Honen

The cheapest way to get your first users for a vibe-coded app is organic short-video: post native-looking TikToks and Reels from accounts that read like your target user, and convert people in the comments — no ads, no influencers. It's slow at first and most clips flop, but it's how indie consumer apps go from zero to their first thousands of downloads.

Going viral isn't luck — it's a format that earns watch time, run at volume. The founder of nomadtable grew it past a million downloads, solo, by ignoring view counts and chasing one number: how many people keep watching past the first three seconds. Here's that UGC playbook, with his real figures attributed throughout.

Submit your AI tool where people already search for one. Start with a niche AI tool directory (There's An AI For That, Futurepedia, and Vibedonalds for vibe-coded products), add a couple of general startup and SaaS directories, launch on one platform (Product Hunt or a smaller one like Uneed), and post in one community (a relevant subreddit or Show HN). Spread more directory submissions over the following weeks to get your first users.