Category · 58 posts
Vibe coding works great until you try to ship to production. Then the security holes, the missing auth, the database that doesn't scale, the AI hallucinating critical business logic — it all comes due at once.
This cluster is the honest version of what vibe coding actually delivers in 2026. Hands-on reviews of every major tool (Cursor, Claude Code, Bolt, Lovable, Replit, base44, Windsurf, Codex). Comparisons that name the trade-offs. And rescue case studies from real client work — what breaks, how to fix it, when to keep the AI code vs. start over.
Quick Answer
Curated by Justin McKelvey · 58 posts in this cluster · Updated August 2026
9 tells that a codebase was written by AI — from someone who rescues AI-built apps for a living. Why detector tools fail on code, what actually matters, and the exact order to fix things in.
Seven AI coding agents are worth using in 2026 — Claude Code, OpenAI Codex, Cursor, Windsurf, Bolt, Lovable, and Replit Agent — plus the question the tool lists skip: which AI model is actually best for vibe coding, and what it costs per month.
Cursor vs Claude Code vs Codex in June 2026: honest pricing, where each wins and loses, and the 2-of-3 stack pro developers actually run. From a fractional CTO who bills with them daily.
Base44 vs Lovable in 2026: both ship full-stack apps from prompts at ~$16-$25/month. Base44 bundles its own database; Lovable uses Supabase. The real differences (and which one to pick for what).
Replit vs Lovable in 2026: Replit is a browser IDE + Agent for code-curious builders. Lovable is a prompt-to-app generator for non-coders. Pricing, workflow, and which wins for what.
Base44 is the AI app builder Wix bought for $80M in 2025. It generates full-stack apps from text prompts — frontend, backend, database, auth, and hosting all included. Here's what it is, how it works, and who it's for.
Railway vs Vercel in 2026: Vercel is unbeatable for Next.js frontends + edge. Railway is the lower-cost full-stack play for SaaS that needs a database. Real cost math, when each wins, and why I deploy my own consultancy site on Railway.
Claude Code and OpenAI Codex are both terminal-native autonomous coding agents. Here's the honest comparison after shipping production work in each — pricing, focus discipline, model lineup, and when to use which.
Cursor is an AI-first IDE. OpenAI Codex is a terminal-native autonomous agent. They're often compared, but they target different workflows. Here's when each one wins.
Seven AI coding agents are worth using in 2026 — Claude Code, OpenAI Codex, Cursor, Windsurf, Bolt, Lovable, and Replit Agent — plus the question the tool lists skip: which AI model is actually best for vibe coding, and what it costs per month.
Six months with Claude Code. Honest review covering pricing, models, focus discipline, code quality, and the kind of work it's actually best at — from a fractional CTO who ships in it daily.
Six months with OpenAI Codex. Honest review covering pricing, models, autonomy, code quality, and the kind of work it's actually best at — from a fractional CTO who ships in it daily.
I shipped two production features this month — one in Cursor, one in Windsurf. Here's the honest comparison: pricing, agent mode, code quality, and when each one actually wins.
Bolt and Lovable both promise to turn prompts into apps. I built the same MVP in each and reviewed the code as a fractional CTO. Here's which one is actually safe to ship.
Windsurf is an agent IDE. Claude Code is a terminal agent. I shipped real features with both. Here's what each one is actually good at and which to pick.
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