Vibe Coding: How I Built an App, Canceled a Subscription, and Saw the Future of Software

Mar/10/2026 - I thought modern coding was too complicated for me. Then I discovered "vibe coding," built my own calorie tracker, and realized why software companies should be terrified.

As I continue my AI learning journey, a new term kept popping up in my research: Vibe Coding.

I asked Gemini what it meant, and the definition fascinated me: “Vibe coding is a shift in how software is developed. Instead of manually writing every line of code, developers use high-level AI agents to handle the heavy lifting, focusing instead on the 'vibe'—the high-level logic, design, and flow of the application.”

At first, I completely ignored it. Writing code wasn't on my radar. I started my professional career as a systems analyst working with what are now prehistoric technologies—Natural, Adabas, and Predict from Software AG. I assumed that learning modern programming languages would be far too steep of a mountain to climb today.

But then, a real-world problem presented itself.

The Catalyst: A Subscription Renewal

It was time to renew my annual subscription to Lifesum, an incredible app I’ve used for two years to track my daily food intake. Before hitting "renew," I decided to run an experiment: Could I use this "vibe coding" concept to build a replacement?

I found an AI tool called Lovable and decided to try building a simple food diary. My requirements were basic but modern: I wanted it to have image recognition so I could snap a photo of my meal, and I wanted it to estimate the calories and the macronutrient breakdown (protein, carbs, and fats).

The Experiment and the Result

Using only the free version of Lovable, I started prompting. I suggested features, adjusted the flow, and directed the "vibe."

The result? I call it SnapTrack Nutrition. It’s not a billion-dollar app. It doesn't have the ultimate polish of Lifesum. But guess what? It perfectly meets my basic needs. You can actually see and test the working MVP I generated right here:

👉 https://snaptracknutrition.lovable.app

The Revelation: The Threat is Real

This small development project was a massive eye-opener. It brought the abstract "power of AI" into sharp, practical reality—and showed me the very real threat it poses to our current economy.

Two things became immediately clear:

1. The Democratization of Creation: AI can generate highly functional micro-apps for our specific, everyday ideas at practically zero cost. You don't need to hire a programmer or go to a coding bootcamp to build a bespoke tool.

2. The Threat to SaaS: I did not renew my Lifesum subscription. That is lost revenue for a major software company because an amateur used an AI tool for an afternoon. The threat to traditional software companies is real, and it is moving with alarming speed.

I need to learn more about this. That is, if there is still time!