Written by Fatih Kadir Akın, on December 05, 2025
---

# The Misconceptions About Vibe-Coding

Yesterday, I helped a friend install Antigravity, Google's AI coding tool that everybody knows. This friend has zero programming background. I gave them a few tips, told them to explore and see what they could build.

Today, they showed me a native iOS app they made. They even generated the app icons and graphics using Nano Banana.

Let that sink in. A non-developer built a functional iOS app in less than 24 hours.

**The world is going somewhere completely different**, and the conversations I see in developer communities about vibe-coding are missing the point entirely.

## The conversations have already shifted

Here's something I've noticed at every tech meetup and conference lately: developers spend more time discussing which AI model writes better code than they spend discussing actual software architecture or engineering practices.

— *"Claude writes cleaner code than GPT-4o."*

— *"Gemini is better for frontend stuff."*

— *"Have you tried the new Codex 5.1 Max? It's insane for refactoring."*

This is our new normal. And honestly? **That's not a bad thing.** Understanding your tools is part of the craft. But it shows how dramatically the landscape has shifted. We're no longer comparing frameworks or languages; we're comparing the AI models that write code for us.

## Vibe-Coding is the new Excel

Remember when "knowing Excel" was considered a valuable skill? When it could get you jobs and raises? When people built entire careers around being "the Excel person" in their department?

**Vibe-coding is becoming that.** Basic AI-assisted development is becoming a fundamental competency, like knowing how to use a spreadsheet.

People who've barely touched a code editor are now building tools to automate their daily workflows. Marketing managers are creating custom dashboards. Sales reps are building lead scrapers. HR folks are automating onboarding flows.

They're not becoming developers. They're just becoming more capable at their actual jobs. And they're doing it with vibe-coded solutions that work perfectly well for their needs.

> Vibe-coding is becoming a basic competency like Excel, not a replacement for professional development, but a powerful tool that everyone can use for their daily tasks.

## The Biggest Misconception

Here's where everyone gets it wrong: **The entire discourse around vibe-coding assumes that these applications will be deployed for public use.**

Every criticism I see follows the same pattern:

- "But what about security vulnerabilities?"
- "These apps can't scale!"
- "SQL injection! XSS! CSRF!"
- "Who's going to maintain this spaghetti code?"

These concerns are valid only **if** you're building something for thousands of users. But that assumption itself is the misconception.

The real disruption happens when vibe-coding becomes **personal** and **individual**. When it's just for you, your team, or your specific workflow.

> Think about it: **Why would anyone pay for your "glorified Excel" SaaS when they can vibe-code their own version in an afternoon?** 

A version that does exactly what they need, nothing more, nothing less. No monthly subscription. No feature bloat. No waiting for support tickets.

This is the bomb that's about to explode, and most people are looking in the wrong direction.

## The real disruption: Being "unvibecodeable"

Here's the uncomfortable truth that nobody wants to talk about:

**Your software product needs to be complex enough that it can't be vibe-coded, or you're in trouble.**

Think about all those small SaaS products that solve simple, specific problems:

- That invoice generator you're paying $15/month for
- The social media scheduler at $29/month
- The simple CRM that costs $49/seat
- The form builder charging $20/month

All of these can be vibe-coded in an afternoon by someone who understands their specific needs. **And increasingly, that's exactly what's happening.**

The products and startups that will survive are those that offer:

- **Complex multi-party integrations** that require partnerships and agreements
- **Mission-critical systems** where failure isn't an option
- **Physical world connections**, hardware, logistics, real-world operations
- **Network effects** that can't be replicated in isolation
- **Proprietary data** that takes years to accumulate

If your product is basically "a database with a pretty UI" (a glorified spreadsheet) your days might be numbered.

## Entrepreneurs should be more worried than developers

Here's a take you won't hear often: **developers aren't the ones who should be most worried about vibe-coding. Entrepreneurs are.**

Developers can always move up the complexity ladder. There will always be systems too complex, too critical, or too interconnected for vibe-coding. The role shifts from writing code to designing systems, reviewing AI output, and handling the edge cases that require deep expertise.

But for entrepreneurs? If your startup can be replicated by your customers using vibe-coding, you have an existential problem. Your product's reason to exist disappears.

> The startups that will survive are those solving problems that can't be vibe-coded away. If your product is essentially a **glorified spreadsheet**, your customers are already building their own versions.

The safe zones (IMHO) for startups may include:

- Platforms requiring complex compliance and regulation
- Systems touching physical infrastructure
- Products with deep multi-tenant architectures
- Services requiring 24/7 operational excellence
- Solutions with genuine network effects

Everything else is increasingly at risk.

## The "Force Multiplier"

So can AI-vibecoded projects scale? **Yes.** But only as far as your code review abilities can take them.

Can AI write airplane control software? **Technically yes.** But can you sign off on it? Can you verify the architecture, identify edge cases, and take responsibility for what happens when something goes wrong?

