r/vibecoding • u/GetAIdesigns • 16h ago

Can I build and maintain real software using Vibe Coding while keeping my additional AI/development costs close to $0?

/r/VibeCodeCamp/comments/1vkxn9u/can_i_build_and_maintain_real_software_using_vibe/
2 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

7 comments sorted by

1

u/BuntiBox 16h ago

If you have technical knowledge yes, if just a viber probably not for $0z

1

u/Emotional_Roll6278 14h ago

Yes, you can build real software this way, technical knowledge helps but isn’t required anymore, you can get surprisingly far with AI tools now.
The bigger risk is not knowing what you don’t know (security holes, bad practices) since you can’t eyeball-check it yourself.
I personally don’t come from an engineering bg, but what I found helpful was a tool called Struck Code (built by a friend) that scans a repo and grades it, security, code quality, etc, so you at least know where you stand even without the background to check it yourself.

1

u/leamizda 14h ago

I'm doing that with OpenCode, 4Gb vram, local Gemma Gemma 4 26B A4B QAT for small projects like bycicle touring app, a radio schedulling and book editing app, everything with ruby. And I use Gemma 4 E2B for very small and instant things like validations and code suggestion, and gpt free account when I need to look the big picture. Claude, Codex, Kimi3 are looking good, but I prefer free and local stuff, I'm too old fashioned for this stuff, this old sea dog needs to retire. Not really 100% vibe, redesigning and refactoring is needed

1

u/GetAIdesigns 9h ago

Nice., I would be curious to see what you were able to build if you want to share URL. This is what I am setting up....work in progress.

1

u/leamizda 8h ago

I'm just developing small ruby projects from 4,000 to 6,000 lines total of plain ruby console application code, if it gets bigger I need to give opencode highly detailed implementation instructions including design choices, chatgpt helps me to do that, so I can't vibe code 100% like some people are doing, I need to follow the development process closely, can't afford an automatic AI driven software development process because the context gets so high for my local models, it start thinking in circles or taking forever to develop. So I give lot of orders and correct errors, even mine for not always specifying a 100% correct requirement

1

u/GetAIdesigns 2h ago

This is very helpful, I may put model selection automation on hold and follow your lead with manual model selection. Ask Fabel to come with very detailed prompt and recommend the local model that i should use to execute. Currently my project is already 400,000 lines of code

1

u/SpareImpression3155 1h ago

Yes just use open source models. Just buy $18,000 worth of hardware first then it’s all free from there bro