NotVibesCodedPractical writing on building software with AI — what works, what doesn't, and the engineering judgment in between.
Everyone ranks AI builders by how fast the demo looks. We ranked them by what matters: the code they leave behind. Eight tools, one rubric, zero mercy.
The demo was flawless. The launch tweet went viral. Then real users showed up. Five archetypes of vibe-coded launches — and the exact week-one failure each one earned.
A founder sent us the checkout flow their AI built. 200 lines, looked perfect in the demo. We found 14 bugs — including one that charged customers twice. Here's the full teardown.
AI can write the feature. It can't decide the feature is finished. Here's the unglamorous checklist — tests, review, edge cases, rollback plans — that separates 'demo' from 'done.'