Hello AInauts,

Welcome to the latest issue of your favorite newsletter! Today it's all about one thing: vibes! Or rather: Vibe Coding.

This is pretty much the coolest thing you can currently do with AI.

Even if you have zero knowledge of coding, you can use it to build your own website, app, game, etc. super fast. So don't immediately think "that's not for me" just because it says coding. That's what we've got for you today:

• 🏆 These are the 100 most popular AI apps of 2025

• 💀 Will AI vibe coding kill all SaaS tools?

• 🧙‍♀️ How you can get started with vibe coding

• 💭 AI-Fun: Are you still programming or already vibing?

Here we go!

🏆 These are the 100 most popular AI apps in 2025

Let's start off with the 100 top AI apps of the last six months. Some tools have experienced a real boom, others have stalled, and some unexpected players have even catapulted to the top overnight. And we’ve discovered a few apps that were not yet on our radar.

Key findings (based on unique global visitors per month, according to Similarweb as of January 2025):

• ChatGPT is doing a reboot - Visitor numbers between April 2024 and January 2025 have doubled, to 400 million weekly users! Reasons: The new reasoning models, the Advanced Voice Mode and the multimodal 4o.

• DeepSeek overtakes (almost) everyone - From zero to second place in global AI traffic in just 20 days! Claude and Perplexity were overtaken, and 10 million users were reached in half the time it took ChatGPT. What's next?

• Video AI is picking up speed - Hailuo, Kling from China and OpenAI's Sora are shaking up the top charts, while Google's Veo 2 (currently the leader in this field) is still waiting for its big breakthrough.

• Companion apps are hot - as one user on X aptly commented: "DAMN! people are horny and lonely..." See also our post here.

• Monthly users ≠ Cash - Interesting: Only 40% overlap between the top 50 mobile apps by revenue and the top 50 by monthly active users. So user numbers and monetization go separate ways.

• Vibe coding tools on the rise - Cursor (#42) and Bolt (#48) have entered the charts. Anyone can code with them, the next big thing!

Exciting insights - and the last point brings us straight to the next topic!

But first a prediction: in the next issue of Top Apps, the red-hot Chinese AI agent Manus will also be in the mix. More soon.

💀 Will AI vibe coding kill all SaaS tools?

Vibe coding is in, SaaS is out dead.

While many are still wondering whether this or that AI feature update is important, there is already a small but loud group of vibe coders who are taking matters into their own hands.

But what the heck is vibe coding? In short, it's the way you as a non-programmer communicate with AI coding tools such as Windsurf, Cursor, Replit Agent etc. in natural language and use them to create apps in no time at all.

What used to take years can now be built - and sold - in hours

Want an example? Vivek rebuilt the popular tool Notion, which originally took a team 5 years to build, in just 8 days with Cursor (and can release it as open source at any time). Let that sink in!

Sam Altman predicted the first billion-dollar solo founder last year - and solopreneurs are indeed seizing the moment:

• Pieter Levels has built a flight simulator and is already making well over $67k per month with it (selling elements in the game and via ads).

• One day alone he had 22,000 (!) players. Dozens are now building games like this - this one is particularly cool.

• Other apps are also making the rounds on X - Lucid - Write in Flow is the "cursor for writing" and Arielle has released an open source CMS.

• Deepak is building a micro-influencer app and saving $3-5k in development costs, while Jason is building a PDF-to-video tool.

• Here's a thread with 25 launches from the last few days, more at Lovable.

You see, anyone can build cool apps with a few attempts! You just have to do it.

And if you're thinking that many of these tools are just prettified ChatGPT wrappers... let's take a look at Stripe's annual report together.

According to Stripe, the top 100 AI companies reached the 5 million dollar revenue mark in just 24 months, while traditional SaaS players took a whopping 37 months in 2018.

Or more specifically, let's take a closer look at the most popular AI coding tools: Cursor manages $100 million annual recurring revenue (ARR) in 3 years (and is currently in negotiations with VCs to get more capital - at a whopping $10 billion valuation!), Lovable gets to $17 million ARR in just 3 months, and Bolt cracked the $20 million mark in a sensational 2 months. So there's a lot going on!

Especially cool: Lovable is Europe's fastest-growing startup!

Will SaaS tools be replaced by self-built apps?

AI influencer Matthew Berman puts his view in a nutshell:

"SaaS is dead. It's not 'anyone can build and sell their own SaaS now'. It's: 'I can build my own software and simply use it myself.

The democratization of software development is the real gamechanger here, as the cost of building a simple prototype (MVP) has fallen to virtually zero.

And it's only getting easier: OpenAI is testing AI as a software developer to build the world's best AI coder, Meta wants to replace humans with AI engineers this year and Y Combinator proclaims: Vibe Coding Is The Future!

Which brings us to the question: Why should I pay for a SaaS solution every month when I can build a customized version of it in a weekend with an AI wizard ?

According to Greg Isenberg (we love his podcast!), it could go on like this:

(Quite timely and social media effective a polarizing view).

1️⃣ AI as co-pilot (now): ChatGPT and co. help to use tools more efficiently.

2️⃣ AI as operator (in 12-18 months): AI takes over workflows - you give direct commands like "Analyze sales in Q2" or "Optimize my ads" instead of clicking.

3️⃣ agents take over (in the next few years): AI agents bypass SaaS user interfaces and interact directly via API interfaces. SaaS is dead, according to Greg.

