OpenHands vs Zed AI
55 fields both were evaluated on, 20 of them different — including where one discloses something the other does not. Every value links to the document it came from. 35 further fields are disclosed by neither and are listed at the end rather than tabled.
Assurance
| Field | OpenHands | Zed AI |
|---|---|---|
| Audit trail· | Audit logs offered alongside budget controls “Audit logs and budget controls”www.openhands.dev · checked Aug 5, 2026 Not in our latest capture. We captured this page again on Sep 16, 2026 and this quote was not there. How we re-check citations | no public information zed.dev · checked Aug 7, 2026 |
| Runtime governance· | Access controls and cost guardrails for enterprise agent use “Give teams the visibility, access controls, audit trails, and cost guardrails needed to run agents across enterprise workflows.”www.openhands.dev · checked Aug 5, 2026 Not in our latest capture. We captured this page again on Sep 16, 2026 and this quote was not there. How we re-check citations | “Sandboxing Zed supports sandboxing to restrict what agents can do while using the terminal and fetch tools.”zed.dev · checked Aug 7, 2026 Not in our latest capture. We captured this page again on Sep 17, 2026 and this quote was not there. How we re-check citations |
| Permission scopes· | Fine-grained access control “Control every layer of your environment with fine-grained access control, model-agnostic architecture, and flexible self-hosted or private cloud deployment options that keep your code and data secure.”www.openhands.dev · checked Aug 5, 2026 Not in our latest capture. We captured this page again on Sep 16, 2026 and this quote was not there. How we re-check citations | no public information zed.dev · checked Aug 7, 2026 |
Agency
| Field | OpenHands | Zed AI |
|---|---|---|
| Action space· | Reads and writes code, executes changes across codebases “OpenHands runs agents that complete entire engineering tasks, taking actions across entire codebases, running tasks in parallel, and executing changes in real environments.”www.openhands.dev · checked Aug 5, 2026 | no public information zed.dev · checked Aug 7, 2026 |
| Operating environment· | Codebase / software development environment “It runs autonomous agents that plan, write, and apply changes across your codebase, helping teams complete complex tasks end-to-end.”www.openhands.dev · checked Aug 5, 2026 | no public information zed.dev · checked Aug 7, 2026 |
| Initiative· | Can self-initiate via scheduled or triggered workflows, not only on direct prompt “Schedule recurring tasks or trigger workflows from GitHub, Slack, or PagerDuty, even when your machine is off.”www.openhands.dev · checked Aug 5, 2026 Not in our latest capture. We captured this page again on Sep 16, 2026 and this quote was not there. How we re-check citations | no public information zed.dev · checked Aug 7, 2026 |
Safety
| Field | OpenHands | Zed AI |
|---|---|---|
| Data handling· | Self-hosted option keeps data from leaving the customer environment “Self-hosted — data never leaves your environment”www.openhands.dev · checked Aug 5, 2026 Not in our latest capture. We captured this page again on Sep 16, 2026 and this quote was not there. How we re-check citations | no public information zed.dev · checked Aug 7, 2026 |
Practicality
| Field | OpenHands | Zed AI |
|---|---|---|
| Deployment options· | On-prem or private cloud, running in the customer environment “OpenHands runs in your environment, whether on-prem or private cloud, so your code never leaves your control.”www.openhands.dev · checked Aug 5, 2026 | no public information zed.dev · checked Aug 7, 2026 |
| Integrations· | GitHub, GitLab, CI/CD, Slack, and ticketing tools “Native integrations with GitHub, GitLab, CI/CD, Slack, and ticketing tools.”www.openhands.dev · checked Aug 5, 2026 Not in our latest capture. We captured this page again on Sep 16, 2026 and this quote was not there. How we re-check citations | “Bring agents like Claude Agent, Codex, or OpenCode via ACP. Connect MCP servers for extending the agent's knowledge.”zed.dev · checked Aug 7, 2026 |
Foundation models
| Field | OpenHands | Zed AI |
|---|---|---|
| Base models· | no public information www.openhands.dev · checked Aug 5, 2026 | |
| Model swappable· | Model-agnostic architecture “Open source, model-agnostic, and deployable in your environment, so you control how agents run, what they access, and where data stays.”www.openhands.dev · checked Aug 5, 2026 Not in our latest capture. We captured this page again on Sep 16, 2026 and this quote was not there. How we re-check citations | “Zed doesn't lock you into one model, it gives you the fastest way to collaborate with any agent.”zed.dev · checked Aug 7, 2026 |
| Open weights· | no public information www.openhands.dev · checked Aug 5, 2026 |
Ecosystem
| Field | OpenHands | Zed AI |
