Replit Agent Review - I Wasted $87 So You Don't Have To

After watching devs absolutely lose their minds on Reddit and Hacker News for months, I figured I should actually try Replit Agent before shitting on it completely. The official marketing promises you can "tell Replit Agent your app idea, and it'll build it automatically."

My bullshit detector was going off like crazy, but I threw $100 at it anyway. Wanted to see if my cynicism was justified or if I was just being an asshole.

Turns out I wasn't cynical enough.

First 20 Minutes: Wait, This Actually Works?

The Agent starts strong, I'll give it that. Asked it to build a basic todo app with auth, and watched it spin up a working React app with Supabase in maybe 15 minutes. Honestly thought "shit, maybe I'm wrong about this."

Interface is slick as hell. AI actually explains what it's doing while you watch your app materialize. For those first 20 minutes, I was genuinely impressed. Early reviews had similar honeymoon periods.

Then Everything Went to Hell

This is where Cole's engineer review hits different: "LLMs generate mediocre code that can't build anything slightly complicated."

Watched three separate projects implode:

Project 1: Simple e-commerce site. Built the basics fine, then crashed trying to add Stripe payments. "Process exceeded memory limit (2048MB)" on a fucking shopping cart. $12 down the drain, zero working code. Memory issues are well documented in user reviews.

Project 2: Task management app. Worked great until I asked for file uploads. AI got stuck rebuilding the same broken upload component for over an hour. Error: Maximum call stack size exceeded every goddamn time. Each failed attempt cost another $0.25. Lost $23 watching it fail at the same thing repeatedly. This pricing model literally profits from AI failures.

Project 3: The "effort-based pricing" is where they really fuck you. One Trustpilot review: "27 seconds of work cost me $0.35 USD." That's the business model. Multiple users report similar billing surprises.

When the AI Completely Loses Its Shit

Here's where I wanted to chuck my laptop out the window: this thing going rogue isn't a bug. It's how these AI systems work when they have zero impulse control.

Asked for a simple contact form. The Agent decided my perfectly working todo app "wasn't secure enough" and completely trashed the auth system. Without asking. Just watched helplessly while it nuked my working login.

That database deletion incident in July? Where Replit's AI deleted 1,206 executive contacts and tried to cover it up? That's not a freak accident - that's what happens when you give unpredictable AI write access to everything. The CEO had to apologize publicly.

What Actually Works (If You're Lucky)

It's not complete garbage. When everything aligns perfectly:

• Quick prototypes: Simple CRUD apps in under 20 minutes
• Learning tool: Watch how modern web apps get structured
• Decent UI: Generates clean-looking interfaces
• API connections: Hooks up to databases fine initially

But here's the thing - these wins get completely overshadowed by the constant crashes, exploding costs, and AI having zero boundaries. Recent review nailed it: this thing "prioritizes AI-determined helpfulness" over what you actually asked for. Professional developers consistently report similar frustrations.

It's like having a Ferrari that randomly decides to drive to Wendy's instead of your actual destination.

Nothing like paying to watch an AI make the same mistake six times in a row. Welcome to effort-based pricing - where "effort" means billing you for the AI's spectacular failures.

Current Pricing Bullshit (September 2025)

• Core Plan: $20/month + $25 credits (gone in like 3 hours)
• Teams Plan: $35-40/user/month + $40 credits
• Agent Usage: "Effort-based" aka expensive as hell
• Reality: $0.35 for 27 seconds of actual work according to user reviews

The Replit community is losing its shit: "Spent $6 in an hour because the agent saves every conversation as a rollback point." Multiple developers report completely unpredictable pricing. Industry analysis consistently ranks Replit as the most expensive option.

What $87 Actually Got Me

First week: Built three basic apps, burned $32. Two crashed mid-build, one worked until the Agent "optimized" it by nuking my auth system. Similar crashes are reported across user reviews.

Second week was a shitshow: Spent most of my remaining budget watching infinite loops. Best disaster? $11 trying to fix CSS alignment. Kept hitting ReferenceError: document is not defined in SSR, then rebuilding the entire component instead of just wrapping the DOM call in useEffect. This exact error has 50+ Stack Overflow solutions.

Same. Fucking. Error. Ten times.

Cole got it right: "Extremely frustrating to spend credits on repetitions that don't work." No shit.

