head-to-head · tool vs tool
Qwen Code vs Zed
Live matchup data for Qwen Code and Zed: OpenRouter usage, pricing, benchmark scores, and community sentiment, refreshed daily. No verdicts — read the tape.
usage — openrouter daily tokens
Usage crossover
current leader: Zed
source: OpenRouter app rankings · daily · 90d
through Aug 20, 2026
side by side
Spec & pricing
| Spec | Qwen Code | Zed |
|---|---|---|
| Vendor | Alibaba (Qwen) | Zed Industries |
| Homepage | qwenlm.github.io | zed.dev |
| GitHub | QwenLM/qwen-code | zed-industries/zed |
| Package | @qwen-code/qwen-code | — |
| Subscription plans | — |
snapshot Aug 12, 2026 |
| Latest plan change | — | Zed plans changed: Personal limits changed; Pro limits changed; Business limits changed detected Aug 12, 2026 |
| GitHub stars | 27,235 | 88,976 |
| Pkg downloads/day | 0 | — |
| Latest release | dsw-eas-full-20260821-r1 · 46 h ago | v1.17.0-pre · 3 d ago |
sources: provider pages · OpenRouter · GitHub · package registries
— = not tracked / not applicable
head to head
Benchmarks
| Benchmark | Qwen Code | Zed | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| SWE-bench Lite | 49.7%Sep 1 · entroPO R2E QwenCoder30BA3B tts | — | github.com |
| SWE-bench Verified | 60.4%Sep 1 · entroPO R2E QwenCoder30BA3B tts | — | github.com |
best tracked score per benchmark · scores are not directly comparable across benchmarks
sources linked per row
community pulse
Reddit sentiment
| Signal | Qwen Code | Zed |
|---|---|---|
| Mentions (30d) | 290 | 272 |
| Positive share | 15.5% | 23.9% |
| Negative share | 22.4% | 12.5% |
| Net sentiment | -6.9% | +11.4% |
| 30d trend |
source: Reddit mentions, LLM-classified sentiment · trailing 30d
through Aug 21, 2026
faq
Frequently asked
- Is Qwen Code more used than Zed?
- As of Aug 20, 2026, Qwen Code shows 3.6B tokens/day through OpenRouter-tracked apps and Zed shows 19.5B tokens/day through OpenRouter-tracked apps. The chart above tracks the full daily series with every lead change marked.
- How does Qwen Code pricing compare to Zed?
- Qwen Code runs $0.5 per million input tokens and $1.00 per million output tokens (as of Aug 21, 2026). Zed tracked plans: Personal, Pro, Business. Full plan and per-token detail is in the spec table above, each with its source and capture date.
- How do Qwen Code and Zed score on coding benchmarks?
- The tape holds 4 tracked results for Qwen Code and 0 for Zed, but none on a shared benchmark yet — scores are listed side by side without a common baseline.
- Where does this comparison data come from?
- OpenRouter public rankings (usage), provider pricing pages (plans and per-token prices), GitHub and package registries (adoption), public benchmark leaderboards, and Reddit (sentiment). Every stored datum keeps its source URL, and the tape refreshes daily. The Token Tape publishes the data without declaring a winner.
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