As gas prices spiral out of control, one couple used vibe coding to build a gas price-tracking app in just 5 days

Like the couple who vibe-coded a gas price tracker with a bot that calls 170,000+ gas stations around the country daily, as reported in Business Insider (4). The Gas Index, the AI agent Matt Courtland and John Fleming built in three days, gives a state average, then breaks down by regions within the state and gas station brands. It puts prices into a local context in language they can understand.

For example, the added cost from the war to fill the tank is the price equivalent of 2.9 Taylor ham egg and cheese in New Jersey (5), or 3.4 Whataburger honey butter chicken biscuits in Texas (6). It adds a little novelty to a tough expense right now, while helping Americans better understand the direct cost the war is having on households.

Finding the cheapest expensive fuel

The Gas Index gets its information from Google's location pricing, user-generated photos of pumps and receipts, and of course, Bobby the bot calling gas station attendants to ask for the daily price.

As Business Insider noted, gas prices can fluctuate throughout the day, so there can be a difference between The Gas Index and real-time rates. But tools like this are helpful for consumers to have, especially when they're looking to fill up the tank. It allows for a quick price check while on-the-run.

It's a new crowdsourcing-type model for getting up to date gas prices that gets better the more people use it. The intention is to be able to plug your location into the model to find cheaper gas. But as the pair state on the website, they recommend always calling ahead to confirm the price before making the trip.

Creative car savings

The economics of the Gas Index — and many other vibe-coded products for that matter, are still uncertain. While vibe coding platforms are seeing success, like Lovable's $100 million month in February according to TechCrunch (7), the products aren't necessarily money makers (8).

As for the Gas Index, it costs around $2,000 in API credits (9) every time they refresh prices for the 188,000 stations. The platform is free, but they offer users the option to donate.

But not all vibe-coded products will be this data-intensive.