Bubble.io vs AI Coding (bolt.new, V0, Cursor AI, Replit, Claude AI)

boston85719 · 2025-03-07T07:06:14.651Z

AI code builders are not replacing Bubble for non-technical people, but they likely will replace bubble for experienced traditional developers as they already know the code and can spot check easily on their own, plus throw it into all the other useful tools they already use for debugging their code more easily.

For non-technical users, Bubble will remain the go to tool, not just because of a need to spot check errors on AI code generators, but also because it is highly likely the non-technical user will be clueless as to how to apply logic properly so to as avoid other issues that are not necessarily mistakes within the code, such as timing issues.

It is also extremely frustrating to be apparently ‘speaking’ to an intelligent ‘thing’ that doesn’t actually follow your instructions every time.

manipaje · 2025-03-07T08:16:08.531Z

From my experience, the direction @nocodeventure has taken seems like a winning path for some projects. You’re combining the best of nocode with that of code. However you’re making the code, you’re basically adding a little complexity for a lot of value. There’s no perfect stack for any project, because they all differ so wildly in their needs, requirements, lifespan, cost, usage, etc. It’s awesome to see more tools, to get more projects off the ground and more people with mixed abilities to get their ideas out there.

I’m still reluctant to pick up platforms like bolt as, from my perspective, I see a lot of social shilling for it.

randomanon · 2025-03-07T08:50:15.812Z

Like, before claiming to build your production app with AI, first build a single plugin with AI. Imagine not knowing how to ride a bicycle and thinking you can solve this by skipping the training wheels (plugins) and moving to motorcross.

joemanier · 2025-03-11T02:30:00.811Z

My bad if late to the party on this and it has already been asked but @fede.bubble, @josh, @kate.mcnally my understanding of what is going on under the hood is that Bubble is translating our visual elements from the editor (text, button, input, image etc) into code, obviously.

Why not give us the ability to do that the other way around?

Why not build us out an area where we start with an AI like Claude Sonnet 3.7 to build us out a UI in code that follows rules to keep it compatible with how Bubble’s visual elements are coded? Then. when we’ve got it just how we want it we say, “looks good, please put it into visual elements” and Bubble does the translation the opposite way from code to visual elements?

I believe it’s much harder than it sounds of course, but, having done a 24 hour challenge to build an AI logo app on my channel recently (shameless plug for No Code Academy), it reminded me how much I love to build in Bubble… except for the UI. Actually I like building UI’s okay but it’s so time consuming compared to the one hour it takes me now to build the 15 UI screens for an app using an AI tool.

It would 2-3x the speed at which apps can be built on Bubble. Cheers.

fede.bubble · 2025-03-11T13:57:22.912Z

joemanier:

Why not build us out an area where we start with an AI like Claude Sonnet 3.7 to build us out a UI in code that follows rules to keep it compatible with how Bubble’s visual elements are coded?

The team is actually working on having this up and running. They’ll be sharing more in the next 2 weeks

joemanier · 2025-03-11T16:56:35.983Z

Sick! Amazing news, cannot wait!

fede.bubble · 2025-03-11T17:08:46.332Z

btw I’m assuming you’ve tried Bubble’s AI Features | Bubble already?

ramzizi · 2025-03-11T20:12:46.094Z

Anyone see the email from BuildCamp with Gregory saying he’s leaving Bubble for Cursor AI?

I’m quite happy with Bubble. I’d rather pay Bubble and let them worry about the servers, backend security, etc.

recker249 · 2025-03-11T21:01:30.928Z

I’ve seen it, I was rather shocked. So is he pivoting away from no-code into programming? Don’t you need some level of programming knowledge to be proficient in Cursor/Windsurf? Even if a prompt generated the code, how can someone such as myself who doesn’t know how to code make edits to the app?

ramzizi · 2025-03-11T21:14:51.854Z

Yes he has a background in traditional coding

randomanon · 2025-03-12T03:33:59.252Z

Very interesting.

boston85719 · 2025-03-12T03:56:47.764Z

ramzizi:

BuildCamp with Gregory saying he’s leaving Bubble for Cursor AI?

No, but doesn’t surprise me that people are leaving bubble for another platform. Doesn’t mean they know something others don’t, it just means they have decided it is best for them. I could imagine there may be more behind the decision than meets the eye.

ramzizi:

I’m quite happy with Bubble. I’d rather pay Bubble and let them worry about the servers, backend security, etc.

I’d be happier if they shored up some things, but I personally don’t have plans to leave Bubble for some AI app builder…soon enough Bubble will figure out what is the key that unlocks their platform (some of us already know what that is).

CodePerson · 2025-03-24T17:45:15.630Z

Gregory at BuildCamp has me freaking out about all of this. I’ve also had several developers tell me Bubble is in real trouble. 6 months ago AI tools were just cute ideas. 3 months ago AI tools began to improve. Today, there is no way you can ignore Vibe Coding. Is Bubble going to add Vibe Coding to the platform? I’ve spent years learning and improving my Bubble skills. The thought or idea of leaving is painful. ARRRGH!

