I heard about the “holy crap” moment when I stumbled upon Replit, the AI tool that has been causing quite a stir lately. Yes, that Replit, that one that has been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons. And I still think you should give it a spin.
Let’s break down the steps I took to use Replit and see what made it so impressive:
1. Idea: An app for tracking AI patterns. Users could upload “shots” (like Dribbble for AI), tag them with emerging trends, and browse a growing visual library.
2. PRD: I didn’t hold back, creating a thorough PRD with multiple pages, a detailed description of the app, core features, user flows, personas, edge cases, and even nice-to-haves.
3. Upload to Replit: I uploaded my PRD to Replit, just dropping it in.
4. Watch it come to life: Replit’s front-loaded thinking was evident. It prioritized my features, built a clear MVP, established foundational functionality, and smartly deferred secondary features. It even paused to ask for feedback before moving forward.
5. Why Replit blew me away: Replit was able to handle my big idea better than cursor,
I recently had one of those “holy crap” moments with a tool — the kind where you close your laptop, take a walk, and come back grinning. The tool? Replit. Yes, that Replit. The one that’s been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons lately. And yes, I still think you should give it a spin.
What I Did
Here’s what I did:
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Had an idea: An app for tracking AI patterns. Users could upload “shots” (think Dribbble for AI), tag them with emerging trends, and browse a growing visual library.
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Wrote a thorough PRD: I didn’t hold back — multiple pages, a thorough description of the app, core features, user flows, personas, edge cases, even nice-to-haves.
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Uploaded it to Replit: Just dropped my PRD in.
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Watched it come to life: Like other generative tools, it started scaffolding a prototype, writing code, and updating live in the browser.
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Waited for the magic moment: Replit didn’t just code blindly — it prioritized my features. It built a clear MVP, established foundational functionality, and smartly deferred secondary features. It even paused to ask for feedback before moving forward.
Why This Blew Me Away
Lots of AI tools can crank out boilerplate code. Replit actually acted almost like a product manager in thinking about scope. That’s different. It wasn’t just “what do you want me to build?” — it was “What’s the smartest thing to build first? Here’s the most sensible version to start with, and here’s what’s next.”
That’s where it pulled ahead of tools like Cursor. With Cursor, if I hand it a big, ambitious idea all at once, it tends to break — it tries to do too much at the same time, and the output quality tanks. I’ve learned I have to break things down into smaller steps for Cursor to do well. With Replit, that front-loaded thinking happened for me. It essentially pre-scoped my idea, carved out the MVP, and queued up the rest for later.
For someone who works iteratively, that’s gold.
The Elephant in the Room
If you’ve been following tech news, you probably saw the Register headline:
“Vibe coding service Replit deleted user’s production database, faked data, told lies.” —Read more on Reddit.
Yeah, it looks bad, but it’s a reminder: NEVER hook an AI prototype directly to your production database (or anything you can’t afford to lose). Like any powerful tool, Replit should be handled with caution — especially in early-stage experiments.
Play stupid games, get stupid prizes.
Why You Should Still Try It
Please don’t write it off. The same “messy and a little dangerous” nature that makes Replit risky is also what makes it so creatively explosive.
Treat it like a sandbox. Keep it air-gapped from real production systems. But let yourself explore what’s possible.
The future of coding might look a lot like this — a back-and-forth between human vision and AI execution, iterating in real time. And if that’s where we’re headed, you might as well start playing now.
Final Thoughts
Replit didn’t just help me code my idea — it helped me shape it. That’s the part I didn’t expect. And it’s why I’ll be back for more.
The post Prototyping Apps with AI: Why Replit Handled My Big Idea Better Than Cursor appeared first on Atomic Spin.
