Vibecoding Goes Mainstream at This Year’s Shipaton from RevenueCat
The Annual Mobile Competition Sees Increase from 1,700 to 54,000 Participants, as AI Coding Takes Center Stage
NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, November 13, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- RevenueCat, the platform powering in-app purchases for more than 50,000 apps, reveals a significant shift toward AI-driven app development with its 2025 Shipaton hackathon. For the second annual Shipaton, participants increased from 1,700 to 54,000, in large part due to the rise of AI coding platforms. Vibecoders played a prominent role in the competition, with the Grand Prize going to Payout, an app created entirely through AI-assisted development using Claude Code and Cursor.
The use of AI in coding has risen in popularity, expanding from professional developers to everyday aspiring app founders. Now that AI has dramatically decreased the time it takes to transform a baseline idea into a reality, more apps than ever are being released and competition is at an all time high. Held during RevenueCat’s App Growth Annual, Shipaton highlighted the new wave of builders turning ideas into apps faster than ever—a sign of just how much creative momentum AI has unlocked.
Shipaton awards were granted by category and included:
- Best Vibes - Vibecoding platforms and tools are increasingly being used in app development. The winner, OtterDay, used Perplexity Pro for dialogue and visuals, KlingAI for otter animations, and ElevenLabs for voiceovers
- Design - Visuals are key for engagement, and the winners of this category specialize in aesthetic quality. DayLoop, an app that turns your everyday moments into cinematic timelapse videos, won for its precision, privacy, and delight.
- Buzziest Launch - Whether or not an app makes a splash on day one can make or break its long-term success. ReadHim, geared toward decoding men’s texts, won first place in this category for an Instagram meme account that amassed over 5.2 million views, partnering with a TikTok influencer with over 2.3M followers, and executing a creative stunt complete with supercars and a robot dog.
- Apps That Make Money - Vibecoding makes launching apps easier than ever, but sustainable monetization still sets the best apart. VectorGuard was awarded for its top-tier monetization strategy. With thoughtful design and fair pricing, it turns public data into public good—making disease prevention not a privilege, but a human right.
“AI tools are lowering the barrier to build and ship apps, but the fundamentals haven’t changed,” said Jacob Eiting, CEO of RevenueCat. “You still need to build something people love, use, and pay for—and that’s exactly what this year’s Shipaton winners did.”
The Shipaton celebrates freshly built projects, new launches, and prototypes that are bringing unique products to real users, quickly and creatively. Within this, RevenueCat also awards six Shippies to apps that have gone to the next level, not just launching but nailing every part of the subscription journey, from onboarding and monetization to retention and creativity. The 2025 Shippies awards went to Hank Green’s Focus Friend, Ladder, Resubs, Recime, Wink, and WeWard.
All winners of both the Shipaton and Shippies were featured on digital billboards in the middle of Times Square. You can find the full list of Shipaton winners here.
About RevenueCat
RevenueCat is the leading platform for consumer app monetization. Developers use RevenueCat to easily build, manage, and grow their businesses across iOS, Android, and the web—handling billing, analytics, and conversion optimization for subscriptions, consumables, lifetime purchases, and virtual currency. Today, over 50,000 apps use RevenueCat to power their revenue, including top names like ChatGPT, Notion, and ClassDojo. Learn more at revenuecat.com.
Kieran Powell
RevenueCat
+1 212-680-0179
email us here
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