Building software on instinct
Vibe coding is building software by describing in plain language what you want, and letting the AI write the code without reading or reviewing it yourself. You watch one thing: does it work and does it look good. The code underneath you leave to the model. Where a programmer looks at the logic and the architecture, in vibe coding you go by the vibe.
That sounds reckless, and it partly is. But it is exactly why it took off: the barrier to building something vanished overnight. You no longer need years of programming to get a working app on screen. You only need to be able to describe what you have in mind.
With vibe coding it is all about the result. The code that produces it, you do not read. You ask, it appears, you use it. How it comes together stays a black box.
The term comes from Andrej Karpathy
The word was coined in early 2025 by Andrej Karpathy, co-founder of OpenAI and former head of AI at Tesla. He described a new way of working where you fully give in to the vibes and forget that the code even exists. He asked the AI to build something, accepted every suggested change without reading it and fixed error messages by simply pasting them back.
In a few months the term went from a joke on X to the word showing up in job posts, investor decks and the boardroom. The reason is that the technology underneath finally got good enough. Models like Claude and GPT now write code that in many cases runs straight away, and the tools around them make actually running that code effortless.
How vibe coding works in practice
The loop is always the same, and it is deliberately simple.
You describe what you want
In plain language: 'build an app where customers can book an appointment, with an overview for me behind it.' Just the intent, without technical jargon.
The AI writes the code
The model figures out the structure, picks the technology and generates every file it needs. In seconds, where doing it by hand would take days.
You run it and look
The app appears. You click around, see what works and what does not. The code itself you skip; you judge only the result.
You steer with language
'The button should be top right' or 'it saves nothing.' You describe the problem, the AI adjusts the code. That is how you iterate until it is right.
The tools that make this possible keep arriving. Cursor and Claude Code aim at developers who still want the code alongside. Lovable, Bolt, v0 and Replit go a step further and let you build an app without ever seeing the code. The common thread: you work in language, and the tool translates it into working software. Which tools exist and which one fits your situation, we worked out in vibe coding tools: which one to use.
Why everyone is suddenly doing it
Vibe coding exists because three things matured at the same time.
The models got good enough
A few years ago AI produced code that failed more often than it worked. Now a solid share runs right away, and that shifts the work from writing to describing.
The barrier disappeared
You no longer need a degree to build something that works. A founder with an idea now gets further than a junior developer used to.
The speed is addictive
An idea you have in the morning is on your screen by the afternoon. That short loop between thinking and seeing is what makes it so appealing.
The result is that vibe coding is no longer just for developers. Marketers build their own little tools, founders stand up a first version of their product over a weekend, and whole teams prototype ideas that used to stay stuck in a document.
What vibe coding is meant for
In the right place, vibe coding is a gift. The risk is low and the payoff is high.
Prototypes and validation
Quickly testing whether an idea holds up. You build to learn and throw it away just as easily afterwards.
Internal tools
A small dashboard, a calculation module, a script that reshapes data. One user, low stakes, it does not need to be pretty inside.
Learning and exploring
When you are starting out, you see real code go by at every step. You pick up patterns you would otherwise never have run into.
The first version of a product
A working demo to show customers or investors. Enough to sell the idea, before you invest in real development.
Where it breaks down
The demo convinces everyone. The trouble starts the moment real users, real data and real money get involved. That is when it turns out that working and production-ready are two different things.
The last 20% is the real work
You have something that feels 80% done. That last 20% (error handling, edge cases, security) turns out to be 80% of the work. It is where most vibe-coded projects stall.
Invisible logic goes unchecked
Vibe coding works as long as you can see the result. With styling you indirectly check the code by looking at the screen. With validation, security and data flows that check does not exist, and that is where it quietly goes wrong.
The AI loses the overview
Once a project gets too big to take in at once, the model starts building things twice, remaking features that already exist and making assumptions that hold up nowhere.
Nobody has an opinion about the code
If there is a bug or a security hole, there is nobody who understands the code and can step in. You are left with an app you cannot repair.
A vibe-coded app that works in a demo can still leak your data or fall over at the tenth user in production. You cannot see the difference from the outside, and that is exactly the danger.
We worked out two of these pitfalls in more depth: why that last 20% is the real work, and why invisible logic is the biggest risk in vibe coding works as long as you can see the result.
Vibe coding, AI-assisted coding and plain programming
Vibe coding is one end of a spectrum. At the other end sits AI-assisted coding, where you put the AI to work just as hard but do read along, have an opinion about the code and steer the moment the model goes wrong. The same tooling, a completely different outcome: a proof of concept versus production code.
Which one you need depends on what you are building. We worked out the difference in full in vibe coding vs AI-assisted coding. The short version: the moment it really goes to production, you want someone who understands the code.
From vibe-coded prototype to production
Most people who come to us have vibe-coded something that works and now want the next step. It has to go live, it has to be secure and it has to keep running once customers are on it. That is a different craft than building the demo.
Sometimes it is enough to map out, with an audit, what still needs to happen before it can go live. Sometimes you would rather hand the technology over entirely, so you can focus on your product. Either way: a prototype you build in an afternoon calls for a professional before you bet a business on it.
Conclusion: something working fast, and then?
Vibe coding is the fastest path from an idea to something working that has ever existed. You describe what you want, the AI builds it and you steer by instinct. For prototypes, internal tools and first versions, that is worth its weight in gold.
Building on language
You describe the intent, the AI writes the code and you judge only the result. No technical knowledge required up front.
Perfect for the start
Prototypes, validation and internal tools. Low stakes, high speed, and it is fine if it is messy inside.
The production gap remains
Working in a demo is something other than ready for real users. That last step calls for someone who does understand the code.
So know what you are holding. A vibe-coded app that works is a fantastic starting point. It is just rarely the finish line.
What is vibe coding?
Who coined the term vibe coding?
Which tools do you use for vibe coding?
Is vibe coding the same as programming?
Can you build a real product with vibe coding?
Is vibe coding the future of software development?
Vibe-coded something that needs to go to production?
We help founders and teams go from working prototype to production code: an audit that shows what is needed, or handing the technology over entirely so you can focus on your product.
