I have a bold prediction: within 5 years, most software will be free or very cheap. The reason? Vibe coding and AI-powered development tools are fundamentally changing how software is built.
The Enterprise Giants Are in Trouble
Companies like Oracle, FareHarbor, and SAS have built empires on expensive, rigid software solutions. But their moats are crumbling. When anyone can spin up custom software with AI assistance in minutes rather than months, why pay thousands for a one-size-fits-all solution?
The Hyper-Customization Era
Software will become more custom than ever before. People won't settle for generic apps anymore. They'll walk around with todo lists formatted exactly how they want, with features nobody else has. Need a specific workflow? Build it. Want your calendar to work differently? Done.
This isn't some distant future—it's happening now. The barrier between "I wish this worked differently" and "let me make it work differently" is disappearing.
What This Means
The software industry is about to see the same disruption that happened to content creation. Just like social media democratized publishing, AI coding tools are democratizing software development. The result? More innovation, more competition, and drastically lower prices.
Enterprise software companies better adapt fast, or they'll go the way of the Yellow Pages.