Vibe coding – what is it and why is everyone talking about it?

Updated on 12 Oct 2026

You don't need to be a designer, and you don't need to understand HTML, CSS, or a single line of JavaScript. You just need an idea, and the ability to describe it.

That's the promise of vibe coding, and it's why the tech world has been talking about almost nothing else.

If you've come across the term and had no idea what it meant, you're not alone. It sounds like a corporate buzzword, or a wellness app you’d never actually download. But vibe coding is genuinely changing who can build things online, and it's worth understanding – especially if you've ever wanted a website, an app, or a tool built but didn't have the budget, the skills, or the time to get there.

So, what is vibe coding?

The term came about in early 2025 by Andrej Karpathy, a researcher who previously led AI work at Tesla and was one of the founding members of OpenAI. He used it to describe a way of building software where you don't need to write code at all. You just describe what you want, and an AI writes the code for you.

When you vibe code, you're not carefully planning every step or hunting through error messages trying to work out what went wrong. You're going on ‘vibes’ – describing a feeling, an outcome, a thing you want to exist – and trusting the AI to handle the technical side.

It gives millions of people the ability to build something that previously only existed in their head, without needing the technical knowhow or design experience to do it.

Why does this exist now?

This isn't a new idea. People have been trying to make software development more accessible for decades – visual builders, drag-and-drop tools, no-code platforms. They've all had their place, but have always had limits. You were still constrained by what the tool could do, which was usually a fraction of what a developer could do.

What changed is the capability of large language models (LLMs). Until a couple of years ago, these models were impressive at conversation and text, but unreliable when it came to generating working code. They'd produce something plausible-looking that just didn't run, or would get confused by anything more complex than a basic function.

But that’s not the case any more. Modern LLMs have been trained on vast amounts of code, like open-source repositories, documentation, developer forums, and tutorials.They understand not just the language of code, but the patterns and logic behind how real software is built. Ask one to build you a booking form, a dashboard, or a calculator, and it'll often produce something that actually works on the first attempt.

Pair that with purpose-built coding tools – no-code builders like Lovable, Bolt, and Replit, or developer tools like Cursor and Windsurf – and you have an environment where the AI isn't just suggesting code, it's writing it, running it, fixing errors, and iterating in real time. You can watch your idea take shape in front of you.

The other thing that changed is how you interact with these tools. Older systems asked you to click buttons, configure settings, or fill in forms. With modern AI coding tools, all you need to do is talk (or rather type). Describe what you want in plain English, and the tool works out what that means technically.

How does it actually work?

Let's put this into practice. Say you run an independent bakery. You've been meaning to get a proper website sorted for ages, but between early mornings, prepping the day's bakes, and actually running the place, it's never happened. You've been taking pre-orders over the phone and managing collections on a notepad, and it's starting to get messy. Throw in calls about opening times, or questions about allergens and something’s bound to slip through the cracks.

With vibe coding, you'd open your chosen tool and type something like:

"Build me a website for my independent bakery. I want a homepage with our story and a bit about what makes us different, a menu page showing what we sell, and a pre-order form where customers can choose their items, pick a collection date and time, and leave their name and phone number."

You can add in all the relevant information so the AI knows what to include, as well as any product images you’d like. Or, if you do already have an existing website that hasn’t been touched since the ‘90s, insert the URL and ask for a refresh. A website that fits with your current brand will have customers lining out the door.

The AI builds your website and writes all the code. Then, you look at what it's produced, and if something isn't right, you tell it: "Can you make it feel a bit warmer? I want the colours to be cream and terracotta. Can you add a section on the homepage for seasonal specials, and make the pre-order form easier to use on a phone?"

You're not editing code. You're having a conversation. The AI adjusts and shows you the result.

This is the loop that defines vibe coding: describe, review, refine. Repeat until it's right.

What can you actually build with it?

With vibe coding, if you can describe it you can build it. Here's a realistic look at what vibe coding is genuinely capable of right now.

Websites and landing pages. A business website with multiple pages, a contact form, a blog, a portfolio – the kind of site you've always meant to get sorted but never had the budget or time for. Whether you're a small business that's been running on a Facebook page for too long or someone launching something new, you can get from idea to something genuinely publishable in an afternoon. 

Improving an existing site. Already got a website but not happy with it? Some tools let you drop in your existing URL and ask for an improved version. That way you're not starting from scratch.

Internal tools. A dashboard that pulls in data from a spreadsheet and displays it nicely. A simple CRM for tracking client conversations. A stock tracker for a small shop. Tools like this used to require a developer – now they're a real possibility for anyone.

Booking and enquiry systems. Forms that collect information, trigger emails, log entries, and integrate with calendar tools. The kind of admin infrastructure that small businesses either cobble together with multiple apps or pay someone to build from scratch. Worth noting – anything that stores customer data needs a database behind it. Some tools handle this by connecting to third-party services, so it's worth checking what your chosen platform includes before you build. 

Prototypes and proof-of-concept apps. If you have a product idea, vibe coding lets you build a rough working version to test it, show investors, or get feedback without committing to a full development budget.

Browser tools and utilities. Calculators, converters, generators, quiz tools, and interactive content for a blog or marketing campaign. Anything that does a specific job and doesn't need a huge back-end.

Basic mobile apps. Some vibe coding tools now support building for mobile too, though this is where complexity starts and limitations become more apparent.

Where vibe coding struggles is anything that requires genuinely complex logic, large-scale architecture, or serious security considerations. These could be financial platforms, healthcare systems, and anything collecting customer data – if security matters, the code behind it needs a proper pair of eyes on it.

What are the benefits of vibe coding?

This is the part that matters most for a lot of people – the practical difference it makes when you're running a business and you just need things to work.

You can test an idea before you commit to it. Before you spend thousands on development, you can vibe code a rough version, see whether it actually does what you hoped, and decide from there whether it's worth investing more.

You're in control of your own online presence. If you've ever been stuck with a website you can't update yourself, or a tool that only one person knows how to change, vibe coding gives you a way to own something you can actually get into and adjust.

Small changes stop being a big deal. Updating a pricing page, tweaking a form, swapping out a section are things that used to sit on a to-do list for weeks, but can often be done in an afternoon with vibe coding.

You can brief better when you do bring someone in. Having built a rough version yourself means you understand the problem more clearly. Your brief is tighter, the scope is cleaner, and you spend less time going back and forth explaining what you mean.

What it all means

Vibe coding isn't magic, and it's not going to produce a polished, production-ready application the first time you describe one in a chat box.

But for the first time the ability to build things online isn't restricted to whether you can write code. If you can describe what you want clearly – what it should do, what it should look like, how it should behave – you can build it yourself.

If you've been waiting for the right moment to build something, this is probably it.