Vibe Coding Explained: How AI Is Changing the Way You Build Software

Key takeaways

• Vibe coding is the process of developing software using artificial intelligence (AI) tools and natural language prompts instead of extensive coding, allowing even non-coders to quickly develop projects.

• Vibe code tools include ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, GitHub Copilot, Lovable, Bolt, Bubble, or Glide.

• Vibe coding works by entering your instructions for what you want to build into specialized AI tools that generate the code for you to review and refine in an ongoing conversational loop.

Users typically choose one of two vibe coding approaches: one that relies heavily on AI for all coding and another that fosters more of a human-AI collaboration process with more extensive expert oversight. Learn more about what vibe coding is, how it works, its benefits and potential challenges, and how you can begin vibe coding, which is emerging as a new role requiring skills such as prompt engineering and AI collaboration.

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What is vibe coding?

Vibe coding refers to an AI-assisted approach to software development that relies on AI tools to create code. It requires minimal coding on your part, which is why it has become a trending topic, allowing non-coders to build applications and develop projects quickly, describing what you want to build using an AI tool or large language model (LLM) and natural language prompts.

You can use vibe coding to assist with various projects, including the following:

• Build applications and websites

• Automate workflows

• Create rapid prototypes and test proof of concept

• Tools for solving specific challenges (i.e., a human versus AI tool for educational use, a tool that can search through data you upload or turn it into dynamic dashboards, or a virtual assistant for customer or sales support)

Vibe coding vs. traditional coding

While vibe coding uses prompts to create AI-generated code, traditional coding requires you to manually write each line of code, including all commands and punctuation. With traditional programming, you need to be proficient in programming languages and have a relatively high level of coding expertise. However, vibe coding requires a basic understanding of the outcomes and functionality you want to achieve and a focus on the outcome you ultimately want. Additionally, traditional coding puts the programmer in full control, while vibe coding relies heavily on the quality of the AI’s output.

Vibe coding vs. no-code

As its name implies, a no-code approach doesn’t require you to write any code. Instead, users rely on no-code platforms that provide visual interfaces, including point-and-click and drag-and-drop tools and workflows, as well as pre-built templates. No-code solutions enable nontechnical users to build software applications quickly, often in a matter of hours, depending on the complexity. However, it offers limited customization options and complex workflows, making it less suited to specialized needs.

Can anyone do vibe coding?

Yes, anyone with an AI-powered coding tool and an internet connection can vibe code. However, achieving optimal results does require some knowledge of the software development process, experience with creating effective prompts, and sharp critical thinking and analytical skills to evaluate and fine-tune responses.

Why everyone is talking about vibe coding right now

Vibe coding has generated significant buzz as an emerging technology trend. It is a relatively new term, first introduced in early 2025 by computer scientist Andrej Karpathy, and it has become a hot topic ever since. Before, you needed serious programming skills and a lot of time, not to mention a great idea, to create an app. Now, you can do it with little more than an idea, an internet connection, and an AI tool. Instead of painstakingly writing each line of code, you can basically chat with AI, telling it about the “vibe” of the project and letting it handle the rest.

It has created a new opportunity for creativity and finding technological ways to solve problems without having to learn or execute code. The response has been favorable, and many large organizations have taken notice, with ChatGPT, Cursor, GitHub Copilot, Claude, and Microsoft among the many offering vibe coding tools.

Additionally, its usefulness extends beyond amateurs. For developers and software engineers, vibe coding can help translate ideas into working prototypes and support research and preparation, freeing their time to focus on execution and refinement.

It’s relatively new, has significant potential, and also has some significant downsides, including quality issues and potential security flaws. So, the enthusiasm over everyone being able to build an app has also given way to rising concerns about the need for ongoing human intelligence alongside it.

Learn more: How to Cautiously Use AI for Work

How vibe coding actually works

You can approach vibe coding in one of two ways: fully trusting AI's output or collaborating with AI. The first method, “pure vibe coding,” is best for projects in which speed is critical. For more refined projects, AI-assisted development uses AI-human collaboration, requiring you to guide the AI tool or LLM, and then review, test, and refine the results.

What a typical vibe coding workflow looks like

To start, you need to have an intention, an idea for what you want to build, and all requirements, including your preferred style and tech stack, and any constraints the AI tool needs to consider. Then, you’ll use your AI coding platform to create a loop in which you describe what you want, let the tool create the code, review and test it, and refine by starting the process again.

At a glance, the workflow typically looks like this:

1. Open your AI coding platform: Popular tools include options like Cursor, GitHub Copilot, and Claude Code

2. Describe your intent: Use a prompt that tells the AI about what you want to create, providing specificity and context, including the main objective and any constraints, user interface details like any interactive elements, color, and font, and requirements, which could include the language and syntax you want it to use

3. AI generates the code: After receiving your input, the AI tool will create the code for what you requested, giving you a first draft that may include the front- and back-end code for your project, its architecture, and application programming interface (API)

4. Test the results: Determine if the AI-generated code works as you intend it to, and evaluate the quality of the results

5. Provide feedback and describe your intent again: Give the AI tool your feedback and notes about how you want to refine the initial results, continuing the process in a loop that remains ongoing until you complete the project and have your desired finished product

6. Conduct a quality assurance review: Someone with expertise in software development and deployment should assess the code and look for any security flaws and ensure it works appropriately, is scalable, and provides a quality experience

At this point in the process, you can deploy your project. Using a tool like Cloud Run enables vibe deployment, letting you launch your app with a simple prompt.

What tools do you need for vibe coding?

