Bildbot Research
State of
AI-Assisted
Building 2026
Survey Data · Part I
Quantitative results from 57 verified live-app shippers. One chart per page. Multi-select percentages are share of respondents (n=57); single-select percentages are share of non-blank answers.
- Sample
- n = 57 qualified
- Fielded
- March - April 2026
- Sources
- Reddit + Discord vibe-coding & SaaS communities
- Incentive
- $500 Amazon gift-card drawing
Section 01
AI Builders Love the Speed and Independence
We asked builders what they love about vibe code, and the replies were clear — speed, independence, and the shortening of distance between idea and shipping.
- 01
“I love going from idea to 'it's on my phone' in a matter of hours.”
- 02
“That I can do it myself!”
- 03
“I am not an engineer. With AI, I was able to build my app by myself, with very little investment. Two years ago, I would have needed $250,000 and two devs.”
- 04
“It gives me the ability to bring my abstract ideas to life much, much faster.”
- 05
“Think Fast, Build Fast, Ship Fast.”
Section 02
Our survey respondents are technical
Role / day job
Q. What's your role or day job?
- Engineering47%
- Founder16%
- Finance / Ops9%
- Other7%
- Product7%
- Student5%
- Design5%
- Marketing4%
Self-rated technical level
Q. How do you rate your technical skill (1–5)?
- 5 — Engineer-level35%
- 4 — Strong builder33%
- 3 — Comfortable tinkerer23%
- 1 — Total beginner5%
- 2 — Getting the hang of it4%
Section 03
Demographics look like early adopters (e.g. young men)
Age
Q. How old are you?
Gender
Q. What's your gender?
- Male91%
- Female7%
- Prefer not to say2%
AI adoption — when did you start?
Q. How long have you been building with AI?
- 1–2 years29%
- 6–12 months28%
- 3–6 months22%
- 2+ years14%
- Less than 3 months7%
Section 04
Solo self-funders want this to be their day job
Team size
Q. Are you building solo or with a team?
- Solo74%
- With one partner16%
- Small team (3–5)5%
- Large team (6+)5%
Funding model
Q. How is your build funded?
- Self-funded46%
- Hobby / no funding37%
- Employer-funded9%
- Revenue-funded5%
- Other4%
Job intent — where this is headed
Q. Is vibe coding a hobby, a side hustle, or your job?
- Side hustle (alongside day job)32%
- Working toward full-time28%
- Already doing it full-time14%
- Just for fun14%
- Exploring / not sure yet12%
Section 05
Getting users is the #1 pain point
Top pain points
Q. What are your biggest pain points? (multi-select, up to 3)
- Getting users / nobody cares54%
- AI fixes one thing, breaks another54%
- AI loses context as project grows54%
- Monetization / how to make money49%
- Rough / jerky / unfinished quality37%
- Security / unknown vulnerabilities35%
- Don't know if app works for real users23%
- Deployment / keeping it live23%
- Can't understand or fix the code18%
- Other11%
And this is reflected in user and revenue figures
Monthly active users
Q. How many users does your most successful app have?
- 1–10046%
- Just me / friends & family30%
- 100–1,00019%
- 1,000–10,0004%
- 10,000+2%
Monthly recurring revenue (MRR)
Q. What's the MRR on your most successful app?
- $0 — not monetized63%
- $1–$100 / mo19%
- $100–$1,000 / mo12%
- $1,000–$10,000 / mo4%
- $10,000+ / mo2%
Section 06
Freemium and subscription dominates monetization
Monetization status
Q. Are you monetizing today?
- Planning to monetize42%
- Yes — monetizing now42%
- No — not planning16%
Monetization methods (by status)
Q. For each method: tried, considering, or not interested.
- Subscription38%/44%/18%
- Freemium / upgrade24%/52%/24%
- Usage-based12%/52%/36%
- Advertising14%/44%/42%
- One-time purchase23%/33%/44%
- Services / consulting20%/37%/44%
- Affiliate11%/36%/52%
- Donations8%/38%/55%
Bars show percentages of respondents for each status. Width reflects the total of all three groups.
Section 07
Builders know they need to promote, but it isn't yet working at scale
Promotion status
Q. Are you actively promoting today?
- Yes — actively promoting51%
- Planning to promote39%
- Not promoting11%
Growth methods (by status)
Q. For each channel: tried, considering, or not interested.
- Communities (Reddit, Discord, etc.)60%/30%/9%
- Social media (organic)42%/46%/12%
- Word of mouth52%/36%/11%
- Content / SEO38%/45%/17%
- Launch platforms (Product Hunt, etc.)27%/44%/29%
- Paid ads23%/43%/35%
- Partnerships8%/45%/47%
- Email / newsletter16%/35%/49%
- Referral programs6%/50%/44%
Section 08
Claude Code is the #1 primary tool
Primary vibecoding tool
Q. Which tool do you reach for first?
- Claude Code51%
- Cursor11%
- Antigravity / Gemini9%
- Codex7%
- Replit5%
- Windsurf5%
- Lovable4%
- Other4%
- GitHub Copilot4%
- Verdent2%
Other tools used
Q. What other tools have you used? (multi-select)
- Claude Code77%
- Cursor56%
- GitHub Copilot54%
- Codex49%
- Antigravity / Gemini47%
- Lovable30%
- Replit21%
- v019%
- Other18%
- Windsurf18%
- Bolt16%
- Base445%
- Verdent2%
- Neo2%
Section 09
Hosting and source control add complexity but are essential functions
Source code management / version control
Q. Do you track changes and versions in your codebase? (e.g. source control & code repositories)
- GitHub67%
- No version control14%
- Built into vibecoding tool9%
- Not sure5%
- GitLab / Bitbucket / other3%
- Other2%
Hosting platforms
Q. Where is your app hosted? (multi-select)
- Vercel47%
- AWS25%
- Netlify19%
- GitHub Pages18%
- CloudFlare16%
- Other14%
- Render12%
- Railway9%
- Azure7%
- Firebase5%
- DigitalOcean2%
- Fly.io2%
What's next
More to come
This report has been about solo entrepreneurs and builders. Part II will dig into AI-assisted development in larger organizations, and how rapid prototyping with AI is disrupting building and innovation. Drops to subscribers first.