This is the key insight that most people miss: **vibe-coding's ceiling is determined by your ability to validate the output.**

If you understand what the AI generates, if you can identify risks, verify the logic, and take responsibility for the result, then AI becomes a massive force multiplier. You can build faster than ever while maintaining quality.

But if you're treating AI as a black box, accepting output without understanding it, you're building on sand. When (not if) something goes wrong, you won't know how to fix it.

> The question isn't whether AI can build complex systems. It's whether *you* can validate, verify, and take responsibility for those systems. That determines everything.

For personal projects running locally? The risk is minimal. Build whatever you want. Experiment freely. Use them to automate your daily workflows (as I've mentioned above).

But the moment you're putting something in production, exposing it to users, or touching real data, that's when your ability to review and understand becomes critical. That's when the difference between a skilled developer using AI and someone blindly accepting output becomes a liability.

## Security concerns are often hypocritical

I find it genuinely amusing when people who don't know the difference between XSS and CSRF suddenly become security experts when criticizing AI-generated code.

"AI doesn't write secure code!" they declare, as if every developer has been writing perfectly secure, defensively-coded applications this whole time. As if SQL injection vulnerabilities haven't been in the OWASP Top 10 for two decades. As if data breaches aren't happening daily at companies with "real" developers.

Yes, security is important. I'm not dismissing it. But let's be honest: **most developers don't write perfectly secure code either**. The security argument against vibe-coding often comes from people who couldn't explain how to properly handle environment variables or implement CSRF protection if their career depended on it.

> The irony: people who've never written defensive code in their lives are suddenly concerned about the security of AI-generated applications.

When you're building something for personal use, running on your own machine or in a sandboxed environment, the security calculus is completely different. You're not exposing attack surfaces to the world. The concerns that matter for production systems simply don't apply.

## A reality check on complexity

One more thing that needs to be said: most developers vastly overestimate how many people can build truly complex systems.

How many developers do you know who can design a proper multi-tenant architecture from scratch? Who understand the nuances of horizontal scaling? Who can implement eventually consistent distributed systems?

**The honest answer is: not many.**

Most software development work was never about building massively complex systems. It was about building CRUD apps, connecting APIs, creating interfaces for databases. This is the work that vibe-coding disrupts, and it was never as sophisticated as we pretended it was.

The developers who actually build complex systems? They're fine. They'll use AI to move even faster. But if we're being honest about what most development work actually involves, the disruption is understandable.

> People criticize vibe-coding for not handling complex distributed systems. But how many developers could build those systems anyway? Let's be honest about what most development work actually involves.

## Software Development's Golden Age

Despite all this disruption, I'm incredibly optimistic about our industry. **Software development is entering its golden age.**

We've always been a field that moves fast. Technologies that were cutting-edge three years ago are now legacy. Frameworks rise and fall. Best practices evolve. The developers who thrived were always those who kept learning, kept adapting, kept pushing forward.

AI hasn't changed this fundamental dynamic. **It's just accelerated it.**

The "adapt or become obsolete" pressure isn't new. It's not something AI introduced. It's been the defining characteristic of our industry since the beginning. Some developers adapted from mainframes to PCs, from desktop to web, from web to mobile, from mobile to cloud. Those who didn't adapt got left behind.

This is just the next wave. A bigger and faster wave, sure. But the same fundamental principle applies.

> The "adapt or die" pressure in software development existed long before AI. AI just turned up the speed. The developers who embrace it will thrive like never before.

## The only thing that matters

Whether AI is overhyped or underhyped, whether the bubble pops or keeps inflating — none of this matters as much as one simple thing:

**Keep learning.**

The developers who will come out ahead are those who:

- Learn how to effectively prompt and guide AI tools
- Understand what AI can and cannot do well
- Develop the judgment to validate AI output
- Build expertise in areas AI still struggles with
- Stay curious about new capabilities as they emerge

The platform doesn't matter. The specific model doesn't matter. What matters is developing the skills to leverage whatever tools exist, today and tomorrow.

And here's the thing about learning: **it was always the answer.** Before AI, the developers who kept learning succeeded. With AI, the developers who keep learning will succeed. The constant isn't the technology — it's the mindset.

## Conclusion

The real story is this: **vibe-coding is becoming a basic competency like Excel**, enabling people to solve their own problems without paying for generic SaaS solutions. The startups and products that survive will be those offering genuine complexity that can't be replicated in an afternoon.

For developers, this is actually good news. The boring parts of our job are being automated. What remains is the interesting work: the complex systems, the critical decisions, the problems that require human judgment and expertise.

Learn to ride the wave instead of fighting it. Use AI as the force multiplier it is. And if you're building a product, make damn sure it can't be vibe-coded away by your customers.

_This article was proofread and edited with AI assistance._