The idea of "vibe coding" sounds like a dream come true for business owners who aren't tech experts: simply chat with an AI tool like ChatGPT or Claude, describe the software you need, and moments later, get fully working code that you can copy and paste right onto your website.
This process lets users skip the big amount of time and money usually needed for professional software development, relying only on their "vibes" to guide the AI.
If we were sitting together and you asked, “What do you think about vibe coding,” here’s what we’d tell you. Vibe coding isn’t good or bad by itself.
It can speed up small wins, or it can create silent problems you only notice after customers touch it.
While AI is a great tool for creating a first version of an idea, turning that idea into reliable, secure, and connected software generally needs the special knowledge of a developer.
Vibe coding is when you describe what you want in plain language and let an AI write the first draft of the code. You might ask for a pricing calculator, a quick quiz, a part finder, or a small app that organizes information.
It feels super exciting! Instead of hiring a developer for hours, weeks, or even months to manually type out code based on complex plans, a user can talk with the AI robot for just minutes to create the product they want. The AI gives the finished code, which the user then puts on their website.
The instant benefits of vibe coding are clear and mainly focus on speed and cost. Businesses, especially smaller ones or those working with limited staff, find the resource savings very attractive.
For tools that are simple, ungated, and don't need to collect useful marketing data (like a basic, free calculator), vibe coding can be a great way to quickly add value to your website.
Vibe coding breaks when the first draft gets treated like a finished product. Ask the same model for something twice and you can get slightly different code. That makes fixes harder to repeat and changes harder to track. Basic safety checks are often missing, and accessibility or mobile behavior can easily get skipped.
When a user types a vague prompt like “make me a website.” They then can spend days nudging the AI toward what they had in mind.
A vague prompt invites a vague result, which creates endless tweaks and lost time. The AI can’t guess your audience, message hierarchy, design guidelines, or non-negotiables.
If the user is okay with the AI's basic, out-of-the-box design, that may be fine; otherwise, expecting complex design matching or features from a basic prompt is unrealistic.
One of the most dangerous habits of non-technical users is accepting the AI's first answer without fully testing it. There is a false belief that AI is perfect and won’t make mistakes.
Developers confirm that the AI often spits out wrong code and can get stuck in a cycle of "hallucination," forcing the user to throw away the attempt and start over. Users should never accept the first version of the code without tough, independent testing.
Most AI-generated code looks fine at a glance, but it often skips the guardrails that make software usable, reliable, and safe. If you ship it as is, you can create problems for customers and legitimate risk for your organization.
Vibe coding feels cheap up front, then the bill shows up later. The upfront cost savings of vibe coding are often canceled out by the expensive work needed later to debug, rewrite, or connect the flawed code. When users bring their AI-generated tool to a development agency for fixing, the agency often finds it takes more time to deal with the existing “vibe” code than to start from scratch.
AI-generated code isn’t written with your future edits in mind. If a business owner or marketer needs to make a simple change, such as adjusting a line of text, putting in a misplaced comma, quote, or special character, it could possibly “break the whole thing”.
We also see AI make surprise edits in files you didn’t intend to touch. Without a history, those changes hide until something fails.
We’ve heard stories of businesses who tried to create a plugin for their site, used bad code, and then they couldn’t get into the backend of their website. As a business, this is one of the worst things that can happen, and would rightfully be considered an “emergency.” They then have to call in experts on a moment’s notice, which isn’t always cheap.
The high cost of this emergency repair often beats the initial money saved from vibe coding without a developer in the first place. It’s like if you tried to DIY a shower renovation without understanding proper waterproofing, only to later pay an expert to tear out the entire wall and floor due to water damage.
When clients come to a developer or agency with vibe-coded tools, they often create "unrealistic expectations" that the developer will simply "fix" the code for a small fee, like $250.
When a vibe-coded tool lands on an agency’s desk, the code is an unknown quantity. They have to read it, test it, and make sure changes won’t break the pieces you care about.
Agencies also work within frameworks that enforce performance, security, and accessibility. Bringing ad-hoc code up to that level can take more time than building it correctly from the start. Agencies sell time and expertise. If a draft is full of gaps, the time required to close them comes at a cost.
Used the right way, vibe coding is an amazing accelerator. We treat it like a planning and clarity tool. It helps everyone see the same picture before real design or development begins. Our developers actually welcome it at this stage because it saves time and keeps budgets focused on what matters.
We use AI to spin up a quick, clickable mockup. Instead of long, abstract conversations, the client can react to something real.
For a Learning Center project, one of our strategists built a basic prototype for a client. Once the client clicked through it, they immediately spotted what was missing. “We also need X, Y, and Z.” That fast feedback gave design and development a clear, confirmed path. It kept the project on scope and prevented surprise costs later.
Think of vibe coding here like a 3D modeling tool that architects use for buildings, but for the web. It gives you certainty before you spend real money on custom development.
The worst outcome generally comes down to the quiet, expensive setback of wasted time.
We’ve seen teams lose months of work because there was no version control or backup. We’ve also seen “finished” tools that don’t actually work, which burns internal time and stalls real projects.
The pattern is common. An early prototype gets treated like a product, but it was never planned for mobile, search, or specific user actions. It gets brought to us because it doesn’t work like it should. At that point, the code becomes a liability. In fact, a clean set of wireframes or a clickable design would have been more useful, because we could build correctly from a clear plan rather than reverse engineer unclear intent.
Bottom line: incomplete code wastes time. If you’re not ready to deliver a working scaffold with the basics in place, keep it as a prototype and use it to align on the final plan before anyone hits publish.
The choice comes down to complexity, risk, and how much of your own time you want to spend. Ask yourself two questions:
Vibe code when:
Hire or custom build when:
Whether you’re building something yourself or drafting a prototype for an agency, the goal is simple. Move fast, reduce risk, and hand off something others can trust.
Handing off a prototype that only looks right, but doesn’t actually function, still triggers a long conversation and billable time to define what you actually need. A working, clearly explained prototype gives the agency a direct path to what you want and keeps the project moving.
Vibe coding has been revolutionary so far, making the first stages of software creation available to everyone. However, business leaders have to understand that their "uniformed person's view" of the process can lead to severe technical debt.
Whatever you decide to do, remember to always ask, “Will this induce more trust?”
Use AI to explore, then harden the work so buyers feel confident at every click. At IMPACT, we do this with the Endless Customers System. We build websites that teach openly, answer real questions, show pricing and process with video, and offer simple self-service tools that feed clean data to your CRM.
If you’re ready to put this into practice, pick the next step that fits you.
Whichever path you choose, the goal is the same. Build trust, make buying easier, and turn your website into a place buyers feel respected.