Tilda Education
Vibe Coding 101: A Beginner's Guide to Building with AI
A practical guide to vibe coding: What it is, what you can build with it, and what limitations you can encounter
May 28, 2026
15 min
Vibe coding is a relatively new concept, yet it is already changing the way digital products are created. In a nutshell, it allows you to build fully functioning digital solutions without any development knowledge, whether that's a website or a mobile app.
Sounds almost too good to be true, right? But how does it actually work? Can it replace traditional development workflows? And how can you use it to get good results instead of broken AI-generated slop? Let's figure it out.
Sounds almost too good to be true, right? But how does it actually work? Can it replace traditional development workflows? And how can you use it to get good results instead of broken AI-generated slop? Let's figure it out.
Contents:
What Is Vibe Coding?
Vibe coding is a term that's floating around more and more nowadays. It is the process of using AI tools to help you write custom code. The best bit? You only have to write words instead of code.
If you have no programming experience whatsoever, no problem, you can still build your very own website or mobile app. You just need to describe the end result you want using plain language. Doing it this way cuts out the need to hire expensive developers or learn how to code yourself, which can take months at best, if not years.
How vibe coding works — AI generates code from a text prompt.
How Vibe Coding Differs from Traditional Development
For years, the process of coding has required a lot of specialized knowledge and experience. It requires not just the skills to hand write the code, but the ability to troubleshoot problems and bring design visions to life. This can be incredibly difficult.
With vibe coding, the AI does all of the coding itself. You can simply type in the exact outcome you are looking to achieve, and the AI tool will generate a response based on the brief it has been given.
Pros & Cons of Vibe Coding
Vibe coding is such a new development approach that people are still figuring out how best to use it. There will be good and bad things that come with it, so let’s talk about the most important ones.
Pros
1
Speed and efficiency. By cutting out the need for manual development, you can save a huge amount of time and see results in as little as a few minutes.
2
Low barrier to entry. Since AI handles the complex nature of the task, you are able to see quality results without having any prior experience.
3
Cost-effectiveness. For early-stage projects, being able to test ideas and create fast outputs saves a lot of money since a development team isn't required.
Cons
1
Limited control. If you go into vibe coding with an exact vision of what you want, it can be hard to achieve if the generated results don't match up.
2
Reliability issues. Thorough testing is recommended since there could be faults that were not immediately obvious. Often AI-generated code doesn't always work the way it was intended, and without any coding knowledge, users may not be able to fix or properly debug it themselves
3
Scalability challenges. For larger businesses looking for more complex systems, the AI may not have the capabilities required to produce solutions at the required scale.
How to Get the Best Results from Vibe Coding
When you're trying vibe coding for the first time, the main thing to remember is that the quality of the output you get will depend on the quality of the prompt that you give.
What Is a Prompt?
The first step of vibe coding is entering your prompt, the written text that tells the AI tool exactly what you're looking to achieve. Based on this, it will generate an output for you.
The Importance of a Good Prompt
If you cut corners on your prompt, the results you receive are unlikely to match the vision you had. That's why you need to spend the time to make sure your prompt is detailed enough.
The more information you provide, the better understanding AI will have of what you are trying to achieve. This will give you a result which better matches your intention.
Top Tips for Getting the Best Results from AI
A good approach is to write your prompt as if you were creating a brief for a human designer or developer. Here are some key considerations:
1
Follow the recommendations. Often, AI tools will explain how to use them to get the best results. For example, some can remember context, while others can't, so for those who don't, you may need to repeat or restate key information as you go.
2
Give context. Start your prompt by giving as much background information as possible. Some examples include an overview of your business, your target audience, and the goals you're looking to achieve.
3
Include smaller details. If you have a good idea of what you're looking for, don't hold back on the level of detail you request. Feel free to describe what you want to build, the style or mood you’re going for, and the type of content you want to include.
4
Refine your prompt. Once you've generated your first output, don't stop there. The initial result is a great way to see what you're working with, but keep on refining your prompt to get the output closer to the vision you are working towards.
