Building with AI: Vibe-Coding vs AI Website Builders

Artificial intelligence is reshaping the user experience of digital products, but not all “AI-powered” tools operate in the same way.

When someone’s talking about creating websites with AI, they usually mean either vibe-coding tools and AI website builders. Although both are marketed with promises such as “create a website with AI”, their approaches are suited for different types of users.

Let’s look at what vibe-coding is, how it is different from AI website builders, and which tool is better for which case.

What is Vibe-Coding?

We talked a bit about the recent history of vibe-coding in the article dedicated to vibe-coding programs for hosting providers. Vibe-coding originated earlier than true AI website builders with AI-heavy interface and possibility to edit components without manual input.

Vibe-coding refers to a new generation of AI development tools that generate, edit and deploy code through conversational prompts. Instead of manually editing files or writing code themselves, users give AI tasks that describe the desired end-product. The result is an impressive, but often unpredictable coding experience. It has spread with mainstream LLM adoption in 2022–2023. However, the term itself did not take off until February 2, 2025, when Andrej Karpathy popularized “vibe coding” in a viral X (ex-Twitter) post.

ChatGPT, Claude, CoPilot and other general use LLMs can be used for vibe coding, but there also are dedicated tools. Popular ones include Bolt.new, Lovable and Cursor.

What are AI Website Builders?

Technically, AI website builders emerged back in 2016 with Wix ADI, but the true AI with chat control was only introduced mid to late 2025, after vibe-coding became a trend.

AI website builders are designed to create and edit websites using a combination of AI-generated starting points and conventional interfaces. They maintain a familiar workflow similar to traditional website builders: drag-and-drop editing, manual layout control, and possibility to make adjustments without AI.

They are aimed at business owners, marketers, agencies, and non-technical users who need reliable and easy to navigate web design tools. Popular examples of AI website builders include Wix, Hostinger, and Site.pro.

Site.pro, for instance, can be piloted entirely through AI chat with text and voice commands.

Why AI Website Builders Are Not Vibe-Coding

Although both categories are promoted with similar marketing phrases, their mechanisms and purpose are very different. They both “Create websites with AI”, but they do it for different audiences and by different means.

Vibe-coding tools act as coding environments first and foremost. AI is the primary interface, but it doesn’t make website creation codeless for end-users who are looking for a quick way to build a website without coding. Vibe coding — still ”coding". To change a picture, usually it regenerates the whole website, which takes a huge amount of tokens at the end, wasting electricity and water.

AI website builders, by contrast, are lighter and less resource-hungry. They require 20-50 times less tokens, and allow users to worry less about the ecological impact. Also, AI website builders usually don’t target strong developers as their primary audience and provide real codeless solution.

Editing does not require re-prompting the model for every change, and the system does not rewrite the entire structure when the user adjusts one small detail. Because AI in website builders doesn’t write code from scratch and instead uses components that already exist in the system, the process is overall faster.

Workflow Differences

The gap becomes clearer when comparing everyday tasks. Let’s compare editing flows in Lovable, the casual user-friendly tool, with Site.pro.

We’ll give both programs the same prompt and see how they can handle it. It will be a typical query from a local small business owner that needs a website:

Create a website for my bakery “Lovely bakery”. We make custom cakes for birthdays, weddings, and other occasions. I need a website with light pastel colours. It should include a catalog of cakes with pricing, a contact form with a name, telephone number and email address, and an about us section with a map

Then, we'll try to edit the website in each program.

Lovable

Lovable is positioned as a vibe-coding tool for non-technical creators. It produces clean, visually appealing UI-driven apps with little prompting. However, manual editing for most functions is only available via code, and this function is only for paid plans. There is a coding mode, and a visual mode with AI chat.

Editing modes in Lovable

It has a similar interface to most website builders with a website preview. The main difference between Lovable and AI website builders is the folder with code that can be accessed directly in the program.

We tried to manually upload a picture and change a contact form

In Lovable, mostly every adjustment—text, layout, logic or styling—must be performed either by AI, or directly through code. Each request consumes credits, meaning more refinement leads to higher costs. Even small changes require processing time while the AI “thinks”. For example, to change the colour of a button, users have to firstly select a colour, and then save it, only then AI changes the properties of a component. Changes aren't saves automatically, and take time.

The process of changing the button colour in Lovable

Visual editor is present, but every change is processed with AI, leading to even text changes not being instant.

The process of changing text in Lovable

The editing in a vibe-coding performed with AI chatbot. Drag-and-drop features aren't present — users can't move objects by clicking and dragging them. Because every change is routed through the model, the user becomes more of a director than an editor. This comes with a set of pros and cons.

Pros

Cons

This creates a workflow in which precision is traded for convenience, and the user is dependent on the AI’s interpretation, especially if they only work inside a vibe-coding editor withour a developer.

Site.pro

Site.pro's visual website editor retains full manual control while providing AI-focused interface for more complex actions. If the user wants to change a heading, resize a section or adjust spacing, they can do so immediately. AI is an option, but it’s not mandatory for every change. Therefore, users are able to do instant edits, and have to wait much less. They can change small details without wasting credits.

While AI is doing its work, users can still edit their websites.

Site.pro AI website builder

Let's look at how to add a new field in the contact form. It can be done with AI, or manually.

Adding a new fill in the contact form in Site.pro

To change properties of a button or delete something — you only have to press one button. Both actions can be instantly reverted by pressing either CTRL-Z or the "go back" arrow in the top menu.

How to revert changes in Site.pro

Pros

Cons

AI is an assistant and a helper. It's purpose is to make the website management easier for users — not harder. The set up is easy, you can learn it in a minute without having to navigate coding or a complicated interface.

Comparison Table

Conclusion

For developers

Vibe coding offers speed and exploration potential. It is good for prototyping, building internal tools and accelerating complex coding tasks. However, it can feel restrictive when you need fine control over small details without invoking AI.

For business owners

AI website builders are generally the better fit. They provide stable, editable interfaces, predictable layouts and the ability to adjust content instantly. AI acts as a helper, not the gatekeeper for every modification.

For resellers and agencies

Website builders offer more consistent result for end-users and web designers. Vibe-coding may unlock fast development, but its code-centric editing model makes them unsuitable for projects requiring long-term maintenance from casual users — they will basically need to learn coding themselves.