What is vibe coding? Defin­i­tion, tools and practical examples

Today, vibe coding generally refers to using natural-language prompts to develop software with AI. Users describe what they want to build, and the AI generates the code. The term ori­gin­ally had a narrower meaning, referring to a more intuitive way of working in which de­velopers paid little attention to reviewing the generated code in detail.

What is vibe coding?

Vibe coding is a new approach to software de­vel­op­ment. Instead of writing every line of code yourself, you describe what you want to build in natural language. The AI then generates the code. This could be a website, an internal tool, an MVP or a simple auto­ma­tion.

The basic principle is straight­for­ward. People provide the idea, context and feedback, while the AI handles much of the technical im­ple­ment­a­tion. This allows people without extensive pro­gram­ming ex­per­i­ence to build their first ap­plic­a­tions. However, they still need a basic un­der­stand­ing of logic, data, security and testing. Vibe coding does not remove the need for technical review. Instead, it shifts the focus from writing code to de­scrib­ing re­quire­ments, testing results and refining the ap­plic­a­tion.

The term was coined by Andrej Karpathy, a founding member of OpenAI. He first used it in February 2025 to describe an intuitive way of pro­gram­ming with AI. Later that year, Collins Dic­tion­ary named vibe coding its Word of the Year 2025. The re­cog­ni­tion helped bring the term beyond the tech community and es­tab­lished it as a key ex­pres­sion for the growing influence of AI on software de­vel­op­ment.

How does vibe coding work?

Vibe coding does not follow a fixed or strictly defined process. As the name suggests, many users take an intuitive approach and adapt the workflow to suit the needs of their project. However, most projects involve a few common steps:

1. Choose a tool: Start by selecting a suitable platform. Examples of vibe coding tools include Lovable, Bolt, Replit Agent, the IONOS AI App & Site Builder, Cursor and Claude Code.
2. Write the prompt: Describe what you want the ap­plic­a­tion to do. Effective prompt en­gin­eer­ing can have a sig­ni­fic­ant impact on the result. It often helps to develop the overall concept with the AI first before working through in­di­vidu­al screens, features and menus.
3. Generate the code: The AI creates the first files, com­pon­ents, database struc­tures or even a complete initial version of the app.
4. Test the ap­plic­a­tion: Check whether everything works as intended. Click through the interface, test different inputs and look for errors.
5. Refine it step by step: Give the AI specific feedback, such as ‘Add a login function’, ‘Shorten the form’ or ‘Save the data in a table’.
6. Deploy the app: Once the prototype is stable enough, you can publish it or make it available in­tern­ally. Depending on the tool, de­ploy­ment may take place directly through the platform or through services such as GitHub, a hosting provider or a cloud en­vir­on­ment.

Vibe coding vs no-code, low-code and custom coding

Vibe coding is often compared with no-code and low-code solutions. However, the ap­proaches are not exactly the same. The most important dif­fer­ence lies in how much technical un­der­stand­ing is required, how flexibly the result can be adapted and whether real code is produced in the end. The following table shows the key dif­fer­ences at a glance:

Tools for vibe coding

There are now many tools that make vibe coding possible. As a rule, they mainly differ in whether they are aimed more at beginners, product teams or de­velopers:

• Lovable: Lovable is par­tic­u­larly in­ter­est­ing for fast, visually tangible product designs. Compared with developer-focused Lovable al­tern­at­ives, the focus is less on working in an existing codebase and more on quickly creating web apps with a front end, backend con­nec­tion and database in­teg­ra­tion.
• Bolt: Bolt is a browser-based tool for web apps, websites and pro­to­types. The tool can prompt, run, edit and deploy full-stack ap­plic­a­tions directly in the browser.
• Cursor: Cursor is more strongly geared towards de­velopers. The tool works as an AI-supported coding agent and helps with writing, un­der­stand­ing and changing code in existing projects.
• Claude Code: Claude Code from Anthropic is an agentic coding tool. It can read codebases, modify files, execute commands and support tests. This makes it par­tic­u­larly suitable, compared with many Claude Code al­tern­at­ives, for de­velopers working with existing projects.
• IONOS AI App & Site Builder: The IONOS AI App & Site Builder is designed for busi­nesses that want to build and deploy AI-assisted full-stack web ap­plic­a­tions with Node.js and Post­gr­eSQL. In­teg­rated features include text-to-code, visual-to-code, voice-to-code, one-click de­ploy­ment, custom domains and a VS Code editor.
• Replit Agent: Unlike pure app builders, Replit Agent works directly in a browser-based workspace where code, files, packages, tests and de­ploy­ment come together. This makes it par­tic­u­larly suitable for users who want to build with AI support while still staying close to the actual de­vel­op­ment process.

