They’re Lying to You About Vibe Coding: A Real-World Test

The promise of "vibe coding" is all over social media: build a fully functional web app in a weekend with just AI. But is it a revolutionary path for non-coders or a total scam? I put it to the test by building a Pinterest clone from scratch.

What is Vibe Coding?

Coined by Andrej Karpathy, former director of AI at Tesla, "vibe coding" describes a method where you fully embrace AI to handle the actual coding. You describe what you want in natural language, and the AI tool generates the code. It's not about autocompleting lines but letting the AI take the wheel with tools like V0, Replit, and Lovable.

The core idea is to focus on the vision and the "vibes" of the product, leaving the technical implementation to the AI. The famous tweet states: "I ask for the dumbest things... I accept all always. I don't read the diffs... I just see stuff, say stuff, run stuff, and copy and paste stuff, and it mostly works."

The Project: StudioInspo.com

My goal was to build a niche Pinterest clone for studio setups and A-roll shots (the primary footage of a person talking to the camera, common in YouTube videos and podcasts). As a computer science major dropout, I had interest and some conceptual knowledge but no recent coding experience.

I chose V0 as my primary vibe coding tool. The initial process was fun and visually rewarding, iterating through multiple UI designs purely through prompts. The AI could handle granular changes like adjusting padding, colors, and implementing an infinite scroll. However, it was a step-by-step process, not a one-shot command to build the entire app.

The Reality Check: Connecting to a Database

The real challenge began when moving beyond UI to functionality. A real application needs a database. I used Supabase to store image URLs, tags, view counts, and other metadata.

This is where the limits of pure vibe coding became apparent. Integrating external services like Supabase requires setting environment variables and understanding basic backend concepts. V0 struggled with this complexity. Errors began piling up, version control became unreliable, and progress stalled for days.

I hit a wall. Simple features like image uploads broke, and the AI in V0 couldn't solve the underlying issues, often suggesting overly complex solutions or incorrect fixes.

The Pivot to Claude Code

Frustrated, I pivoted to using Claude Code within the Cursor IDE. This was a game-changer. Unlike V0, Claude Code could understand the entire project structure and create complex, working code bases from scratch.

I provided Claude with a detailed project brief (a `claude.md` file), which served as its persistent memory. It could then intelligently troubleshoot issues, implement features like a related images algorithm, and set up proper authentication—something V0 failed to do securely.

Claude Code fixed my database connection issues in one shot and helped implement advanced features like semantic search using Algolia. The process was still a learning experience, but it felt productive instead of endlessly frustrating.

Conclusion: Is Vibe Coding a Scam?

The answer is nuanced. The promise of AI-assisted building is real and incredibly empowering. It enabled me, a non-professional coder, to ship a real product, studioinspo.com.

However, the claim that you can build a production-ready app in a weekend using only no-code vibe platforms is misleading. My project took 13 focused days for the core build and another 2 for deployment—far longer than the promised weekend.

• V0 is excellent for prototyping and UI design, especially for visual learners who want to iterate quickly.
• For full-stack functionality and real-world deployment, tools like Claude Code are necessary. They handle complexity and integration much more effectively.
• Vibe coding doesn't eliminate the need to understand core concepts. Knowledge of databases, authentication, and deployment is still crucial to build something secure and scalable.

Vibe coding is not a magic bullet, but it is a powerful entry point. It lowers the barrier to starting, but finishing a real product still requires diving into the details, often with more advanced AI tools or a foundational understanding of development principles.

The experience was ultimately rewarding. It transformed my ideas into a tangible application and opened a new world of creative possibility, even if the journey was more arduous than advertised.