Andrej Karpathy coined the term “vibe coding” in February 2025 for writing code from natural language prompts using large language models. By March, both Collins Dictionary and Merriam-Webster had recognized it as a major trend, with Y Combinator reporting that a quarter of its Winter 2025 startups had codebases that were 95% AI-generated.
JetBrains’ 2025 survey of 24,500 developers found 85% use AI tools for coding. Gartner projects that by 2025, citizen developers will outnumber professionals 4 to 1, with most technology products built by non-tech users. Demand for these apps outpaces IT support.
Understanding Vibe Coding Tools
Vibe coding tools use natural language input to generate applications. Users describe the desired results, and these tools generate code, set up system architecture, and resolve dependencies. Offerings range from browser-based editors to desktop applications that integrate seamlessly with existing workflows.
These tools differ in focus. Some prioritize speed and simplicity for non-technical users, while others offer advanced controls designed for professionals tackling complex tasks. Most offer free tiers and paid plans, typically ranging from $15 to $200 per month.
1. Lovable AI
Lovable AI has grown faster than almost any startup in history. According to Superframeworks’ analysis, published in November 2025, the company achieved $100 million in annual recurring revenue in just eight months. TechCrunch reports the platform serves nearly 8 million users, up from 2.3 million in July, with 100,000 new products built on Lovable every day, according to CEO Anton Osika.
Lovable AI supports three plans: Starter ($20), Launch ($50), and Scale ($100). Over half of Fortune 500 companies use Lovable. The tool connects with Supabase and GitHub, generates full-stack apps from chat-based prompts, and emphasizes quick deployment.
2. Cursor AI
Anysphere’s Cursor AI reached a $9.9 billion valuation in June 2025 after raising $900 million, according to Inc. Magazine. The company had raised $105 million at a $2.5 billion valuation just five months earlier. Bloomberg reports that within 12 months of Cursor’s late 2023 launch, the platform was generating over $100 million in annual recurring revenue.
Cursor features a free plan plus Pro ($20/month with $20 API credit), Teams ($40/user/month), and Ultra ($200/month). Enterprise pricing is by request. Cursor targets depth and manual control, catering to professionals handling large, complex projects.
3. Bolt.new
StackBlitz, which has raised $105 million according to Vibecoding.app, backs Bolt.new. The platform launched in October 2024, and similar tools have followed since. Bolt.new provides in-browser development with no downloads or configuration files needed.
Bolt.new’s free tier provides 10 million AI tokens per month. Paid tiers scale from Pro 50 ($50/month, 26 million tokens) to Pro 200 ($200/month, 120 million). The tool delivers its backend via Supabase, utilizes React with TypeScript, and employs Tailwind for frontend styling.
4. V0 by Vercel
Vercel’s v0 turns ideas into web applications without requiring coding knowledge, making it popular among designers, product managers, and other non-developers, as well as developers themselves. Over 3.5 million developers, designers, product managers, and others have used the v0 agent to date, according to The AI Economy in August 2025. Prismetric analysis from October 2025 notes that Vercel serves over 6 million developers and 80,000 active teams worldwide, with v0 becoming one of its fastest-growing products within weeks of launch.
V0 outputs code blocks for Svelte, Vue, React, and HTML+CSS. It supports major frameworks, including Drizzle, Supabase, and Vercel, and allows for direct deployment on the Vercel platform for instant preview or publication.
5. Replit Agent
Replit’s annual recurring revenue grew from $10 million to $100 million in the nine months following the release of their Agent, according to the Superframeworks’ November 2025 blog. CEO Amjad Masad reports that 75% of Replit’s customers never write a single line of code, as noted in Keyvalue Systems’ analysis.
The Replit Core plan ($25/month) includes Agent access and $25 credits. Teams ($40/user/month) adds $40 per seat. Agent costs $0.25 per checkpoint, meaning each time the Agent makes project changes.
6. Windsurf
Cognition, the team behind Devin, now develops Windsurf. The platform was the first IDE to have an integrated agent beyond simple autocomplete, according to Windsurf’s official comparison page. It features proprietary models, including SWE-1.5, which runs 13 times faster than Sonnet 4.5, as well as Fast Context for rapid recognition of the codebase.
Windsurf’s free plan includes 25 prompt credits and unlimited Fast Tab access. Pro ($15/month) offers 500 credits, while Teams ($60/user/month) receives 1,000 credits each. Plugins support over 40 IDEs, including JetBrains and Vim.
