Vibe Codes

What is vibe coding? A plain-English guide

By Vibe Codes · Updated

Vibe coding is building software by describing what you want to an AI in plain language and letting it write the code. You judge the result by using it — does it look and behave the way you meant? — and keep asking for changes until it does.

Where the term came from

The phrase was popularised in early 2025 by AI researcher Andrej Karpathy, who described a way of working where you "give in to the vibes": you talk to the AI, accept what it writes, paste errors back in, and barely look at the code itself. It caught on because it named something many people had started doing with tools that could suddenly write whole apps from a sentence.

How vibe coding works, step by step

  1. Describe the app. "A booking page for my dog-grooming business, with a calendar, prices and a deposit by card."
  2. Let the AI build a first version. Prompt-to-app builders produce something you can click in minutes; coding assistants write the project files on your computer.
  3. Use it and react. "The calendar should start on Monday." "Make the deposit 20%." "It crashes when I pick tomorrow."
  4. Repeat until it is right. Most of the work is this loop: trying, noticing, and describing what is wrong.
  5. Put it online. The AI can usually walk you through deploying it to a host and connecting a domain.

What people build

The sweet spot is software that one person needs and that would never have justified hiring a developer: a quoting tool for a trade business, a menu with a QR code for a café, a staff rota, a portfolio, a tracker for a hobby, a prototype to show investors. Browse real examples in vibe coded apps, or start from a vibe code template someone else already built.

The tools

There are two broad kinds. Prompt-to-app builders such as Lovable, Bolt, v0 and Replit run in the browser and show you the app as it is built — the easiest start for non-developers. AI coding assistants such as Claude Code, Cursor, GitHub Copilot and Windsurf work on project files directly and give you more control as projects grow. The vibe coding tools guide compares them.

The limits, honestly

From vibe coded project to product

Plenty of vibe coded projects are worth more than the afternoon they took. You can run one as a product, sell its code as a template other people make their own, or use it as proof you can build something similar for a client. On Vibe Codes you can do all three: one prompt has your AI clean up the project, remove your keys, write an honest report on what works, and list it. See how selling works, or read how to sell a vibe coded app.

Questions people ask

Is vibe coding real programming?

It produces real software, but the person directing it may never read the code. That is the trade-off: you move very fast, and you depend on the AI and on testing to catch mistakes you would not spot yourself.

Do I need to know how to code to vibe code?

No. Many people who vibe code have never programmed. Knowing a little helps you describe problems precisely and spot when the AI has gone off track, and most people pick that up as they go.

What can you build with vibe coding?

Websites, small business tools, internal dashboards, booking and scheduling apps, games, browser extensions, automations and prototypes of larger products. It is weakest on software that must be very secure, very fast, or maintained by a team for years.

Who owns code made with AI?

Most AI coding tools' terms say the output belongs to you, but read your tool's terms, and check any third-party code, fonts, images or libraries the AI pulled in — those carry their own licenses.

Can I sell what I vibe code?

Yes. People sell vibe coded apps as products, sell the code as templates or kits, or get hired to build similar apps for others. Vibe Codes is a marketplace built for exactly that.

List your app