS Code for Laravel Developers? A Full Review

In late 2023, the Laravel ecosystem was buzzing with a new name: Zed. The high-performance code editor, built in Rust by the team behind Atom, promised near-instant startup times and a buttery-smooth editing experience. For developers accustomed to waiting 5–10 seconds for Visual Studio Code to launch with a heavy extension load, the prospect was tantalizing. But the question on every Laravel developer’s mind was simple: can Zed actually replace my daily driver?

I spent the last four weeks using Zed as my primary editor for a production Laravel application, complete with Inertia, Tailwind, and a suite of testing tools. Here is my full, honest assessment.

The State of the Editor War

Before diving into Zed’s specifics, it’s worth acknowledging the context. Visual Studio Code holds roughly 74% of the developer market share among code editors (per the 2024 Stack Overflow Developer Survey). Its dominance is built on a massive extension marketplace, a mature debugging experience, and a familiar interface that millions of developers have customized to their liking.

Zed, on the other hand, is a newcomer. It launched its public release in January 2024, and while it has gained a cult following among Rust and systems programmers, its adoption in the PHP world has been slower. The editor’s core pitch is performance: it is built on a GPU-accelerated rendering engine and uses a collaborative editing protocol that feels telepathic. But performance alone doesn’t win over a Laravel developer who relies on a specific set of tools.

Installation and First Impressions

Zed installs cleanly on macOS and Linux (Windows support is still in beta via WSL). The first launch is genuinely shocking. A fresh Zed window opens in under a second, even on an M1 MacBook Pro with 16GB of RAM. VS Code, by comparison, takes about 3–4 seconds on the same machine with a typical extension set.

The interface is minimal. There is no top menu bar by default; everything is command-palette driven. This feels familiar to developers who use Neovim or Sublime Text, but it can be disorienting for VS Code converts. The default theme is a dark, high-contrast palette that is easy on the eyes for long sessions.

PHP and Laravel Support: The Good, The Bad, and The Missing

The Good: Native LSP Integration

Zed’s biggest strength for PHP development is its native Language Server Protocol (LSP) support. It integrates with phpactor or intelephense out of the box. In my testing, Intelephense (the same engine used by many VS Code users) performed flawlessly. Autocomplete for Eloquent models, route definitions, and facades was snappy, with no perceptible lag even on a project with 400+ files.

The built-in diagnostics are also excellent. Zed surfaces PHP syntax errors and type inconsistencies in real time, and the inline error highlighting is less intrusive than VS Code’s squiggly lines. The editor’s “hover to preview” feature for function signatures is faster than any plugin I’ve used in VS Code.

The Bad: No Native Blade Support

Here is the dealbreaker for many Laravel developers. Zed does not have a dedicated Blade templating engine extension. While it does support HTML and PHP syntax highlighting, the editor treats .blade.php files as regular PHP. This means you get zero autocomplete for Blade directives like @if, @foreach, or @include.

VS Code, with the “Laravel Blade Snippets” extension, offers a rich editing experience for Blade templates. Zed’s workaround—installing a community extension that adds basic Blade syntax highlighting—is a band-aid. It handles highlighting but does not provide contextual autocomplete for your own partials or components. For a Laravel developer who spends 40% of their day in Blade files, this is a significant friction point.

The Missing: Laravel Pint, Telescope, and Debugging

Laravel’s ecosystem relies on companion tools. Zed does not have a native integration for Laravel Pint (the code formatter). You can configure a custom formatting command in Zed’s settings, but the setup requires manual JSON editing. In VS Code, the “Laravel Pint” extension runs the formatter on save with a single click.

Laravel Telescope, the debugging assistant, is a web-based tool, so it works fine in any browser. However, Zed lacks a built-in HTTP client or REST client (like VS Code’s Thunder Client). You will need to keep a browser tab open or use a separate tool like Postman.

Debugging is where Zed falls significantly behind. VS Code’s Xdebug integration is mature; you can set breakpoints directly in your PHP files, inspect variables in a dedicated debug panel, and step through code with a visual interface. Zed’s debugging story is still in its infancy. As of this writing, it supports step-through debugging for PHP via a community extension, but the experience is clunky. Breakpoints are set via keyboard shortcuts, and the variable inspection panel is text-based and awkward to navigate.

Performance: The Undisputed Champion

Let me be clear: Zed is the fastest code editor I have ever used for PHP development. The difference is not marginal; it is transformative.

Consider a typical workflow: opening a Laravel project, searching for a class definition, jumping between controllers and models, and running a test suite via the terminal. In VS Code, these actions involve a constant hum of activity—the file watcher, the extension host, the Git integration. On a large project, you can feel the editor slowing down. Input lag becomes noticeable when you have 20 files open and a minified JavaScript bundle in the background.

Zed handles this with zero perceptible lag. The editor’s multi-threaded architecture means that a heavy file (like a 2,000-line Blade view) does not block the UI thread. Scrolling is GPU-accelerated, and even on a 4K external monitor, the frame rate stays at 60fps. The built-in terminal is also faster than VS Code’s integrated terminal, with lower latency for command output.

For developers who value flow state, this performance advantage is real. You are less likely to be interrupted by the tool while you are thinking.

Collaboration Features: A Hidden Gem

Zed’s collaborative editing is not a bolt-on feature; it is core to the editor. You can share a project with a teammate via a link, and they can join your session with a cursor that appears in real time. The latency is negligible, and the experience feels like using Google Docs for code.

For Laravel teams that practice pair programming or need to do quick code reviews, this is a killer feature. VS Code offers Live Share, but it requires both parties to have the extension installed and often feels laggy on slower connections. Zed’s native implementation is smoother and requires no setup.

The Extension Gap: Can You Live Without It?

Zed has a growing extension marketplace, but it is nowhere near VS Code’s scale. As of August 2024, Zed has roughly 300 extensions, compared to VS Code’s 40,000. For Laravel developers, the critical gaps are:

• No first-party Laravel extension (like Laravel Extra Intellisense).
• No robust SQL client extension (you will need a separate database GUI).
• No built-in Git GUI; Zed relies on terminal Git commands.
• No plugin for Laravel Sail or Herd integration.

The last point is significant. Laravel Herd (the popular local PHP environment) has a companion VS Code extension that lets you manage sites and services directly from the editor. No such integration exists for Zed. You will need to switch to a browser or terminal to manage your local environment.

The Verdict: Is It Ready?

After four weeks, I have a nuanced answer.

For a Laravel developer who primarily writes backend PHP, API routes, and uses the terminal for Git and testing, Zed is absolutely ready. The performance is unmatched, the LSP integration is solid, and the collaboration features are a genuine productivity boost. If your workflow does not involve heavy Blade templating or Xdebug, Zed will make you faster.

For a Laravel developer who lives in Blade files, uses Laravel Pint on save, and relies on step-through debugging, Zed is not ready. The lack of native Blade support is a daily annoyance, and the debugging experience is too immature for production work.

My recommendation: Do not switch cold turkey. Keep VS Code installed for Blade-heavy tasks and debugging sessions. Use Zed for the rest of your work. After a few weeks, you will naturally gravitate toward Zed for most of your coding, but you will always keep VS Code as a fallback.

The editor war is not over. Zed has won the performance battle, but the ecosystem war is still being fought. For now, the smartest Laravel developer is the one who uses both tools, not the one who picks a side.