I tried vibe coding an app as a beginner - here's what Cursor and Replit taught me

A ZDNET writer tests several AI coding tools (Cursor, Replit, Visual Studio with GitHub Copilot, and Lovable) to build a basic text analysis app, finding that while the tools streamline environment setup and UI scaffolding, they still involve command-line work, cloud quotas/costs, and challenges with nuanced analysis and file parsing (e.g., Apple Pages). After issues like lost chat history in Cursor and quota/file handling problems in Replit, the author achieved a minimal viable product using Lovable with Google Gemini and an Algolia-backed corpus, concluding that AI coding aids productivity but does not replace the skills of human programmers and product teams.