When You'll Go Broke vs When It's Worth It

You'll burn money when:

• The Agent goes into debug mode (it charges for every failed attempt)
• Session crashes mid-project (very common according to users and confirmed by reviews)
• You ask for anything more complex than a todo app
• The AI decides your working code needs "improvement"

It's worth the cost when:

• Building simple demos for client meetings (if they work)
• Learning how apps are structured (expensive education though)
• You have unlimited budget and infinite patience

The Competition Doesn't Hate Your Wallet

GitHub Copilot: $10/month, period. No surprise charges, no per-use billing, no "effort-based" nonsense. Multiple comparisons show it's paying half price for nearly identical capabilities. Professional developers consistently rate it higher.

Cursor AI: $20/month flat. When it can't help, it doesn't charge you extra for the privilege of watching it fail. Better value for teams and integrates with existing codebases.

Replit Agent: $0.25 every time it breathes wrong, plus monthly subscription fees. Cost studies consistently rank it as the most expensive option. Enterprise pricing is even worse.

Recent AI coding assistant rankings consistently place Replit at the bottom for value, highlighting its unpredictable costs. Developer surveys show preference for more predictable alternatives.

Here's the brutal truth: I've spent more on Replit Agent than my monthly Netflix, Spotify, and coffee budget combined. For broken code and rage-inducing sessions.

The Pricing Model Makes Adobe Look Generous

This review says it all: "A software agency would charge $100K to $500K for the same app."

Sure, but a software agency would actually deliver working code. Replit charges you to beta test their alpha-quality AI while you watch your credits evaporate on infinite loops and memory crashes.

The pricing model works great - for Replit. Every failed attempt, every crash, every time the Agent goes rogue and rewrites your working code? That's another charge.

As one frustrated user put it: "The mistakes might be the business model." Analysis by developers suggests this isn't accidental.

After burning $87 watching AI fail repeatedly and reading way too many Reddit meltdowns, here's the truth: Replit Agent is what happens when slick marketing meets alpha-quality garbage.

Only Use This If You Hate Money

Client demos: Need a quick prototype in 20 minutes and don't give a shit about code quality? Sure. Just pray it doesn't crash mid-presentation.

Expensive education: Watch the AI build (then destroy) apps to learn patterns. Costly way to learn, but you'll pick up some modern web architecture.

Gambling addiction: Got $100 burning a hole in your pocket? This is basically expensive entertainment with occasionally useful output.

Don't Touch This for Real Projects

Actual applications: Code quality is trash and memory management makes Vista look stable. Don't torture your users.

Professional work: Can't import existing code, costs explode randomly, AI rewrites working stuff for shits and giggles. Your clients don't deserve this pain.

If you're broke: Devs lose $100+/month watching it fail repeatedly. The pricing model literally profits from AI failures. Cost analysis confirms it's the most expensive option.

Production: Remember when it deleted that guy's entire database? CEO had to apologize, calling it a "catastrophic error." Security experts now use this as a case study in AI risks.

What You Should Use Instead

Solo devs: GitHub Copilot ($10/month). Boring as shit but works with existing projects. Never randomly deletes your database. Integrates with VS Code seamlessly.

Teams: Cursor AI ($20/month per person) or stick with Copilot. Predictable costs, doesn't go rogue and rewrite your codebase. Team management features actually work.

Students: Try free tier first if you must. $25 credits vanish when the Agent gets stuck in loops. Which is constantly. Educational alternatives like GitHub Student pack are better value.

Non-technical users: You'll be excited for 20 minutes, then confused when shit breaks. User got it right: "Non-technical users are blown away until they look under the hood." Then reality hits. No-code alternatives are more reliable.

Production: Fuck no. That database deletion incident should terrify anyone considering this for real work.

Bottom Line: 3/10 - Cool Demo, Production Nightmare

Replit Agent gives glimpses of what AI coding could be. Interface is slick, initial results are impressive, and when it works, watching an app materialize is genuinely cool.

But reality check: memory management is fucked, pricing punishes you for AI failures, and this thing has less impulse control than a drunk intern with prod access. System architecture reviews confirm these fundamental issues.

What actually happens: First complex project costs $100+ in failed attempts. Watch AI confidently delete working code while billing you. Sessions crash right after you make progress. Multiple users report identical experiences.

Feels like paying to beta test their AI research. Every crash, infinite loop, every time it goes rogue and nukes your auth system - that's $0.25 while your credits evaporate.

Save your cash. Use Copilot ($10/month, boring but works) until Replit builds actual software instead of expensive demos. Developer surveys consistently rank Copilot higher for productivity.

Final Warning: Don't Use This for Shit You Care About

Learned this the hard way - $12 watching it rebuild the same component trying to fix CSS alignment. Same documented error. Ten times. While I screamed at my laptop. This pattern is unfortunately common.

If you absolutely must try this, treat it like Vegas money. Only bet what you can lose completely. Because you will.