In an era when everyone is vibe coding, what kinds of projects are people excited about?

AI summary focused on the core points of the original article.

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1. Overview and market context

Mainstreaming vibe coding: Thanks to the rise of AI coding tools, we are entering an era where anyone—from non-developers and non-IT professionals to teenagers—can build services.
The shadow side and the challenge: As submissions for new apps and websites explode, concerns about overall quality and stricter vetting are rising. Simply being able to say “we built it with AI” is no longer enough to survive.

2. Analysis of 7 buzzworthy vibe coding projects

01. Food just doesn’t arrive
- A fake delivery app that lets you place orders, pay, and track deliveries, but the food is the only thing that never arrives
- It drew a strong response thanks to its empathetic problem definition that captured the psychology of people trying to resist delivery in a high-cost era, plus the playful twist of showing the calories they saved. It reached 5 million views on X (Twitter).
02. soundgo
- A virtual instrument website that recognizes users’ hand gestures through a webcam and lets them play music in the air
- By combining hand movements with music—visual and auditory elements—it successfully became content people wanted to record and share themselves, spreading across Korea and overseas.
03. I’m getting off here
- A real-time empty-seat sharing app where subway riders directly register and share their stop information
- It solved the subway timing game problem that every commuter has wanted addressed, and by rapidly building and validating an MVP with vibe coding, it surpassed 45,000 cumulative visitors in a month.
04. Todo Medicine
- A to-do list in a medicine packet concept that “prescribes” daily tasks as morning, lunch, and dinner pill packs
- In the already crowded task-management market, it created differentiation with a designer’s fresh UI/UX details, and its service introduction video reached 150,000 views.
05. Sajuai
- A fortune-telling app that offers saju and calendar-based interpretations for a modest 990 KRW
- Built on originality backed by precise calendar-based logic that widened the gap with copycats, an aggressive 990 KRW price point, and cute character targeting, it secured 1.6 million members and reached cumulative revenue of 500 million KRW.
06. Online smoke break
- A virtual smoking room for non-smokers where users interact anonymously while smoking a virtual cigarette on screen
- It gave even non-smokers the distinctive emotional break of “smoke time,” and introduced a ephemeral structure where conversations disappear after 3 to 5 minutes, becoming hugely popular and peaking at 280,000 DAU.
07. SlapMac
- A happening app that produces sound effects based on how hard you hit a MacBook, using the laptop’s built-in sensors
- It was built 48 hours after the idea was discovered, turning the product’s reaction itself into the product, and proved the power of virality and speed by generating 7.5 million KRW in sales within three days of launch.

3. Three tickets to survive in the vibe coding era

An eye for unmet needs (market entry): More than technology alone, the starting point must be empathy that can identify people’s pain points or emotional gaps.
My own details (survival): You need to defend against easy AI replication (copycats) through design, refined logic, and an original concept.
Business sense (monetization): Only projects that combine buzz or fun with the ability to transition into a sustainable revenue model truly survive.

XPLORED View

This is a curation of which ideas, in a flood of vibe-coded projects, actually lead to real response and monetization potential.

Good timing to read this

A sense of unmet needs and detail alone is not enough; in the end, it has to extend into business sense.

Three criteria
- An eye for unmet needs: the starting point for market entry
- My own details: the difference that holds up amid replication
- Monetization sense: the power to turn a fun project into a sustainable business
Next experiments
- Before building, write down “who will spread this, and why?”
- Before launch, separately validate “at what moment will people pay?”

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