4 Ways Businesses Can Use Vibe Coding
There are countless ways that you can use vibe coding, offering huge potential to grow your online presence. Let's talk about some of the most popular ways vibe coding is used that you can try for yourself.
Website creation
If you're in the early stages of building a business, you will reach a stage where you're ready to create an online presence or expand it beyond social media. You can use vibe coding to create your first website.
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It's also useful if you already have a website but want to refresh an outdated design or add new functionality, without relying on external help.
App building
If you're looking to venture into the world of apps, vibe coding is ideal since traditional app development can be an incredibly costly process. Many people don’t know where to start when launching a new app, but the trick is to break it into two parts.
A lot of vibe coding platforms offer a range of templates that have been pre-designed by experts. Since they have been created by those with a lot of experience in the field, they will help new users form the structural foundations of their app.
For example, if you are looking to improve internal workflows in your business, looking through productivity app templates will give you some inspiration and help you kick-start your project.
Once you've found a template that aligns with your requirements, you can turn to vibe coding to bring the functionality of the template to life and add your own branding.
Customer support chatbots
Whether a customer is looking to ask a question about a service, book an appointment, or get updates on their order, AI agents can be trained to handle common customer service queries without human input.
Vibe coding allows you to build a chatbot that can be added to your existing website, training it by giving pre-set answers or access to information about the business. This means that customers can send an enquiry at any time of day, giving them a better customer experience.
From a business perspective, this can also help reduce staffing costs. By automating the top level of customer support, companies can take the weight off their support team. This allows them to focus on tasks that actually require human interaction.
MVP prototypes
Standing for minimum viable products, an MVP refers to the stripped-back version of a product. They are typically used in the early stages to show the essential features and gain valuable insights.
Landing pages and apps themselves can serve as MVPs for testing and validating ideas, but MVPs often refer to a product's core function. This means the basics of the software would be created and launched, and then this could be added to over time.
For example, if you want to create a productivity app and feel completely lost about where to start from a design perspective, you can use a tool that offers industry templates and supports vibe coding. With it, you can turn initial mockups into working prototypes, which you can then share with external users to gather testing feedback before further expanding the functionality.
The Top Vibe Coding Platforms to Try
If you're ready to give vibe coding a go for yourself, we've got four platforms to recommend you play around with, each specializing in different areas.
Tilda is a website builder that will guide you through the process of creating a new site that ticks all of the boxes. Its latest feature, Vibe Block, lets you generate custom blocks with interactive functionality that isn't available in pre-designed ones simply by writing a text prompt. To improve the result, you can either refine your prompt further or edit the code manually.
Hostinger Horizons uses vibe coding to help you build your web app with no prior experience. You can either pick from a range of templates for productivity apps, finance apps, marketing apps or type out your idea into the text box. From here, AI will generate an app, and if you want to add your own touch, you can customize the layout, content, and features to suit your vision.
When looking to add an AI chatbot to your website, Chatbase is a great place to start. It helps you set up an AI agent that carries out your desired workflows and provides answers that suit your business's tone of voice.
GitHub is an AI-powered coding assistant that supports you throughout the development process. Once you start typing, it can autocomplete code and suggest functions or entire code blocks based on context. It's not limited to creating websites or apps and can also generate larger pieces of code. It's a good fit for more advanced users who want to stay more involved in how their system is built.
When Vibe Coding Isn't the Right Choice
Vibe coding offers an incredible opportunity to produce custom digital solutions that would typically require a lot of time and money. If you work for a smaller business, this opens up doors that otherwise may have been inaccessible.
However, if you need more complicated products, vibe coding could bring some extra challenges your way. Ultimately, AI is still relatively new, and therefore may not yet be able to meet your exact needs.
It can be great for creating mockups and playing around with prototypes, but that doesn't necessarily mean it will give you the all-singing-all-dancing solution you're looking for. This is where you'd still need to rely on experienced developers who can meet your requirements.
Vibe coding may not be the right tool for every project just yet, but with how fast AI is evolving, it could soon grow into something capable of handling much more advanced use cases. Keep your eyes peeled!
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