v0 Review: Vercel's AI App Builder Is Great at One Thing (And Mediocre at Everything Else)

I've been using v0 on and off since it launched, and I have a take that might be controversial: v0 is the best AI UI generator on the market, and also one of the most overhyped "app builders" out there.

Those aren't contradictory statements. They're the same observation from two different angles. Let me explain.

What v0 Actually Is

v0 is Vercel's AI-powered tool that generates React components and Next.js applications from natural language prompts and image uploads. You describe what you want — "a dashboard with a sidebar, dark mode toggle, and a data table showing user analytics" — and v0 spits out clean, production-quality code using React, Tailwind CSS, and shadcn/ui components.

The output is genuinely impressive. Unlike most AI code generators that produce functional-but-ugly results, v0's output looks like something a senior frontend developer with good design taste would build. The components are accessible, responsive, and use modern patterns. This is v0's superpower, and it's a real one.

You can iterate on the generated UI through conversation — "make the sidebar collapsible," "add a search bar to the header," "change the color scheme to something more corporate" — and v0 handles these refinements well. It feels like pair programming with a designer who actually understands code.

Pricing: Credit-Based and Honestly Fair

v0 moved to a credit-based system tied to token usage:

Free tier: $5 in monthly credits, access to v0-1.5-md model
Premium: $20/month with more credits and access to better models
Team: $30/user/month with collaboration features

The free tier is genuinely usable for exploring and building simple prototypes. You'll burn through credits fast on complex projects, but $20/month is reasonable for what you get — especially compared to paying a designer $100+/hour for UI mockups.

One thing I appreciate: there's no bait-and-switch. The free tier gives you real functionality, not a crippled demo. You can actually build and deploy something without paying.

Where v0 Shines

UI Prototyping Is Unmatched

This is where v0 genuinely has no equal. If you need to go from "idea in your head" to "clickable UI prototype" in under 10 minutes, v0 is the tool. I've used it to:

Mock up landing pages for client pitches
Generate admin dashboards during planning meetings
Create UI components that I then integrate into existing codebases
Quickly test different layout approaches before committing to one

The speed is addictive. What used to take half a day of Figma work and then another half day of coding now takes a few prompts.

Code Quality Is Actually Good

This matters more than people realize. A lot of AI code generators produce output that works but is unmaintainable — weird variable names, no component separation, inline styles everywhere. v0's output uses proper component architecture, Tailwind utility classes, and shadcn/ui patterns that any React developer would recognize and be comfortable modifying.

You can take v0's output, drop it into your existing Next.js project, and it fits. That's not true of most AI-generated code.

Vercel Integration Is Seamless

One click to deploy to Vercel. GitHub sync built in. Environment variables manageable from the interface. If you're already in the Vercel ecosystem (and a lot of frontend developers are), v0 feels like a natural extension of your workflow rather than a separate tool.

Where v0 Falls Short

It's Not Really a Full-Stack App Builder

Here's where the hype diverges from reality. v0 markets itself as being able to build "full-stack apps," and technically it can scaffold a Next.js app with API routes and database connections. But in practice, the backend logic it generates is basic at best.

Need authentication? v0 will give you a login form that looks beautiful but the actual auth implementation will be a skeleton you need to flesh out. Need complex database queries? You'll get simple CRUD operations. Need payment processing, webhooks, background jobs? You're on your own.

Compare this to Bolt.new or Lovable, which handle full-stack complexity much better. Those tools might produce uglier UIs, but they'll give you a more complete application. v0 gives you a gorgeous frontend attached to backend training wheels.

Debugging Is Painful

When something goes wrong in a v0-generated app — and it will — debugging can be frustrating. The AI sometimes generates components with subtle bugs: state management issues, hydration mismatches, or API calls that work in the preview but break in production.

The iterative chat helps, but it's not great at understanding error messages. You'll often find yourself saying "I'm getting this error: [paste]" and getting a response that doesn't actually fix the problem. At that point, you're better off opening the code in Cursor or VS Code and debugging it yourself.

Credit Burn on Complex Projects

The credit system is fair for simple projects, but complex applications eat through credits fast. Each iteration costs tokens, and when you're going back and forth trying to get something right, those add up. I've had sessions where I burned through a week's worth of premium credits in a single afternoon trying to build something moderately complex.

Lock-in to the Vercel Ecosystem

The generated code uses Next.js, React, Tailwind, and shadcn/ui. If that's your stack, great. If you're using Vue, Svelte, Angular, or even plain HTML — v0 isn't for you. And while you can technically deploy the output anywhere that runs Next.js, the one-click deployment and GitHub sync only work with Vercel.

This isn't a dealbreaker for most frontend devs in 2026, but it's worth knowing you're buying into an ecosystem, not just a tool.

v0 vs the Competition

v0 vs Bolt.new

Bolt is better for full-stack applications where you need working backend logic quickly. v0 is better when the UI quality matters more than backend completeness. If I'm building an MVP to show investors, I'd use Bolt. If I'm building a landing page or UI prototype, v0 every time.

v0 vs Lovable

Lovable sits in a similar space to Bolt — more full-stack capable, less polished on the frontend. Lovable has better database integration and handles Supabase projects particularly well. v0 wins on pure design quality and code cleanliness.

v0 vs Cursor

These aren't really competitors. Cursor is an AI-enhanced code editor for developers who write code. v0 is a generator for people who want to describe what they want and get code out. Use Cursor when you're building. Use v0 when you're prototyping. Many developers use both — generate the initial UI in v0, then refine it in Cursor.

Who Should Use v0

Absolutely use v0 if you're:

A frontend developer who wants to accelerate UI work
A founder prototyping ideas quickly
A designer who wants to generate real code from concepts
Already in the Next.js/Vercel ecosystem
Building landing pages, dashboards, or marketing sites

Skip v0 if you're:

Building complex full-stack applications (use Bolt or Lovable)
Not using React/Next.js (v0 won't help you)
Looking for a no-code solution (you'll still need to touch code)
On a tight budget and building something complex (credits burn fast)

The Bottom Line

v0 is the best at what it actually does: generating beautiful, production-quality React UIs from natural language. It's not the best at what it sometimes claims to do: building complete full-stack applications.

If you align your expectations with reality, v0 is an incredible tool. I use it regularly for prototyping and component generation, and it saves me hours every week. But I don't pretend it's going to build my entire application — that's what the rest of my toolkit is for.

At $20/month for the premium tier, it's an easy recommendation for any frontend developer or founder who prototypes frequently. Just know what you're getting: the best AI UI generator on the market, not an all-in-one app builder.

Rating: 8/10 — Exceptional at its core strength, held back by overpromising on full-stack capabilities.