7. GitHub Copilot
GitHub Copilot achieved a 46% code completion rate in Q1 2025, though only about 30% of suggestions were accepted by developers, according to Netcorp Software Development and Index AI analysis. The tool integrates directly into code editors such as Visual Studio Code and IntelliJ IDEA, providing real-time context-aware code suggestions as developers type.
JetBrains’ 2024 survey data indicate that 40% of developers have tried GitHub Copilot, with 26 percent using it on a regular basis. The platform continues to refine its suggestion algorithms based on user feedback and acceptance rates.
8. ChatGPT for Coding
ChatGPT is popular for code assistance. In 2024, 69% of people tried it, and 49% used it on a regular basis. It supports multiple languages and explains complex code, while also generating solutions.
Stack Overflow survey findings cited in Inc. Magazine from September 2025 indicate that 80% of developers use AI coding tools, with ChatGPT being one of the most commonly mentioned platforms.
9. Claude by Anthropic
Claude provides coding assistance with a focus on understanding context and maintaining consistency across longer conversations. METR’s July 2025 study included Claude among the AI tools tested with experienced developers, although the study found mixed results regarding productivity gains.
Claude assists coding by keeping context over long chats. It supports multiple languages, full codebases, and focuses on explanation and teaching, rather than just code creation.
10. Codeium
Codeium offers fast, AI-powered code completion and code generation for multiple languages, providing both cloud and self-hosted options to accommodate varying security requirements.
Codeium integrates with various environments, with plans tailored to team size and features. It prioritizes rapid and accurate code suggestions to maintain code quality.
Security Considerations
The rapid adoption of vibe coding tools brings security concerns that organizations need to address. A Stanford University study found that developers using AI assistants introduced more security vulnerabilities than those coding manually, as reported by Netlas Blog in August 2025. Research from NYU and Stanford revealed that AI-assisted coding increases the likelihood of exploitable flaws, with up to 40% of generated programs containing security vulnerabilities, according to a September 2025 article in Infosecurity Magazine.
Veracode’s 2025 GenAI Code Security report found that 45% of AI-generated code samples fail security tests, introducing OWASP Top 10 vulnerabilities into production systems. Academic studies show even higher rates, with over 60% of AI-written programs having security flaws according to Netlas security research published in August 2025. Guardio Labs identified a vulnerability dubbed VibeScamming in April 2025. In September 2025, 404 Media reported on senior software engineers citing development problems when working with AI-generated code.
Productivity Reality Check
The productivity gains from vibe coding tools show complexity beyond simple metrics. A rigorous METR study published in July 2025 found that experienced developers using AI tools like Cursor and Claude actually took 19% longer to complete tasks, despite believing they were 20% faster, according to Superframeworks’ November 2025 blog.
Google reports that 25% of its code is AI-assisted. However, CEO Sundar Pichai states that engineering velocity, rather than replacement, provides the real gain, with a 10% speed increase, according to Netcorp statistics from 2025. These findings suggest that vibe coding tools are most effective when developers understand their limitations and utilize them appropriately within existing development workflows.
Choosing the Right Tool for Your Projects
Selection depends on specific project requirements and team capabilities. Browser-based tools like Bolt.new and v0 work well for rapid prototyping and simple applications. Professional developers working on complex projects might prefer Cursor’s advanced context management or Windsurf’s multi-repository support.
Pricing matters for scaling teams. Free tiers allow experimentation, but production typically requires paid plans, which usually range from $15 to $200 per user per month, with usage-based pricing. Teams should evaluate security, integration, and skill requirements when choosing tools.
Moving Forward with Vibe Coding
LinkedIn data cited by Fortune Magazine in April 2025 shows AI literacy as a growing skill in the U.S. Garry Tan, CEO and president of Y Combinator, told CNBC that a team of 10 vibe coders can build what previously required more engineers. This reported productivity is one factor in adoption, despite concerns about security and quality.
Success with vibe coding requires understanding both capabilities and limitations. These tools excel at generating boilerplate code, creating prototypes, and handling repetitive tasks. They struggle with complex business logic, security-critical code, and maintaining consistency across large codebases. Organizations that establish clear guidelines, implement security reviews, and maintain human oversight see better results than those that rely entirely on AI-generated code.
Vendors continue to refine their offerings, and developers are adapting usage patterns. GreenGeeks provides hosting infrastructure for projects built with these tools. As these platforms develop, workflows may combine both traditional development and AI assistance.
