I spent the other deep in vibe coding on Replit for the first time — and I built a prototype in just a few hours that was pretty, pretty cool.
Getting into commercial-grade, enterprise-grade shape is different, though.
But to start it’s amazing:
- You can build an “app” just by, well imagining it in a prompt
- Replit QA’s it itself (super cool), at least partially with some help from you
- and … then you push it to production — all in one seamless flow.
That moment when you click “Deploy” and your creation goes live? Pure dopamine hit.
First, I built a lightweight Cluely clone just for fun (emphasis on lightweight — it’s pretty rough around the edges, but the learning was the point). It was easy to build and … sort of worked:
Then I kicked off my second project, this time for real. To build a real, enterprise grade product folks would actually pay for. I’m maybe 5%-10% of the way there 2.5 days and $200 of replit credits in.
And whatever I build, needs to be novel. It needs to be something you can’t get elsewhere. Because as cool as vibe coding is, I won’t be able to build something better than Notion or Slack, let alone something with crazy compute like an Opus Clip or Higgsfield. All of which are … dirt cheap.
Vibe Coding Also Only Takes You So Far With Complicated Workflows, Enterprise Use Cases, Etc. For Now.
Over time, apps like Adobe Sign and DocuSign that were simple-ish at first have become incredibly deep workflow engines with 1000s and 1000s of workflows, maybe more. Vibe coding that is probably close to impossible. It might get you prototyped, it might get you going, it might help you learn. But I think that’s as far as most will get today 100% vibe coding.
Who has the time to rebuild those 1000s of intricate workflows? Make them actually secure? Enterprise-grade? Handle every edge case that real users will inevitably find?
I can vibe code a few. But not 1000s.
The learning: if it’s already built, I’d much rather spend $20-$200 a month for an app that already exists and is bulletproof.
If it’s already built. My time is worth more than $20/month.
In fact, I’ve already spent $200 the past 72 hours building my next app.on Replit, and I’m only 10% done. This time I’m trying to build something commercial grade.
SaaS in the Vibe Coding Age in Fact Almost Seems Cheap Again. Great, Cost-Effective SaaS at least.
Many on X claim they could vibe cobe tons of their stack themselves now. “Why pay for Slack when we can build our own chat app?” “Why use Notion when we can create our own knowledge base?”
But vibe coding actually proves the opposite point. Yes, you can build at least some portion of almost any workflow + database app now. At least a simpler variant. The end-to-end vibe coding tools really are incredible.
But should you?
Notion is $0-$20 a month. And it’s really good. I can guarantee it will be 100% better than anything almost anyone can vibe code.
The New Calculus
For now, let’s be clear. There is no way no-engineers vibe coding apps in a few hours or even a week will replace major SaaS apps. No way. Hopefully it will put some pressure on legacy CRMs to stop nickel-and-diming customers, but even there, I have my doubts 😉
But if nothing else, vibe coding apps is unleashing new apps at an unprecedented pace. And they will all keep getting better and better, faster and faster. Especially for niche vertical apps that just don’t exist in the market, they may already be there. And for true developers that use them mainly to prototype, vibe coding is already epic.
For now, probably:
Vibe coding is perfect for:
- Rapid prototyping (testing ideas)
- Custom internal tools (helping teams work better)
- Net-new workflow + database solutions that don’t exist yet, especially very niche tools
- Learning and experimentation
The Real Insight
“Time is the new currency. Building is fun but buying saves sanity.”
This isn’t about replacing core business functions. For apps that need to work flawlessly at 3 AM when your biggest customer calls? Still buying.
The democratization of coding doesn’t make established SaaS obsolete — it makes us appreciate just how much complexity those companies have solved for us. “All we see is icebergs.”
Vibe coding is the future of creation. But the future of operations for now at least is still powered by companies that spent years getting the details right.
SaaS is becoming stronger, not weaker, thanks to vibe coding. When anyone can build the basics, the value of getting the advanced stuff right becomes even more apparent.
That $200/month Salesforce seat? Still a bargain. Not cheap. But a bargain.
The Vibe App Revolution is Real. Where It Goes Is The Only Murky Part.
If you need proof that AI code creation is absolutely on fire: Replit went from $10M to $100M ARR in just the first 6 months of this year alone.
10x growth in less than half a year.
When you see numbers like that, you realize we’re not just talking about a new tool or trend. We’re witnessing a fundamental shift in how software gets built. The barriers to creation have collapsed, and the market is responding accordingly.
The vibe coding revolution is here. The question isn’t whether it will change software production, it already has. The questions are just exactly where it will go for true production-grade, commercial apps. This year, and after.
For now, I’m going to keep vibe coding. And I’m also going to keep happily paying $20 a month for the best B2B apps. That I could never vibe code myself for $240 ($20 x 12). Not really. Nor could you.
