- Rebecca Tomasis
- 6 days ago
- 6 min read
Updated: 6 days ago
Why vibe code a website? There are many reasons. But to fully understand why you should consider vibe coding your next website, let's go back to the beginning.
In early 2025, Andrej Karpathy (a founding member of OpenAI) tweeted a sentiment that rippled through Silicon Valley and beyond. He described a new way of building software where you 'fully give in to the vibes,' and basically forget that the code even exists. This is what we now know as vibe coding.
Vibe coding a website is the transition from 'How do I center a div?' to 'Make this section feel like a rainy Tokyo street at midnight.' And if you're planning to build a website today, you shouldn’t necessarily be coding it. You should be vibe coding it.
What is vibe coding?
Vibe coding isn't a specific programming language. This means it is't a coding framework like React or Vue, it's a workflow.
Vibe Coding is the practice of building software using Large Language Models (LLMs) where the primary input is natural language and the output is managed code.
In a traditional workflow, the developer is a translator. You have an idea in your head, the vibe and you manually translate that idea into strict logic, the code.
When vibe coding a website, the AI is the translator and you remain in charge. You tell the AI, 'I want a landing page that converts high-end clients,' and the AI handles the HTML structure, the Tailwind CSS classes and the JavaScript interactivity. You iterate on the feeling, the flow and the functionality.
Why vibe code a website? The argument for
01. Speed and velocity
One of the most popular reasons for vibe coding a website is speed. This isn't just about saving a few minutes it’s about a fundamental shift in time to make an MVP (Minimum Viable Product).
With vibe coding tools like Base44 you can build everything from just conversational prompts. When building a website takes weeks or months, you have to be very careful about what you build because of the investment in time and resources.
Learn more about some of the best AI prompts to build a website.
When building a website takes two hours, you can afford to experiment. You can build three different versions of your landing page in an afternoon and see which one vibes best with your users.
02. Focus on the product
Every developer knows the pain of a context switch. You're in the zone, designing a beautiful user interface until you realize you don't know the specific CSS syntax for a glass-morphism effect. You alt-tab to Google, then you search 'CSS glassmorphism generator.' You copy the code, paste it and it doesn't work so you debug it.
By the time you fix it, you've forgotten why you wanted it in the first place. Your creative flow is broken.
Vibe coding a website on the other hand keeps you building. Because you aren't fighting the syntax, you stay in charge. You just type into your AI website builder "Give this card a frosted glass effect with a subtle pink blur behind it." The AI implements the complex CSS backdrop-filter sets instantly.
You stay focused on building the product and not what builds it. This makes the process of building a website feel less like engineering and more like painting or sculpting.
03. Ideas are center stage
Does this sound familiar? 'I have an idea for a website, I just need a dev'. Once upon a time if you just had the ideas and not the technical skills to build a website, it wasn't so easy to get what you needed built.
But with vibe coding you can have the idea and be the product engineer. You don't need to know how to manage React State or understand Big O notation to build a functional, great looking website.
As a designer building a website this means you don't have to hand off Figma files to a developer you trust to replicate your design exactly. You can vibe code your website to look exactly how you envisioned it.
Vibe coding a website removes coding from building. Which puts ideas center stage.
04. Quality control still exists
When it comes to vibe coding a website, the process is not without its critics, and the focus is usually around quality control.
There are some valid concerns, for example — If you don't know what the code does, how can you maintain it? or This is going to create a mountain of technical debt.
"If you don't know what the code does, how can you maintain it?"
However, AI generated code quality is improving all the time and its improving fast. The code generated by an LLM is often cleaner, better commented and standardized than code written by a junior developer.
Second when it comes to vibe coding a website or app you don't maintain the code you maintain the prompts. If the code breaks or becomes outdated, you don't dig into the lines to refactor it manually. You ask the AI to do it.
The code becomes a transient artifact—a compiled output of your intent. Just as you don't worry about the Assembly language generated by your C++ compiler, you eventually won't worry about the React code generated by your Vibe Compiler.
05. Destroys sunk cost
Perfectionism is the enemy of website and software building. When you write every line of code yourself, you get attached to it. You spent four hours writing that authentication logic, so you refuse to change it even if the user experience is bad. This is what's often referred to as the sunk cost fallacy.
Vibe coding destroys sunk cost. Because the AI wrote the code in 30 seconds, you have zero emotional attachment to it. If the vibe is off, you delete it and prompt again.
This allows for a more ruthless, user-centric approach to design. You become willing to remove or change what doesn't work because you were never attached to them in the first—they were just generated from prompts and you can see immediately if they work or not for the website you're trying to create.
How to vibe code a website
01. Decide on the type of website you want to build and its 'vibe'
Your vision for your site is the most important place to start. What is it that you want your website to do? Is it to sell, say with an ecommerce website or online store; is it to act as a portfolio of your work?
Next think about the branding of your site, this includes colors, typography, logo and more. Essentially your website design.
How about the number of pages it needs, its site hierarchy and functionality? An ecommerce website needs product pages, a checkout page and payments set up. Each website is different and its important to plan all of these things out before you start vibe coding it.
02. Choose an AI website builder to build it
When it comes to vibe coding a website, the AI website builder you choose is all important. Choose one, like Base44 that makes it easy to start, easy to scale, easy to host and easy to edit.
Learn more: How to use Base44
03. Input your first conversational prompts
This is when building a website actually starts. Here are some examples for website building prompts, based on the specific type of site you want to build:
Brand: Nectar & Bloom, a small business selling artisanal, small-batch honey and beeswax candles.
Feel: Warm, organic, trustworthy, golden hour feel, cottagecore but elevated.
Initial prompt: I need to build an e-commerce store for my brand, 'Nectar & Bloom.' We sell artisanal honey and beeswax candles. I want the website to feel incredibly warm, organic and inviting, like stepping into a sun-drenched cottage garden during golden hour. It should look natural but high-end. Key features I need are a homepage featuring our top products, a shop page with categories for 'Honey' and 'Candles,' an 'Our Story' page about our beekeeping process and a contact page."
04. Start the iteration process
When it comes to vibe coding a website, most of the work is in the iteration. It would be rare for a first prompt to create exactly the site you want and need.
This means prompting again with everything you want to tweak, change and improve.
For example, Change the CTA button on the homepage to a lighter pink; make sure the product pages come after the homepage in the website's hierarchy but before the checkout page.
5. Host, then publish your website
With an AI website builder like Base44 you can host your site automatically, there's no need to copy the code somewhere else or find another hosting solution.