|---|---|---|
| Protocols supported· | no public information www.openhands.dev · checked Aug 5, 2026 | “Connect MCP servers for extending the agent's knowledge.”zed.dev · checked Aug 7, 2026 |
| Tool use· | no public information www.openhands.dev · checked Aug 5, 2026 | “Sandboxing Zed supports sandboxing to restrict what agents can do while using the terminal and fetch tools.”zed.dev · checked Aug 7, 2026 Not in our latest capture. We captured this page again on Sep 17, 2026 and this quote was not there. How we re-check citations |
| Multi-agent· | no public information www.openhands.dev · checked Aug 5, 2026 | “Parallel Agents Run multiple threads of your favorite agents across several projects so you never leave your flow.”zed.dev · checked Aug 7, 2026 |
| API access· | SDK available for embedding into other products/platforms “embed the OpenHands SDK into your product or internal platform.”www.openhands.dev · checked Aug 5, 2026 Not in our latest capture. We captured this page again on Sep 16, 2026 and this quote was not there. How we re-check citations | no public information zed.dev · checked Aug 7, 2026 |
| Open source· | Free and open source; no licence named on the page checked “Free and open source — no infra cost”www.openhands.dev · checked Aug 5, 2026 Not in our latest capture. We captured this page again on Sep 16, 2026 and this quote was not there. How we re-check citations | “Edit Prediction An open-source, open-data language model that predicts what you'll type next.”zed.dev · checked Aug 7, 2026 |
| Marketplace presence· | no public information www.openhands.dev · checked Aug 5, 2026 | “Growing extensions ecosystem Boost your Zed experience by choosing from hundreds of extensions that broaden language support, offer different themes, and more. Create Extension View All Extensions”zed.dev · checked Aug 7, 2026 |
Impact
| Field | OpenHands | Zed AI |
|---|---|---|
| Deployment scale· | 81K+ GitHub stars, active open-source ecosystem “With 81K+ GitHub stars and a thriving open-source ecosystem, OpenHands evolves through collective innovation - every contribution makes the platform faster, safer, and smarter.”www.openhands.dev · checked Aug 5, 2026 Not in our latest capture. We captured this page again on Sep 16, 2026 and this quote was not there. How we re-check citations | no public information zed.dev · checked Aug 7, 2026 |
| Target sectors· | Platform teams, internal developer platform builders, enterprises with large/legacy or mission-critical codebases “OpenHands is used by platform teams automating engineering workflows at scale, teams building internal developer platforms or AI-powered tooling, and enterprises managing large or legacy codebases and mission-critical software systems.”www.openhands.dev · checked Aug 5, 2026 | no public information zed.dev · checked Aug 7, 2026 |
Disclosed by neither
Both OpenHands and Zed AI publish nothing on these 35 fields. That is a finding about the category rather than a difference between them, so it is recorded here instead of as 35 identical table rows. Each is shown with its source check on the individual profiles.
- Autonomy level
- Human oversight
- Goal complexity
- User base
- High-risk domains
- Documented incidents
- Pricing model
- Price point
- Availability
- Supported regions
- Support model
- Model provider
- Fine-tuning
- Context window
- Safety evaluations
- Red teaming
- Safety policy
- Usage restrictions
- Model or system card
- Incident reporting
- Third-party evaluations
- Insurance available
- Insurance carriers
- Coverage limits
- Indemnification
- Liability cap
- Tamper-evident log
- Explainability
- Compliance certifications
- Regulatory alignment
- Outcome-based pricing
- Settlement mechanism
- Dispute process
- SLA terms
- Evaluation coverage
Questions
- How do OpenHands and Zed AI compare on action space?
- OpenHands: Reads and writes code, executes changes across codebases. Zed AI: no public information disclosed.
- How do OpenHands and Zed AI compare on operating environment?
- OpenHands: Codebase / software development environment. Zed AI: no public information disclosed.
- How do OpenHands and Zed AI compare on initiative?
- OpenHands: Can self-initiate via scheduled or triggered workflows, not only on direct prompt. Zed AI: no public information disclosed.
- How do OpenHands and Zed AI compare on deployment scale?
- OpenHands: 81K+ GitHub stars, active open-source ecosystem. Zed AI: no public information disclosed.
- How do OpenHands and Zed AI compare on target sectors?
- OpenHands: Platform teams, internal developer platform builders, enterprises with large/legacy or mission-critical codebases. Zed AI: no public information disclosed.
- How do OpenHands and Zed AI compare on deployment options?
- OpenHands: On-prem or private cloud, running in the customer environment. Zed AI: no public information disclosed.