vly.ai
vly.ai (now part of Freebuff) · Coding
vly.ai is an AI app builder that turns plain prompts into full-stack web apps with a React frontend, managed backend, database, and one-click deploy. It now runs as part of Freebuff.
About vly.ai
What Is vly.ai
vly.ai is a prompt-driven builder for web software. You describe the app you want, and the platform scaffolds the interface, wires up a database, and gives you a live preview you can share. It belongs to the same vibe coding platform group as Lovable, Replit, and bolt.new, with one difference that mattered to a lot of buyers: the backend is managed for you rather than bolted on later. People who search for a no-code app builder usually want exactly this, a prompt box instead of a repo.
The company says the stack is built for AI generation first. A React frontend handles the interface, and a Convex-based backend covers data, file storage, and realtime queries. That combination is why a prompt can produce something that stores records and updates across sessions instead of a static mockup.
The most important thing to know today is ownership. vly.ai has been acquired by Freebuff. New accounts and project access have moved to Freebuff Web, existing subscriptions are cancelled, and the product is now free. If you were paying for vly.ai, you won't be charged again. If you're starting fresh, you sign up at Freebuff Web with GitHub.
Getting Started
- Go to Freebuff Web and create an account with GitHub.
- If your GitHub email differs from the one you used on vly.ai, open Settings in Freebuff and move your projects to the new account.
- Describe your app in the prompt box, or paste a spec, screenshot, or Figma link.
- Watch the build run in a live sandbox, then preview and share the URL.
- Connect a custom domain and publish when the app behaves the way you want.
Product Information
A quick look at vly.ai's pricing, supported platforms, and performance.
Best for
The users, tasks, and scenarios where this tool fits best.
Users
- Non-technical founders
- Product managers and designers
- Indie developers and small teams
Tasks
- Building an MVP with accounts, records, and payments
- Prototyping an internal tool
- Migrating an existing prototype
Scenarios
- Testing an idea over a weekend
- Shipping under a deadline
- Replacing a paid builder subscription
Key features
Prompt to Full-Stack App
You type a sentence describing the product and vly.ai generates the interface, the data model, and the queries behind it. The output runs in a live sandbox, so you see the app working rather than a screenshot of what it might look like. Editing continues through prompts, which keeps the loop short for people who don't write code and have no interest in learning a framework first.
Choice of Coding Agents
The builder doesn't lock you into one model. You can run vly agent 2.0, Claude Code, OpenAI Codex, or Gemini CLI on the same project. In practice, that means you can switch when one agent handles a refactor better, or when a task needs a model with a longer context window.
Managed Backend with Realtime Data
Every project gets a database, file storage, and live sync without you provisioning a server. Queries are realtime by default, so two users in the same app see the same state. End-to-end type safety keeps the frontend and backend from drifting apart as the schema changes.
Backend Visualizer
The platform generates a visual map of your client app, queries, mutations, actions, storage, and live sync. It's the answer to the usual complaint about AI-generated software: you can't tell what you actually built. For a team inheriting a project, that map is often faster to read than the code.
Integration Library
More than 1,000 integrations are available, including Stripe, OpenAI, Twilio, GitHub, Slack, AWS, SendGrid, and Notion. Payments, email, and third-party data are the pieces most prototypes stall on, and prebuilt connectors remove that step.
Custom Domains and One-Click Publishing
Apps ship to a live URL, and you can attach your own domain instead of living on a subdomain. Version control runs alongside, so changes are tracked. Publishing is a button, not a deployment pipeline to babysit.
Pros and cons
Pros
- The full-stack side is real: database, storage, and realtime queries come with the project, which is more than most prompt-to-app tools offer.
- It's free now. Existing vly.ai subscriptions were cancelled, so there's no monthly bill to justify.
- You can pick between several coding agents on one codebase instead of being tied to a single model vendor.
- Custom domains, version control, and 1,000+ integrations cover the parts that usually force a rewrite later.
Cons
- vly.ai no longer operates as a standalone product. New work happens on Freebuff Web, so anyone with old bookmarks or team docs needs to update their links.
- Moving projects depends on signing in with GitHub. If your GitHub email doesn't match your vly.ai email, you have to transfer each project manually in Settings.
- There's no documented public API, so teams that wanted to script project creation or pull builds into their own tooling have no clear path.
- Generated apps still need a human pass before production. Prompt-built interfaces tend to drift from a spec once you add edge cases, and nobody reviews that for you.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, but not as a separate product. vly.ai was acquired by Freebuff, and new accounts plus project access now live on Freebuff Web. You sign in there with GitHub and continue from the same projects.
Related content
Explore related tools, skills, and articles for vly.ai.
vly.ai Alternatives
Base Code
Base44 (Wix) · Coding · ProductivityBase Code is a shared cloud development environment from Base44. Teammates describe changes to an existing GitHub codebase in chat, preview them live and send them back as pull requests.
Google EmbeddingGemma 2
Google DeepMind · Writing · Image · CodingGoogle EmbeddingGemma 2 is a 740M-parameter open model that turns text, code, images, audio, and video frames into vectors in one 768-dimension space, running on phones and laptops.
GitGlow
GitGlow · Coding · ProductivityGitGlow is a local-first desktop Git client that lets independent developers review their own code and their AI agents' changes in one place before shipping.