But honestly: Is the SaaS industry really in serious danger?

There are also good arguments for SaaS platforms to last longer:

1️⃣ Maintenance and scalability: Even with AI, maintenance remains a challenge. A one-shot prompt may create an app, but scaling it is a completely different story.

2️⃣ Security and compliance: Even homegrown tools require security updates and compliance (e.g. ISO, HIPAA or GDPR) - all things that SaaS providers have a better handle on.

3️⃣ User experience: SaaS is evolving. The winners will be those who transform themselves into AI-first companies and deliver the best APIs.

One thing is certain: Vibe Coding democratizes software development. Anyone can build their own mini SaaS today - without prior knowledge and months of development.

Our take: Vibe Coding is a force, and is not just shaking up the SaaS world

We are currently experiencing a paradigm shift similar to the transition from in-house hosting to the cloud.

However, software as a service is certainly not simply dying out - it is transforming. In the future, it will therefore no longer just be the best features or AI add-ons that are decisive, but above all agent-friendly APIs.

Here is an example from our daily business: we have developed our AI Content Automation Engine (AICA) in recent weeks - and are excited about the new possibilities and workflows.

We've been big fans and long-time users of AI and automation for a long time, but this has set a new benchmark for us.

With this system, we can research, create, plan and publish as many texts, images and videos as we want at the touch of a button - always using the very latest AI language, image and video models, of course.

The setup requires no prior knowledge, is super fast and only needs four tools (Airtable, Make, Replicate, OpenRouter). Costs: less than 30 dollars/month fixed plus variable costs for content.

A picture costs around 2 cents, a 5-second video from 25 cents and texts are also in the cent range. And this is decreasing from month to month.

You see, anyone can build their own perfect solution today without a single line of code.

If you want to find out more about this system (or are interested in using it for yourself and your social media and content management), just reply to this email.

So, we believe: SaaS will not disappear despite vibe coding , but SaaS companies need to adapt. For everyone else, there's no better time to become a software creator yourself - soon the agents will help you even more. Vibe on and read on!

🧙‍♀️ How you can get started with vibe coding

Enough theory - let's get practical!

Sometimes we collect the most important information on a topic over days and weeks - and then you receive a newsletter that is bursting with links. We could now say: Bookmark it! But let's be honest: Links that end up in the bookmarks usually gather dust. That's why we recommend a different approach ...

If you have an idea for a small app that would make your life easier, then take half an hour now and dive into the topic. Or leave the email in your inbox a little longer so that you stumble across it a few more times 😉.

1) Choose the right tool

Web builders are the tools you can use directly in the browser, while IDEs (Integrated Development Environments) are local applications for generating code. (Btw, ChatGPT on the desktop can now also edit code directly).

For very simple things, you can use Claude Artifacts or ChatGPT Canvas.

Apps to gain initial experience:

• Lovable - SaaS prototypes, landing pages with database & email integration

• Bolt - SaaS prototypes and mobile apps, supports broad tech stack

• CodeLLM by Abacus AI - If you already have the 10 Euro/month subscription with access to ChatGPT, Claude etc., you can also use the code editor.

Apps to have more control and manage more complex code:

• Windsurf - The new version 4 is really good and comes with agent mode Cascade - you can start for free

• Replit Agent - Powerful planning, development and deployment, incl. mobile.

• Cursor AI - Solid and proven AI coding app, ideal for developers

2) The ideal vibe coding workflow

Here are the concrete steps on how to get started with vibe coding yourself:

Clearly specify idea & concept

• Collect and sketch the idea (use apps such as Miro or mymap.ai)

• Identify target group and understand their needs

• What problem is being solved?

• What is the flow like? Thinking through from login to dashboard

• Features: clearly separate must-haves vs. nice-to-haves

• Collect visual references (colors, fonts, CTAs, animations)

• Tech stack: define preferences for frameworks

• Have a detailed specification created (e.g. by Claude 3.7 Thinking)

Optimize the development workflow

• Select the vibe coding assistant of your choice (we use Windsurf and Replit)

• Use appropriate system prompts and rules like this one

• Use the chaos coding approach by prompting a vague idea and then just keep saying:'Keep going!

• Continuously iterate and test (tips here and here)

• Use a voice-to-text app like Wispr to make faster progress

• Share results via platforms like yourware.so

• You'll be amazed at how quickly a cool product comes out of it!

3) Go Deeper! Good tutorials on the net

We can't always go as in-depth as we'd like in the newsletter... So here are some videos to help you quickly get to grips with the most important basics.

• Matthew Berman - Vibe Coding Tutorial and Best Practices (Cursor / Windsurf)

• Matthew Berman - Vibe Coding a FULL Game 🎮 (AI Coding)

• Pietro Schirano - Design and build apps in the age of AI

• Mckay Wrigley - How to build full-stack apps with OpenAI o1 pro

• Greg Isenberg - Polymet AI, an AI product designer tool

• Bilawal Sidhu - 3D City Simulation

That’s it - enough consumption, your turn to get going! 😁

💭 AI-Fun: Are you still programming or are you already vibing?

Ok, if this applies to you: Back to square one!

Otherwise: Well done! 😁

We made it! But no need to be sad. The AInauts will be back soon, with new stuff for you.

Reto & Fabian from the AInauts

P.S.: Follow us on social media - that motivates us to keep going 😁!
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