What is Vibe Coding

Vibe coding is a new software development approach. Developers no longer write code line by line; instead, they describe desired functionalities in natural language to AI, which automatically generates the corresponding code.

The role of developers shifts from “writers” to “guides”—they are responsible for describing requirements, reviewing outputs, testing results, and providing correction instructions when necessary.

Unlike traditional code auto-completion, vibe coding emphasizes a higher level of interaction. Developers do not need to worry about syntax details or specific API calls, and they do not need to fully understand every line of generated code. They only need to know what they “want,” allowing AI to handle “how to implement” it.

The term “vibe coding” reflects its core spirit of following one’s instincts—if you feel a feature should work this way, you describe it in everyday language, and AI helps turn it into executable code.

Origin: Karpathy’s Industry-Changing Post

In February 2025, Andrej Karpathy, former AI director at Tesla and co-founder of OpenAI, first used the term “vibe coding” in a post on X (formerly Twitter). He wrote:

“There’s a new way of programming I call ‘vibe coding’. You fully immerse yourself in the vibe, embrace exponential growth, and forget about the existence of code. It’s runnable. When I develop weekend projects, I ask for the most ridiculous things, like ‘reduce the sidebar padding by half’, and I always accept all changes without looking at the differences.”

Karpathy further explained that when using AI tools for personal projects, he rarely reads the generated code. He only checks the execution results—if the interface looks right and the functionality works, he accepts it. If not, he uses natural language to tell AI what needs to change and then checks the results. Throughout the process, he is “fully giving in to the vibes.”

This post quickly sparked discussions. Supporters argued that Karpathy accurately described an existing trend, while critics expressed concerns that such an attitude might lead to a proliferation of low-quality code. Regardless, the term “vibe coding” spread widely, becoming synonymous with AI-assisted development.

Why Vibe Coding Exploded in 2025-2026

The explosion of vibe coding is not coincidental; it results from multiple technological trends converging at the same time.

Leap in Large Language Model Capabilities

By late 2024 and early 2025, mainstream large language models significantly improved their ability to generate code. These models could not only write syntactically correct code snippets but also understand complete project architectures, handle cross-file dependencies, and even automatically debug and fix issues based on error messages. This made “writing programs through dialogue” a practical workflow rather than just an interesting experiment.

Maturity of Development Tools

Tools like Cursor, Claude Code, and GitHub Copilot rapidly iterated during this period, evolving from simple code completion tools into comprehensive AI development environments. These tools integrated code editing, terminal operations, version control, and debugging, allowing developers to complete the entire process from requirement description to deployment in a unified interface.

Startup Ecosystem Push

In the Winter 2025 batch of Y Combinator, 25% of new startups claimed that over 95% of their codebase was AI-generated. This statistic caused a significant stir in the startup community. When the world’s most renowned accelerator began accepting teams that primarily used vibe coding for development, it effectively endorsed this practice.

Demand from Non-Technical Founders

For a long time, founders with ideas but no programming skills faced two choices: spend a lot of time learning programming or invest heavily in hiring developers. Vibe coding offers a third path—describing product requirements in natural language and letting AI generate functional prototypes. This is especially valuable for quickly validating business hypotheses.

Economic Pressure and Efficiency Needs

After the layoffs in the tech industry during 2023-2024, companies demanded higher development efficiency. Vibe coding allows teams to accomplish more development work with fewer personnel, making it particularly attractive in a cost-control environment. By 2026, approximately 40% of new SaaS product MVPs were primarily built using vibe coding.

Mainstream Vibe Coding Tools Comparison

Who is Using Vibe Coding

Professional Developers

For experienced developers, vibe coding is a productivity booster. They use AI to handle repetitive code writing, quickly generate boilerplate code, and explore unfamiliar tech stacks. These developers typically do not rely entirely on AI outputs—they review code, adjust architectures, and ensure security.

Non-Technical Founders

This group is profoundly impacted by vibe coding. In the past, a founder with a business idea but no programming skills needed to raise funds to hire a development team or spend over six months learning programming. Now, they can describe product requirements in natural language and produce an MVP that can be showcased to investors or early users in just a few days.

Designers and Product Managers

Designers and product managers are starting to use vibe coding to create interactive prototypes. Previously, they used tools like Figma to create static or limited interactive designs; now they can directly generate functional front-end code. This allows design reviews and user testing to occur in a more realistic environment.

Benefits of Vibe Coding

• Significant increase in development speed — Features that previously took days to complete may now only take hours.
• Lower technical barriers — More people can participate in software development.
• Rapid learning of new technologies — Learning new frameworks through AI-generated code.
• Better prototype communication — Replacing static documents with actual product experiences.

Risks and Criticisms

• ⚠️ Security issues — About 45% of AI-generated code contains some degree of security vulnerabilities.
• ⚠️ Code quality and technical debt — AI-generated code tends to prioritize “it works” over quality.
• ⚠️ Impact on foundational skills — The new generation of developers may never understand underlying operations.
• ⚠️ Over-reliance on specific tools — Risks associated with vendor lock-in.

Future Outlook for Vibe Coding

The trajectory of vibe coding points to several potential directions:

• AI models continue to rapidly improve in code generation capabilities.
• Tool-level competition is driving rapid improvements in user experience.
• Development processes and team structures are adapting to the reality of vibe coding.

It is expected that vibe coding will not completely replace traditional software development skills, but it will redefine the essence of what it means to be a “software developer.”

Conclusion

Vibe coding is changing the way software development is conducted.

Whether you are an experienced developer, a non-technical founder looking to start a business, or a reader interested in AI trends—understanding vibe coding is key to grasping the direction of the software industry in the next decade.

Are you ready to embrace this new wave of AI development?