Is Replit a Waste of Time? CEO Comments & Developer Future

8/11/2025

Is Learning Replit a Waste of Time Now? A Deep Dive Into the CEO's Comments & the Platform's Future

You’ve probably seen the headlines. They’re punchy, a little dramatic, & frankly, a bit scary if you’re in the world of software development. "Replit CEO says companies soon won't need software developers," one read. Another, more bluntly, quoted CEO Amjad Masad as saying, “We don’t care about professional coders anymore.”

Yikes.

If you’re learning to code, or even if you’re a seasoned pro, that kind of talk from the head of a major coding platform is enough to make you pause & wonder: is he right? Is the skill I've spent years honing, or am just starting to learn, about to become obsolete? And more to the point, is a platform like Replit, which is so aggressively pushing this AI-first future, even worth my time anymore?

Honestly, it’s a fair question. The CEO of a company that lets people build software with AI is saying that learning to code is a "waste of time." It’s a bittersweet irony, as he himself acknowledges, having spent years trying to make coding more accessible. So let’s get into it. What’s really going on at Replit, what’s the deal with the CEO's comments, & is it still a valuable tool for developers in 2025?

The Elephant in the Room: The CEO's Bold Claims

Let's not beat around the bush. Amjad Masad has been on a tear, making some pretty wild predictions about the future of software development. He’s suggested that within a year or 18 months, companies might be able to run their entire operations without hiring a single engineer. He's pointed to Y Combinator startups that are already using Replit as their de facto CTO, building out their products for months without a technical co-founder.

His core argument is that AI, particularly the kind of generative AI agents Replit is building, is on a path to generating ALL code. He's not alone in this thinking; leaders at Google, OpenAI, & Anthropic have all echoed similar sentiments about AI’s growing role in code generation.

This vision is the driving force behind Replit's recent pivot. They're not just a collaborative, in-browser IDE anymore. They're an AI-native platform. The launch of their "Agent" tool, powered by advanced models like Anthropic's Claude 3.5 Sonnet, is the centerpiece of this strategy. This tool can supposedly create working applications from simple text prompts, & it's been a massive success, reportedly driving a five-fold increase in revenue in just six months.

So, when Masad says he doesn't "care about professional coders anymore," it’s a provocative statement, but it’s rooted in this strategic shift. Replit is betting the farm on the idea that the future of software creation lies in empowering non-technical people—hobbyists, students, entrepreneurs—to build things with natural language. And honestly, their growth numbers are pretty staggering. The company reportedly crossed $100M in annual recurring revenue in June 2025, a huge jump from $10M at the end of 2024, with their subscriber base growing 45% monthly since the AI agent's release.

So, is Replit Abandoning Developers?

This is where it gets interesting. Despite the "we don't care about pro coders" rhetoric, the reality of the Replit platform in 2025 is more nuanced. It turns out, they still have a LOT of features that are incredibly useful for, well, professional coders.

Even as they chase the AI dream, Replit remains a powerful cloud-based IDE with features that developers appreciate. Here’s what it still offers:

A Full-Fledged IDE in the Cloud: You can access a powerful coding environment with support for over 50 languages from any device, no local setup required. This is still a huge deal for rapid prototyping & working on the go.
Real-Time Collaboration: The "Google Docs for code" feature is as strong as ever, making it a go-to for pair programming, team projects, & educational settings.
Integrated Hosting & Deployment: You can still deploy apps directly from Replit with one-click hosting, which is SUPER convenient for getting a project live quickly.
GitHub Integration: Seamlessly syncing projects with GitHub is a core part of many developers' workflows, & Replit supports this well.
AI Assistance (for coders): The AI isn't just for non-coders. The Replit AI, sometimes called Ghostwriter, provides context-aware suggestions, helps with debugging, & can generate boilerplate code, which can boost productivity for experienced devs too.

The platform boasts over 30 million users, and while students make up a large chunk (around 40%), professionals still account for a significant 30% of the user base. These aren't just hobbyists; major companies like Fig, Deel, & even Zillow are using Replit for various purposes, from building businesses to internal tools.

This tells a different story than the headlines. It seems Replit is trying to have its cake & eat it too: courting the new wave of AI-native, non-technical creators while still providing the tools that have made it popular with developers in the first place.

The Developer Community's Verdict: Hype vs. Reality

This is where the rubber meets the road. What do actual developers, the ones supposedly being left behind, think of Replit & its AI in 2025? A dive into forums like Reddit paints a mixed but illuminating picture.

