Introduction

AI programming tools like Cursor and Claude Code are sparking a trend of ’everyone can be a developer’, but the truth often lies in the details. This article deeply analyzes the practical boundaries of Vibe Coding, from server configuration to business compliance, using real bills and four key hurdles to help you avoid pitfalls like the ‘500 yuan website disaster’ and understand the underlying logic and survival rules of AI-assisted entrepreneurship.

In 2026, you likely encountered content like:

• “Liberal arts students create their own products in three days using AI.”
• “No coding skills? No problem, AI writes for you.”
• “Ordinary people earn over 10,000 yuan a month with Vibe Coding.”

With tools like Cursor and Claude Code emerging one after another, the phrase ’everyone can be a developer’ sounds increasingly credible. Are you tempted?

Hold on. Before rushing in, clarify these points to make your own judgment.

01 What AI Programming Can and Cannot Do

Vibe Coding refers to AI-assisted programming. You describe your needs in natural language, and AI generates code without needing to understand syntax or remember commands.

This is its core value and what excites ordinary people.

However, there is a boundary that many overlook.

What it can do:

• Quickly generate page prototypes, static display pages, and tool prototypes.

You can describe an idea and see a decent-looking page in minutes.

What it cannot do:

• Automatically set up servers, configure databases, process user data, or complete filing for launch.

This boundary is where most people struggle. Many use Vibe Coding to create a page and think they are done, deploying it to Vercel or GitHub Pages, only to find that users in mainland China may not be able to access it.

Vercel’s default domain can occasionally be inaccessible in China, and GitHub Pages may not be reachable in certain regions. To consistently serve domestic users, you cannot avoid filing, domestic servers, and a whole set of things you may have never encountered.

Creating a visually appealing page and launching a usable product are two different things. Many confuse the former for the latter, which is the biggest misconception.

02 Real Bill for Launching a Product

I have fallen into this pit myself, and it was a thorough experience.

In college, I was eager to create a personal blog. I found someone to help me for 500 yuan and paid without hesitation. That was money I had saved from a part-time job online.

After receiving the site, problems arose one after another: frequent DOS attacks, the site often being down, lack of Markdown support for articles, and images needing to be uploaded separately and converted to web format via HTML. Some buttons looked clickable but were just fake UI with no functionality.

After neglecting the site while studying for exams, I returned to find it completely down. Upon inquiry, I learned that the person had used a trial version of a student server with very low configuration and poor stability, which expired after the trial period. When I asked for help, they simply deleted me.

500 yuan gone, the website gone, and the feelings during that time are hard to describe.

What I didn’t understand back then was that getting a product to run properly is far more complex than I imagined.

You need to spend at least 3000 yuan just to get the product compliant and operational. Many think launching a product only requires buying a server, but in reality, products that involve payments must have a business license, and once you have a license, you must keep accounts and file taxes regularly, even if there’s zero income that month.

These hidden costs can easily exceed 10,000 yuan. AI can generate the code, but you need to rent the server, wait for filing, manage certificates, obtain licenses, and handle accounting. None of these tasks can be replaced by AI.

03 To Make Money, Pass These Four Hurdles

First Hurdle: Validate Demand with Content Before Product Development

A good idea doesn’t need to be turned into a product immediately.

Write it as a paid article or a small column first. Platforms like WeChat Official Accounts, Xiaohongshu paid collections, and Knowledge Planet can be used with almost zero cost.

Pricing doesn’t need to be high; anything from 9.9 to 99 yuan works. The key is whether people are willing to pay.

If you can sell over 30,000 yuan, it indicates that the demand is real, and market validation is successful. Only then should you consider productization.

This step may seem slow, but it’s actually the most cost-effective route. Many small businesses run out of budget before their product even launches because they skip this step and dive straight into development.

The execution cost of knowledge payment is nearly zero, so using content to explore is the smartest way for ordinary people to reduce risk.

Second Hurdle: Must Develop a Product, Run Data for Three Months

Use WeChat Index to check search trend data, use Douyin’s content consumption data from the giant engine, use Baidu Index for long-tail demand on PC, and use QianGua data for content heat on Xiaohongshu.

Cross-validate across these four platforms, and only proceed if the data continues to rise after three months.

Three months isn’t long, but it can help filter out most false demands. Many seemingly popular directions turn out to be just a passing trend after three months of data analysis.

Instead of spending months developing a product that no one wants, it’s better to spend three months clarifying the data first.

Third Hurdle: Understand the Real Story Behind the Cat Light

Chen Yunfei created a cat light in one hour, achieving over 30,000 downloads and reaching the Top 20 in the App Store category. Many see this as an inspirational example of ‘ordinary people succeeding through AI programming.’

But did you notice the details behind it?

He graduated with a degree in economics from Huazhong University of Science and Technology and worked for ten years as a product manager in a large company, accumulating extensive user research experience. Before the cat light, he had already developed over 20 products.

The success behind this is the accumulation of ten years of product judgment, accurately identifying the real needs of female users for photo lighting. AI programming was merely a tool for execution.

Tools are available to everyone, but judgment is the true barrier.

Fourth Hurdle: One Person Can’t Handle It Alone, Find Partners

If you have a good idea and want to develop a product, collaborate with someone technical nearby. Exchange ideas for technology and execution to share the maximum risk.

A technical partner solves not just development issues but also server configuration, filing processes, and troubleshooting.

Outsourcing to strangers is one pitfall, and figuring it out alone is another. Finding a trusted technical partner is the safest route for ordinary people.

The cooperation model doesn’t need to be complicated. Initially, you can negotiate a revenue-sharing agreement, where the developer doesn’t charge for labor, and after the product is up and running, profits are shared proportionally.

The basic costs for servers and domains should be discussed in advance, and they are usually not substantial, just a few hundred yuan.

For example, if you have an idea for a paid column on Vibe Coding tutorials, find a tech-savvy friend to help you set up the platform, payment configuration, and deployment while you handle content and promotion.

After it’s running, you could split the revenue 60-40, with you getting 60% and them 40%. This is more cost-effective than outsourcing to strangers for thousands of yuan and much more rational than figuring out server configurations alone.

Conclusion

Vibe Coding can indeed make money; it’s not a scam.

However, those who earn money understand one thing: what they are doing, what can be operational, and what the market truly needs.

Looking back at these four hurdles, the logic is quite simple: first validate if there’s demand through content, then confirm if the demand is stable with data, check if you have the judgment to support this, and finally find people to share the risks.

Each step reduces the probability of falling into pitfalls, and every hurdle crossed is a way to avoid laying mines for yourself.

Blindly rushing in can lead to costly mistakes that require real time and money to rectify. My 500 yuan loss is the best proof of this.

Understanding these four hurdles before using AI programming is the truly reliable approach.

Knowing what to do, for whom, and whether it can run successfully is the answer to whether you can make money.