The Good, The Bad, and The Hype of Vibe Coding

Monday, July 14, 2025

Explore the exciting but complex world of vibe coding, where AI simplifies app development, yet human oversight remains essential.

The Good, The Bad and The Hype of Vibe Coding

TL;DR Vibe Check for Coding

  • Vibe coding = using AI to write software just by describing what you want in plain English (or vibes 😎).
  • Coined by Andrej Karpathy, it flips dev culture from “write every line” to “just prompt it and tweak.”
  • It’s 🔥 for fast prototyping, solo founders, non-coders, and chaotic good hackers.
  • Tools like Lovable, Cursor, Replit, and Continue make building full-stack apps easier than ever.
  • But… AI code still needs human brains for debugging, security, scaling, and not crashing prod.
  • Perfect for Day 0 builds, still sus for Day 1+ maintenance.
  • Future? Think VibeOps — AI agents handling deploys, updates, and maybe even scrums (rip standups).
  • The vibe is real — but ship responsibly 🫡.

What Even Is “Vibe Coding”?

Okay so picture this:
You’re vibing at 2AM, iced coffee in hand, and instead of writing a thousand lines of code to build an app, you just tell your AI assistant:

“Make me a Spotify clone with dark mode, trending playlists, and login via Google.”
And boom 💥 — you’ve got the first version of your app generated.
That’s vibe coding. It’s not about sweating over every semicolon — it’s about telling AI what you want, letting it handle the dirty work, and riding the vibes.

The term was made iconic by Andrej Karpathy, AI OG and former Director at Tesla AI. In early 2025, he tweeted a now-legendary take on AI.

Andrej’s Viral Tweet Source

And just like that, the era of Vibe Coding was born.

Let’s run it back:

  • Pre-2025: Copilot, Replit, and ChatGPT helped devs autocomplete stuff. Cool but kinda mid.
  • Feb 2025: Karpathy drops the “vibe coding” tweet and the internet loses it.
  • Post-tweet: Developers start building full-stack apps using only prompts, no manual coding.
  • Influencers flood YouTube and X with “I built a SaaS in 30 mins using AI” videos.

And here we are — coding based on vibes, not functions.

The Good: Why Vibe Coding Slaps!

1. 🚀 Speed Demon Mode

You can go from idea → prototype in minutes. It’s insane. Great for:

  • MVPs
  • Startup ideas
  • Hackathons
  • ADHD-driven side projects

Example: Tools like Lovable.dev or Bolt.new let you build and deploy an app in under an hour. You just write what you want — AI builds it.

2. 👩🏽‍💻 No Code? No Problem.

Don’t know JavaScript? SQL? Regex? Doesn’t matter.

  • Vibe coding turns anyone into a dev.
  • You can build dashboards, landing pages, apps… just by explaining them in natural language.

3. ⚡ Iteration is Instant

You’re not locked into some monolithic codebase.

  • Change a prompt → new version.
  • Ask AI to refactor → boom, done.
  • Want dark mode? Say it, don’t code it.

4. 🤝 Better Developer-AI Collab

It’s like pair programming with an overachieving robot sidekick.
You throw ideas, it throws back working code.

🧩 The Tools That Make It Happen

Various AI development tools cater to different skill levels and functionalities, ranging from beginner-friendly options. Here’s your Vibe Coding Starter Pack:

  • Lovable.dev, a full-stack app builder with visual AI edits.
  • Replit, interactive in-browser coding and deployment with AI power for intermediate users.
  • Cursor, a VS Code fork, providing AI chat and task automation for advanced developers.
  • Continue, serving mid-to-pro users as an AI agent integrated within VS Code with various tool integrations.
  • Tempo Labs, handling UI, PRD, and backend generation for all skill levels.
  • Amp, an autonomous coding agent prioritizing quality, designed for seasoned developers.
  • Claude Code, a terminal-based, memory-powered AI development tool.

The Bad: Why Vibe Coding Isn’t Always Cooked

Alright, time to step out of the honeymoon phase.

1. 🐞 Debugging Is a Nightmare

You didn’t write the code, so… when something breaks:

  • You stare at spaghetti logic
  • You don’t know where AI pulled the logic from
  • You vibe your way into a crash

2. 🧱 Architecture? What Architecture?

AI tends to:

  • Mix styles
  • Miss design patterns
  • Forget scalability. It’s like duct taping a house together with neon lights — it works, but you wouldn’t want to live in it.

3. 🔒 Security? Meh

Most AI-generated code:

  • Skips auth best practices
  • Has hidden injection vulnerabilities
  • Is not penetration-tested
    You must manually review or your app’s gonna get pwned 💀.

4. Teamwork is Hard

In big teams, vibe coding becomes chaotic:

  • Hard to onboard new devs
  • No consistent structure
  • Merges become nightmares

🧨 The Hype: Why Everyone’s Losing Their Minds

The reason vibe coding is blowing up is deeper than just speed.

💡 It’s a paradigm shift:

  • Old School: Tell the machine how.
  • Vibe School: Tell the machine what.

🤖 It’s the TikTok-ification of software dev:

  • Shorter attention spans
  • Quick dopamine hits
  • “Build in public” culture
  • Everyone wants to ship fast & share faster

📊 Day 0 vs Day 1+ Development

Day 0: Starting new projects, MVPs
Verdict: 🔥🔥🔥 Yes!
Day 1+: Scaling, debugging, collabs 🧊
Verdict: Meh, needs work

🔮 What’s Next?

⚙️ VibeOps

Imagine not just coding via vibes, but shipping, deploying, monitoring, and scaling via vibes.
Tools like Sourcegraph + Cody, Claude Code, and Continue are working toward:

  • Codebase memory
  • Multimodal interfaces (voice + visuals)
  • Cross-team AI agents

🎙️ Multimodal Dev = Speak it. Sketch it. Build it.

Imagine saying:

“Draw me a chatbot interface for customer complaints, and integrate it with Stripe.” And it just works.

🧾 Final Verdict

Vibe coding is NOT a replacement for devs.
It’s a creative partner, a productivity booster, a dopamine drip for builders.
Honestly, it’s already changing the way we think about building software — from exclusive, gatekept spaces where only trained engineers could ship code, to inclusive, creative environments where anyone with an idea and a good prompt can build something meaningful. But here’s the real tea: vibe coding isn’t perfect, and it’s not supposed to be. It’s a tool, not a magic wand. The best devs won’t be the ones who rely on AI blindly, but the ones who understand its limits, wield it with intention, and know when to switch from vibes to vision.
So ride the wave, stay sharp, and remember: real ones don’t just vibe — they ship, they scale, and they build responsibly.

Keep hacking!👽

Source: Medium