The Good:

Many experienced developers are genuinely impressed with what Replit's AI can do, especially for new projects. One developer with over 20 years of experience called Replit's Agent v2 "amazing," saying they could build applications in a few hours that would have taken a week without AI. The consensus seems to be that for getting a project off the ground, rapid prototyping, or building a minimum viable product (MVP), Replit's AI is a powerful accelerator.

The Not-So-Good:

The praise, however, often comes with a BIG caveat. The same developer who found it amazing for starting projects also noted that once an app grows beyond a trivial size, the AI agent starts to "really struggle." This sentiment is echoed across many discussions. Developers find that as a project gets more complex (say, around 150 files), the AI gets confused, needs a lot of hand-holding, & can even generate code that's worse than what they would have written manually.

Some users have expressed frustration that the AI feels more like "hype than substance," promising the world but failing to deliver on real-world projects. There are complaints of the AI "faking it," giving confident but incorrect answers, or claiming to have made changes to files it never touched. One user described a frustrating loop of the AI fixing a bug in preview, only for it to break again upon deployment, repeating until their "soul exits body."

This suggests a significant gap between the marketing vision & the current reality of the technology. The AI is a powerful tool, but it's not yet the autonomous "co-developer" it's sometimes made out to be. It still requires a skilled human in the driver's seat, especially when things get complicated.

A New Role for Businesses & Developers

Here's the thing: this shift toward AI-powered development has huge implications for businesses. The ability to quickly spin up internal tools, prototype new products, or even automate customer-facing interactions is a game-changer.

This is where a tool like Arsturn comes into the picture. As businesses are being told that anyone can build an app, they're also realizing the power of more focused AI solutions. For example, a business can use Arsturn to build a no-code AI chatbot trained on their own company data. This isn't about building a whole new software company from a prompt; it's about solving a real, immediate business need. That custom chatbot can be deployed on a website to provide instant customer support, answer questions 24/7, & engage with visitors in a personalized way. It’s a practical application of AI that delivers immediate value, freeing up human agents to handle more complex issues.

For a business owner who wants to improve their website engagement or lead generation, they don't necessarily need a full-blown AI developer. They need a targeted solution. Arsturn helps businesses build those meaningful connections with their audience through these personalized chatbots, boosting conversions & providing a better customer experience without needing a team of engineers.

So, is Learning Replit a Waste of Time?

Let's bring it all back to the original question. Based on everything we're seeing, the answer is a pretty clear NO.

Here’s why:

The "Death of Coding" is Greatly Exaggerated: While AI is a powerful assistant, it's not yet a replacement for a developer's problem-solving skills, architectural knowledge, & ability to manage complexity. The Reddit threads show that when the AI hits a wall, you still need to know how to code to fix it. The CEO's comments are more about a long-term vision & a strategic pivot than a reflection of the current state of the industry.
It's a Tool, Not a Replacement: Thinking of Replit's AI as a tool, rather than a replacement, is key. It can make good developers faster & more productive. It can handle the grunt work, generate boilerplate, & help you learn a new language or framework much more quickly. But you still need the fundamental knowledge to guide it & to know when its output is good, bad, or just plain wrong.
The Platform Itself is Still Valuable: Even if you completely ignore the AI agent, Replit is a fantastic, zero-setup, collaborative coding environment. Its utility for learning, teaching, prototyping, & team projects remains undeniable.
The Future is AI-Assisted, Not AI-Dominated: The skills you need as a developer are evolving. Prompt engineering, understanding how to work with an AI, & being able to debug AI-generated code are becoming crucial. Learning to use a platform like Replit is actually great practice for this new reality.

The CEO's comments are provocative, for sure. They’re designed to grab attention & signal a bold new direction for his company. But they shouldn't be taken as a sign that you should hang up your keyboard. If anything, they're a sign that you should be leaning in, learning how these new AI tools work, & figuring out how to integrate them into your workflow.

Replit, in its 2025 form, is a fascinating microcosm of the entire software industry. It's caught between the hype of a fully automated future & the practical realities of building and maintaining software today. It’s not a waste of time to learn. In fact, it might just be one of the most relevant platforms you could be spending your time on right now, because it’s a hands-on preview of where things are heading.

Hope this was helpful & gives you a more balanced view of the situation. Let me know what you think