Definition · also called vibe code, vibecoding, AI coding
Vibe coding means building software by telling an AI model what you want in plain language, running what it produces, and steering by results rather than by reading the code. You describe, test, paste back the error, describe again.
AI researcher Andrej Karpathy coined the phrase in a post on X in February 2025, describing a way of coding where you give in to the vibes and forget the code exists. Collins Dictionary named “vibe coding” its Word of the Year for 2025. (source)
Vibe coding vs AI-assisted engineering
| Vibe coding | AI-assisted engineering | |
|---|---|---|
| You read the code? | Rarely | Yes, you review every change |
| Who it's for | Non-programmers, prototypes, weekend projects | Developers shipping production software |
| Strength | Speed from idea to working demo | Speed with maintainability |
| Risk | Security holes, data leaks, code nobody understands | Slower, requires skill |
Many experienced makers start a product by vibe coding and switch to reviewing the AI's work once real users and payments are involved. Developer Kitze tours conferences with a talk on going from vibe coding to “vibe engineering”.
Risks to manage before you charge money
- Security and secrets. AI-written apps commonly ship exposed API keys, open databases or missing access checks. Ask the AI to audit auth and data access, and check database rules yourself.
- User data. If you store personal data, you are responsible for it whether or not you wrote the code.
- Maintenance. When something breaks at 2 a.m., you need either to understand the code or to have tests that tell you what broke.
- Costs. AI-built features often call paid AI APIs per request; check your gross margin before offering a lifetime deal or free plan.
How indie makers vibe code a product
- Start from a narrow, specific problem and a one-page spec.
- Use an AI coding agent or app builder to produce a working MVP in days.
- Ship it to real users fast, then iterate from their feedback.
- Before taking payments, review security, add basic tests and set up error monitoring.
- Treat distribution as the hard part: AI made building cheap, so attention is now the scarce resource.
Vibe coding in practice: how indie makers use it
Vibe-coded and AI-built products from the directory, with what they reported:
Built the multiplayer browser flight simulator fly.pieter.com in February 2025 largely by prompting the AI code editor Cursor. He reported $87,000 in monthly revenue from ads and paid planes within 17 days, while saying it might not last, then started Vibe Jam, a game jam for AI-built games. (sources: x.com, levels.io)
Built the first version of QUITTR in about ten days as a teenager in 2024; often cited as one of the defining vibe-coded consumer app successes, it was making more than $500,000 a month by March 2026, without venture funding. (source: nymag.com)
Running a public challenge to vibe-code and ship 100 apps; by October 2026 he had shipped 11 iOS apps and a web product, tracked live on 100Apps HQ. (sources: 100apps.app, x.com)
A non-programmer who built FounderPal with no-code tools, now vibe-coding a portfolio of small AI products toward a public $10K MRR goal. (sources: dankul.com, nocodeexits.substack.com)
Co-founded Vibecode, an app builder that turns a plain-language prompt into a mobile app; it raised a $9.4M seed round in August 2025. He has no traditional engineering background and builds by directing AI coding agents. (source: businessinsider.com)
Runs Can I Vibecode It, a live scoreboard of which apps AI can rebuild, alongside SuperX at about $22K MRR (verified). (sources: trustmrr.com, x.com)
Frequently asked questions
What does vibe coding mean?
Building software by describing what you want to an AI model in plain language and accepting the code it generates, steering by whether the result works rather than by reading the code.
Who coined the term vibe coding?
Andrej Karpathy, in a post on X in February 2025. Collins Dictionary named it Word of the Year for 2025.
Can you make money from a vibe-coded app?
Yes. Examples in our directory include Pieter Levels's fly.pieter.com and QUITTR, which reported more than $500K a month. Distribution, not code, usually decides whether a vibe-coded app earns money.
Is vibe coding safe for production apps?
Only with review. Unreviewed AI code often has security problems such as exposed keys or open databases. Before handling payments or personal data, audit authentication and data access and add tests.
Related terms
Keep reading
Maker examples are paraphrased from the cited sources and from each maker's IndieMakerList profile; revenue is self-reported unless marked verified. Spotted an error? Tell us.