Can I Vibecode a $250M App Better Than a Pro Developer? (With No Code)

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• Creator: Riley Brown
• Source video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnYLzGMk8Tg
• Published: 2025-08-18
• Views: 908,622
• Duration: 55:47
• Intro ends: transition into body (e.g. 'Let's dive in')

Intro

Can a vibe coder make a better app than a senior iOS engineer? Well, that's exactly what we're going to try and find out today. In this video, I, Riley Brown, a vibe coder, am taking on Vishal, a senior iOS developer who's been building iOS apps for the past 10 years. We're going head-to-head to see who can build a better clone of Granola, a $250 million app with multiple AI features. We each only have five prompts to build this app and we can only use AI. And in this video, we're going to see whose app is better. And so, Vishal is going to be using Claude Code. And I'm going to be using a tool made specifically for vibe coding mobile apps. And you're going to be the judge of whose app is better in the comments. And we're going to be giving $1,000 of credits to three people who vote in the comments below. And if you like videos like these, make sure to hit that like and subscribe button because if this video does well, we're just going to keep doing them. Let's not waste any more time. Let's dive into the video.

Rest of video

• Sets the rules for a snake-style prompt battle: Vishal and Riley each get five prompts to build a Granola-style AI notetaker.
• Defines the required features: voice recording, transcription, calendar sync, AI summaries, meeting details, and folders.
• Vishal starts in Xcode with Claude Code, gets the native iOS project running, and works through calendar, microphone, and speech permissions.
• Riley builds his version in a mobile-focused vibe coding tool, prioritizing the home screen, meeting list, recording flow, meeting detail page, and summaries.
• Both apps hit realistic bugs: failed summary generation, folder issues, calendar logic, render errors, and unclear API failures.
• The middle of the video becomes a prompt-by-prompt debugging session, with both sides refining prompts around transcription, folders, design, and saving behavior.
• Vishal's app gets strong native permission handling and transcript behavior; Riley's app gets stronger UI animation, recording controls, and folder/detail polish.
• The ending compares both finished apps, tests core features, jokes through the remaining flaws, and pushes viewers to vote on whose app is better.

Up: Riley Brown | Next