Domain Rating in Vibe Coding: A 1,143-Domain Benchmark
The median Ahrefs Domain Rating was 11 across 1,143 measured VCL domains, and 46.9% scored below 10. What that says about backlinks—and what it cannot say.
Updated November 1, 2026. This article uses dataset v10, with a November 1 cutoff and measurements recorded through October 31. This is a new frozen edition; changes in sample membership, recorded classifications and measurement timing are not within-project growth.
The median Domain Rating was 11 across 1,143 measured custom domains in VCL’s November snapshot. In total, 536 domains—46.9%—scored below 10.
The finding concerns backlink profiles, not how well the products worked. Ahrefs defines Domain Rating as a relative measure of a domain’s backlink strength on a 100-point scale.
The distribution, not just the median
The report identified 1,145 eligible unique custom domains. Two lacked a measurement, leaving 1,143 in this distribution. Shared hosting platforms are excluded, and each custom domain counts once even if several project listings use it.
| Ahrefs Domain Rating | Domains | Share of 1,143 measured domains |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 162 | 14.2% |
| 0.1–9.9 | 374 | 32.7% |
| 10–29.9 | 410 | 35.9% |
| 30–49.9 | 160 | 14.0% |
| 50+ | 37 | 3.2% |
The below-ten share is calculated from 162 plus 374 domains: 536 / 1,143 = 46.9%. The calculation uses integer counts before rounding.
At the cutoff, the median stored DR measurement was 0.4 days old; the oldest was 1.2 days old. This describes measurement freshness, not domain age.
A backlink benchmark is not a product grade
DR is a relative, logarithmic Ahrefs metric, not a Google ranking factor. A score of 11 does not mean a site is “11% successful,” and DR 10 is not an official boundary between viable and nonviable products.
The distribution shows that this selected VCL sample contains many domains with low ratings under Ahrefs’ system. It does not tell us whether those domains were new, deliberately unpromoted, supported by social traffic or already serving paying customers. The data also cannot attribute their backlink profiles to a particular AI coding tool.
For reporting purposes, the precise result is more useful than calling the sites “unsuccessful”: 536 of 1,143 measured custom domains had DR below 10 at the release cutoff. Whether backlink strength accompanies search visibility is a separate question, addressed by the report’s paired-domain comparison.
Data and source. State of Vibe Coding 2026, Dataset v10: Domain Rating, cutoff November 1, 2026 at 00:00 UTC. See the edition’s methodology for domain eligibility and measurement selection.
The full State of Vibe Coding report separates backlink strength from traffic estimates and page-level scores.