You can choose from many vibe coding tools, including chat-based options such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Google Gemini. Other options include integrated coding tools like GitHub Copilot and specialized tools such as Bubble and Glide. AI-driven platforms, including Microsoft Power Apps, Salesforce Agentforce Flows, and Airtable Omni, offer no-code visual options to build applications and workflows.

The market for vibe coding tools is robust. Market intelligence firm, Mordor Intelligence, predicts that the vibe coding market will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 17.06 from 2026 through 2031. It predicts that the market valuation will increase from $7.06 billion to $15.52 billion over the same period [1].

Tips for choosing a vibe coding tool

When you begin vibe coding, experimenting with familiar chat-based tools like ChatGPT can offer a smooth entry and opportunities to practice. Other tools may be more suited to specific needs. For example:

• Lovable excels at full-stack, prompt-to-application development and offers an extensive template library

• Bolt offers a no-code chat where you can work with various coding agents, including Google Gemini and Claude, and a separate design layer that makes it easier to produce a consistent design for any apps you create using it

• Replit is well-suited for beginners, with little need for familiarity with technical jargon; it also builds entire solutions instead of snippets, making it an option for complete application creation

In addition to choosing tools suited to your use, look for tools with robust privacy policies in place. Test them to ensure they deliver outputs you can rely on, follow your instructions to create working code, and offer document generation. Ideally, the tool you choose will also offer code testing.

Who is using vibe coding today?

Vibe coding has use cases that include creating marketing pages, product landing pages, interactive product tours, and small-scale web experiences. Given its broad range of use cases, vibe coding also has a wide array of users, including everyone from creative novices to start-up founders to developers and engineers taking advantage of its benefits. How they use vibe coding differs significantly. For example:

• Creative novices: You could experiment with building an app based on an idea you came up with for personal projects or as an experienced professional with ideas for improving your workflows. Creative novices typically have minimal coding experience and rely more heavily on AI to do the bulk of the work.

• Start-up founders and nontechnical professionals: These users often use vibe coding to turn an idea into a minimum viable product or prototype to show investors and other stakeholders it has potential, and to create internal or specialized apps when time is a critical consideration.

• Developers and engineers: Developers and software engineers collaborate with AI, typically using vibe coding for research, project preparation, and prototyping, saving them time to experiment, refine, and iterate.

Is vibe coding a real job?

Yes, vibe coding is emerging as a new and dynamic job. A quick search on Indeed or Upwork can reveal job listings, and New Jersey-based recruiting and staffing company Artech notes that companies look for vibe coders to collaborate with AI for everything from creating AI tools and dynamic websites to building apps and generating visual art [2].

Vibe coding benefits and limitations

Not only has the spread of AI and proliferation of vibe coding enabled essentially anyone with internet access to become an AI-enabled developer, but it also reveals the benefits and shortcomings of relying solely on AI.

In the first half of 2026, the sentiment of vibe coding-related headlines ranged from optimistic sentiments like “The AI Disruption We’ve Been Waiting for Has Arrived,” to more critical stances, such as “When Code Is Free, Judgment Is Expensive” [3, 4]. Those two headlines alone underscore why vibe coding is creating so much conversation around it. On one hand, it creates expanded opportunities for people to develop software without having to learn how to code and significantly shortens the time frame for many projects. On the other hand, it still requires quality AI outputs and human oversight to ensure the end product functions properly.

Benefits of vibe coding

One of the primary advantages of vibe coding is its democratization of software development. By removing the need for extensive programming experience, it opens possibilities for anyone with a solid idea to create an application, expanding the potential for entrepreneurship and creativity. Additional benefits include:

• Cost-efficient and requires minimal training

• Accelerates the time from idea to working solution

• Requires minimal resources while encouraging experimentation

• You may be able to effectively debug code using prompts instead of code

Limitations of vibe coding

Vibe coding makes it possible to create applications and other code-based projects, but that doesn’t mean each project is worth creating. Making the technology more accessible can potentially lead to poorly designed, error-prone results when users rely solely on AI to produce the end product. It can also increase competition in the market, along with additional potential challenges such as:

• Vibe coding excels in projects with basic frameworks, whereas more complex real-world applications still require some technical expertise to handle the complexities

• Code quality can be questionable, which is why you often need to refine and optimize throughout the process

• Requires specificity throughout the process, including testing and maintenance, to overcome questions and ensure precision and scalability

• Potential for end products that don’t perform as expected without knowledgeable oversight

• Possible security risks because AI-generated code may not undergo security checks, leaving potential vulnerabilities that cybercriminals can exploit

How to get started with vibe coding

Although you can begin vibe coding without extensive coding knowledge, building skills, including AI collaboration and prompt engineer can help enhance your vibe coding experience. Likewise, gaining practical experience can also be helpful. Start small and experiment with tools and prompts. Refine your ability to provide context. Your prompts should specifically outline details like:

• The problem you want to solve

• How the product will integrate into other systems

• The performance issues it must comply with

• Scalability concerns you may have to overcome

• Security measures, compliance, and restrictions it must follow

Then, begin the vibe coding process. Enter specific prompts, review the code the AI tool creates, and test and refine it until you achieve your desired end product. You can also look to platforms like OpenProcessing for coding projects that can help you build your confidence with vibe coding. As you complete small projects, you can also add to your portfolio or share your work on public platforms.

Stay in the loop on career trends and tips

Subscribe to Career Chat, our weekly LinkedIn newsletter, for access to fresh insights about emerging technologies and career paths. To continue learning about AI’s influence, or to build your skills, check out the following free resources:

• Hear from an expert: AI Creativity Unleashed: Expert Insights from Vanderbilt’s Dr. Jules White

• Find your path: AI Career Quiz: Is It Right for You? Find Your Role

• Watch on YouTube: Mastering the Code: Essential Skills Every Software Developer Needs

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