Zed Pro Pitches Open-Source Models

This reads like product-market probing, but the direction is obvious: Zed wants Pro to feel like a flexible model layer, not just a bundled editor subscription.

• –Zed Pro already leans multi-model, so open-source Baseten-hosted options would fit its existing direction rather than rewrite it
• –The upside is obvious for developers: more model choice, potentially better pricing pressure, and less dependence on a small set of premium providers
• –The tradeoff is equally obvious: open-source models can be cheaper and more open, but they may lag frontier models on coding quality, tool use, and latency consistency
• –If Zed ships this, the real question is whether it presents open models as a niche option or as a first-class part of the Pro value prop
• –This is a small tweet with a big strategic signal: model distribution is becoming part of the editor product, not just an external API decision