Tools & models

The vibe-builder stack.

The builders and models we actually reach for. Pick the right tool for the moment, not the loudest one on Twitter.

Builders & IDEs

Where you actually build.

Start in a no-code AI builder. Graduate to an agentic IDE when you need deeper control.

Lovable

AI app builder

Our main starting point. Turn plain-English specs into working web app screens fast.

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Base44

AI app builder

Full-stack AI builder great for internal tools and data-driven apps.

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Replit

Cloud IDE + Agent

Browser IDE with an AI agent. Solid when you outgrow a no-code builder.

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Windsurf

Agentic IDE

AI-first IDE for editing and refining real codebases without breaking them.

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Cursor

Agentic IDE

Popular AI code editor. Great when you want deeper control over your project.

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Bolt.new

AI app builder

Prompt-to-app in the browser. Useful for fast prototypes and demos.

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v0

UI generator

Vercel's AI UI generator. Handy for spinning up React/Tailwind components.

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Models

The brains behind the builder.

Most builders let you swap the model. Knowing which to pick is half the skill.

Claude Opus 4.5

Reasoning

Anthropic's deepest model. Reach for it on tough specs, refactors, and architecture.

Claude Sonnet 4.5

Daily driver

Fast, balanced, and excellent at code. Great default model inside most builders.

GPT-5

General

OpenAI's flagship. Strong all-rounder for PRDs, ideation, and longer reasoning.

Gemini 2.5 Pro

Long context

Massive context window. Useful when you're pasting in big specs or whole repos.

Kimi K2.5

Open source

Moonshot's open model. Strong agentic coding, generous context, low cost.

Hermes 4

Open source

Nous Research's tool-use model. Good for builder agents and custom workflows.

OpenClaw

Agent

Community agent stack people pair with open models for hands-on building.

Grok Code

Coding

xAI's coding-tuned model. Fast iteration on small edits and refactors.

DeepSeek V3

Open source

Cost-efficient open model with strong coding chops. Great budget pick.

Module 05

Want our recommended stack by use case?

Module 05 in the course walks through which combo to pick for which kind of app.

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