“I didn’t study software programming. I just have very good design logic and user experience logic. That’s what I apply to my building model.” Juwon Olagoke was telling me how he became a vibe coder.
If you spend any time on #TechTikTok or wander through #DevTwitter, you’ve probably seen someone “vibe coding” — opening a code editor, typing a prompt into an AI, and somehow ending up with a functioning app in minutes. It looks clean, it looks easy, and it feels like the kind of shortcut beginners have been hoping for.
But as with most things online, the reality is somewhere between “effortless magic” and “you still need to know what you’re doing.” Vibe coding is definitely one of the easiest and most creative ways to start building with code today.
But it’s hardly a walk in the park.
Instead of beginning with textbooks, syntax rules, or months of theory, vibe coders start with an idea and rely on AI tools, templates, and quick iteration to bring their apps to life.
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How Easy Is It to Get Started as a Vibe Coder?
AI has lowered the barrier to being a coder. But one would like to expect that foundational experience working with coding language is needed for people looking to pursue this career long-term. Juwon casts this experience as “nice to have,” but not necessary to become a vibe coder.
“ I think with the way AI is these days, it will be much easier to get foundational knowledge of what you'll be doing from Lovable or Cursor or Bolt, the languages and backend tools you use to support your programme,” he said.
In case when confusion or a road block arise while coding, Juwon says that for him, it has been nothing YouTube could not solve.
“In a day or two, let's say probably a week max, you should be conversant with everything you need going forward,” he said.
But he cautions that “if you're going to be working on really complex stuff, maybe you should know a thing or two about the foundation of it.”
Vibe Coding Still Has Its Limitations
Getting conversant with the rudiments of coding is only one step to becoming a vibe coder. Like other coding jobs, AI has not advanced enough to help with the scales of texting and finetuning that building tech products demands.
“You prompt, you test. You prompt, you test. You spend hours looking at screens. I’m just not typing code,” he said.
After this, future vibe coders have to think of subscription costs for the AI they use.
When Juwon started vibe coding, he realised that subscriptions to multiple AI tools can add up quickly, and timelines are often unpredictable. He didn’t always know which tool he needed at any given moment, so he ended up subscribing to several at once and sometimes even upgrading on the fly.
While most vibe coding tools offer a free tier, professional work almost always pushes you toward their paid plans.
Lovable and Bolt, for instance, start their premium pricing at $25 per month, while Cursor starts at $20. That’s already $70 a month if you use all three, and the total can climb much higher depending on the project.
Is the Market Still Receptive in 2026?
This is where things get nuanced. Juwon pointed out that since vibe coding has a low bar for entry, it's easy to learn. The problem is, this now applies to everyone.
In other words, jobs that would normally see founders reaching out to programmers, like quick UI tweaks, early prototypes, and simple fixes, no longer require hiring someone.
“You have to really bring your worth to the table. You have to be very, very multidisciplinary in your field. Not necessarily just 'Oh, I know how to do UI/UX.’ You probably have to do branding as well, do logos, make videos. That's what will put you in a place where you are indispensable, no matter the tool,” Juwon said.
So, Is Vibe Coding Still a Viable Career Path?
Yet in all of this, he says that it is a valid career path to pursue in 2026. “It's a cheat code because if you go on Contra right now, you will see there are people who have already made up to $10k, $20k, $30k of Loveable and Bolt projects. So yes, it's a very valuable career,” he said.
However, he adds that vibe coding works best as an extension of an existing skill set.
“If you're not multidisciplinary, you don't need to kill yourself with that. But as you're Vibe coding, try and grow in your field, grow your skill and keep applying it to your work,” he said.
“Just keep moving forward with it. Have fun with it. See where it takes you. Like the name implies, Vibecoder. Just vibe.”
