What Is Vibe Coding?
Vibe coding is an easy and relaxed, AI-powered way to build apps and websites without typing a single line of traditional code. In place of memorizing syntax or debugging for hours, you can just simply talk to an AI. All you have to do is describe what you want in plain English, and it writes the code for you. It’s like telling a very smart assistant, “Hey, build me a blog site that has a dark mode,” and then watching it do just that.
It’s easy, creative, intuitive, and built for anyone with ideas and isn’t limited to just coders.
Who Coined the Term ‘Vibe Coding’ ?
In the beginning of 2025, Andrej Karpathy, a prominent figure in AI, who was previously the director of AI @ Tesla, and was a part of the founding team @ OpenAI coined the term Vibe Coding.
How Vibe Coding Works
Vibe coding isn’t about typing. It’s about prompting and refining. The following steps are how it usually works:
- Describe your idea: The first step to begin is to just make a flow of your idea, in plain English. For example, you can write in a prompt like- “Make a to-do list app with a clean design and color-coded priorities.”
- Let the AI write the code: There are various models to choose from- it uses models like GPT-4 or Claude to generate front-end, back-end, and sometimes even the database.
- Test and tweak: You check if it according to the prompt you’ve given and if it works. You can make any modifications that you want by saying things like, “Add a dark mode” or “Fix that bug.”
- Repeat until it’s perfect: The last step is like sculpting with AI. It’s less logic, more vibes.
5 Best Vibe Coding Tools in 2025
1. Cursor
Cursor is the AI-first code editor built on VS Code. It’s great for chatting with your code and fixing bugs on the fly.
2. Bind AI IDE
It offers multi-language support, GitHub integration, and live previews. The same is excellent for front-end projects.
3. Replit Ghostwriter
It’s an online IDE that builds apps from prompts. And it’s very beginner-friendly.
4. Claude Code
It’s strong at remembering your whole project and adapting across iterations.
5. GitHub Copilot X
A familiar favorite that now chats with you and builds features based on your prompts.
Pros and Cons of Vibe Coding
| PROS | CONS |
| No coding knowledge needed | AI-generated code can be error-prone |
| Faster prototyping | You might not understand the underlying code |
| Accessible to everyone | Risk of technical debt in big projects |
| Great for personal tools/startups | Debugging complex apps can still require skills |
| Reduces time spent on boilerplate | AI tools may have limits or paywalls |
Why Is Vibe Coding Gaining Popularity?
- It democratizes software development. Anyone with just an idea can now build an app.
- It time efficient as it saves a lot of time. Professionals are using it to skip repetitive and standard coding tasks.
- It feels creative. This process is all about creating more engaging and the same time building a personal connection between the coder and the code.
- Startups love it. According to Y Combinator, 25% of Winter 2025 startups had 95% AI-written code! How cool is that?
Traditional Coding vs Vibe Coding : A Quick Comparison
| Feature | Traditional Coding | Vibe Coding |
| Skills required | High (languages, logic) | Low to moderate (plain English) |
| Speed | Slow | Much Faster |
| Accessibility | Mostly developers | Anyone with ideas |
| Control over the code | Full control | AI-generated, editable |
| Learning curve | Steep | Beginner Friendly |
| Debugging | Manual | AI-assisted |
A Real-world example that showcases the power of vibe coding in action:
🥪 LunchBox Buddy by Kevin Roose
Kevin Roose, who is a journalist at The New York Times, ventured into vibe coding to create a personal tool called LunchBox Buddy. His goal was simple: he wanted to develop an app that could analyze the contents of his refrigerator and suggest lunch options.
And mind you Kevin did not have any prior coding experience, he utilized an AI tool called Bolt. He just described his idea to the AI, which then generated the necessary code. Through iterative prompts and adjustments, Bolt AI built a functional prototype just in about 10 minutes! Additionally, the app featured an interface which allowed its users to upload photos of their fridge contents, then it used image recognition to identify the items, and provided meal suggestions based on the available ingredients and items from the fridge. Here are some AI Website Builders That Create Stunning Sites Without Code in 2025
Final Thought
All in all, vibe coding isn’t just going to be small trend, it’s about to shift how we approach technology. Whether you’re a developer looking to boost productivity and get more efficient or a non-coder with a big idea, vibe coding is for you. It makes software creation feel possible, even exciting. Moreover, it’s not about perfect code, it’s about getting into a creative flow.