Who is vibe coding suitable for?

Vibe coding is par­tic­u­larly useful when you need to create something tangible quickly:

• Founders and startups can build an initial MVP before putting a large de­vel­op­ment team in place. This allows them to test whether an idea attracts genuine interest.
• Small and medium-sized busi­nesses can create internal tools such as dash­boards, ap­point­ment workflows, quotation cal­cu­lat­ors or simple data entry forms.
• Agencies can use vibe coding to develop pro­to­types and make ideas tangible earlier. This can be useful in workshops, pitches and the first stages of concept de­vel­op­ment.
• De­velopers can save time on re­pet­it­ive tasks. AI can help generate boil­er­plate code, tests, doc­u­ment­a­tion and simple com­pon­ents.
• Hobby coders can turn their ideas into working ap­plic­a­tions without first spending months learning frame­works. However, they still need to un­der­stand the basics if an ex­per­i­ment is to become a reliable product.

Ad­vant­ages and dis­ad­vant­ages of vibe coding

Vibe coding can lower the barrier to software de­vel­op­ment. It allows ideas to be tested quickly, pro­to­types to be built in less time and changes to be made through an ongoing dialogue with AI. However, it still requires careful oversight. Even when AI handles much of the work, people remain re­spons­ible for code quality, security and how the ap­plic­a­tion is ul­ti­mately used.

Ad­vant­ages of vibe coding

The main advantage is speed. An initial idea can become a clickable prototype in a short time. This makes it easier to test concepts, gather feedback and decide early on whether an idea is worth de­vel­op­ing further.

Another benefit is the low barrier to entry. Anyone who can clearly explain what they want to build can reach a first result more quickly, even without extensive pro­gram­ming ex­per­i­ence. This makes software de­vel­op­ment more ac­cess­ible to founders, small busi­nesses, agencies and spe­cial­ist teams, not just de­velopers.

Vibe coding can also make further de­vel­op­ment more flexible. Changes do not always need to be coded from scratch. Users can simply tell the AI what to adjust, such as adding a feature, changing the layout or including another form field. This is es­pe­cially useful in the early stages of a project, when ideas often need to be tested and refined quickly.

Risks of vibe coding

One of the main risks is in­con­sist­ent code quality. AI-generated code may work, but it can still be poorly struc­tured, difficult to maintain or vul­ner­able to errors. This becomes es­pe­cially prob­lem­at­ic when users accept the code without un­der­stand­ing or testing it properly.

Another risk is losing track of how the ap­plic­a­tion works. When many changes are made through prompts alone, the un­der­ly­ing structure can become difficult to follow. This can make future updates, troubleshoot­ing and handover to de­velopers more com­plic­ated.

Vibe coding can also introduce security vul­ner­ab­il­it­ies. A working prototype is not enough for ap­plic­a­tions that include logins, databases, payment features or personal data. The code needs to be reviewed carefully before the ap­plic­a­tion goes live, as over­looked issues can lead to serious security or financial con­sequences.

Companies should also consider data pro­tec­tion and in­tel­lec­tu­al property risks. Many well-known vibe coding tools are based in the US or rely on in­ter­na­tion­al AI in­fra­struc­ture. Busi­nesses should check what in­form­a­tion is entered into prompts, where code and data are processed, and which terms of use apply. For European busi­nesses, data sov­er­eignty may therefore be an important con­sid­er­a­tion when choosing a tool.

How to get started with vibe coding

The best way to get started with vibe coding is to choose a clearly defined project. Rather than beginning with a complex or business-critical ap­plic­a­tion, start with a man­age­able use case. This lets you explore how well prompt-based de­vel­op­ment works without taking un­ne­ces­sary risks. You can use the IONOS AI App & Site Builder to create and deploy your first AI-assisted ap­plic­a­tion. Suitable starter projects include:

• an MVP for a new business idea
• an internal prototype for a process
• a small dashboard
• a form that evaluates submitted data
• a clickable app mock-up for a workshop
• a simple team auto­ma­tion

Do not focus only on in­di­vidu­al features. Give the AI enough context to un­der­stand the wider project. Explain who will use the ap­plic­a­tion, what data it will handle, which steps users need to complete and what the ap­plic­a­tion should never do. Clearer in­struc­tions usually lead to more useful and relevant results.

Once the first version is ready, test it carefully and refine it. Go through the ap­plic­a­tion, try different inputs and look for error messages, data pro­tec­tion concerns, incorrect per­mis­sions and display issues on mobile devices. Any ap­plic­a­tion that handles sensitive data, user accounts, payments or customer systems should be reviewed by a technical spe­cial­ist before it is put into use.