Cheers

hi.luisacosta · 2025-03-24T19:36:06.354Z

The reality is that at some point you will just prompt AI to build/fix applications - whether it’s Cursor, Bolt or Bubble doesn’t matter. Who knows the timeline… I would guess >1 year but < 10 years?

It all depends how well Bubble implements this new expected user experience.

fede.bubble · 2025-03-24T21:22:40.567Z

hi.luisacosta:

The reality is that at some point you will just prompt AI to build/fix applications

this reminds me of of the head of engineering at Figma talking during their summer conference last year. He said AI chat agents should be thought of as another input medium. And as all inputs, there are pros and cons.
For example: you could dictate commands to your computer, but a mouse click is faster and ultimately more convenient.

I don’t think apps will ever be built solely by AI because at some point it just becomes cumbersome trying to chat with an AI on something you could’ve done on your own faster. AI agents are definitely strong with beginners though.

hi.luisacosta · 2025-03-24T21:45:56.697Z

fede.bubble:

I don’t think apps will ever be built solely by AI because at some point it just becomes cumbersome trying to chat with an AI on something you could’ve done on your own faster.

Eventually the UX will dynamically display actions, buttons, etc for the user to take actions and advance via dynamic prompting. Whoever doesn’t do this, will certainly get left behind too.

bubble.trouble · 2025-03-24T21:49:52.411Z

I made the point here: Building 8 Apps in 30 Days | Challenge 💪 - #19 by bubble.trouble

It’s no surprise when you can build traditional code in less time and host the code on your own server (with transparent costs) that moving away from a proprietary platform is inevitable… The possibilities with traditional code are also endless.

Consider trying to build this app that I have been working on: https://playertrac.ai There is no way that Bubble can handle complex motion tracking like this.

That isn’t to say there isn’t a place for Bubble in the future… maybe?

hi.luisacosta · 2025-03-24T21:53:19.745Z

@bubble.trouble They will never admit it - they shouldn’t

richard.neb1 · 2025-03-27T08:13:28.568Z

It seems like the consensus is:

If you have coding experience, AI prompting tools are more powerful.
If you have little to no coding experience, visual coding tools are more powerful.

So how many months (fulltime) would one need to invest into coding skills to effectively and securely use AI prompting tools?

ademiguel · 2025-03-28T10:26:33.563Z

I’ll throw my 2 cents in the discussion.

richard.neb1:

It seems like the consensus is:

If you have coding experience, AI prompting tools are more powerful.

If you have little to no coding experience, visual coding tools are more powerful.

As per the (current) capabilities of AI generative tools for writing code, I believe Bubble + AI is one of the best options for people without coding capabilities.

If you know how to code, you better start learning how to properly prompt tools like Cursor, because you’ll get the best results with it, in terms of scalability and cost of running your code (I’m in this situation myself).

Bubble.io vs AI Coding (bolt.new, V0, Cursor AI, Replit, Claude AI) Meta

I’ve been testing all manner of AI app building tools. Today for example I gave Replit and Lovable this prompt: ### **Prompt for AI Development of "Riot Events" Web App** **Goal:** Create a custom conferencing web app that allows users to host live events, including scheduling, RSVP management, live streaming integrations, and user account management. ### **1. General Structure and Functionality:** **Public Pages:** - **Landing Page:** - Minimalist design with black, white, and gray colors. …

Examples like @fede.bubble having a rough time with one-prompt attempts, even if properly redacted, show that people without coding skills can’t count on generative AI tools for developing (I believe Fede has experince with coding, he was just assuming the role of a user under skilled for coding).

Bubble.io vs AI Coding (bolt.new, V0, Cursor AI, Replit, Claude AI) Meta

What happens if you feed this prompt to bubble AI….? Important to understand that you need to split it. People think it is easy but after 6 months of only doing production ready apps with only AI we have learnt a thing or two. You have to put in the work and you have to understand at a basic level how code works with all of these tools and AI in general. We even learn every single day and adjust very carefully our prompts. Should we have 6-12 months of time, I am pretty sure that we can rebuil…

I feel very identified with positions like those held by @sem, @bubble.trouble and @josh5. If you know how to code, AI generative tools just amplify your capabilitites as coder, and so you’ll probably have a better ride with them.

As per myself, that I have extensive previous coding experience, I enjoy a lot the speed increase that Bubble has provided me so far, compared with coding. The fact that I don’t have to deal with compile/library import/infrastructure errors, build complex multifile structures to do things like talking to the DB or dealing with CSS. I have more time for the creative part once that Bubble deals with the cumbersome machinery in the backstage.

AI has changed things, though. Since AI somewhat starts to deal with that same machinery, leaving me more time for the creative part again, the gap is being closed.

I’ll probably continue Bubbling for some time, while I learn to properly prompt tools like Cursor to amplify my capabilities as coder, and then I’ll probably make a definitive switch. Time will tell.