Microsoft teams up with Replit for AI-led app development

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Replit, a platform that helps people build software, has announced a big new partnership with Microsoft. This move is expected to benefit both companies.

Now, businesses using Microsoft’s cloud service, Azure, can buy Replit subscriptions directly through Microsoft’s app store, called the Azure Marketplace. 

Replit will also start using Microsoft’s cloud tools, such as virtual machines, containers, and a special database system called Neon Serverless Postgres. 

These integrations mean Microsoft will earn a share of revenue when Replit-built apps run on Azure.

Even though Microsoft already has a popular coding assistant, GitHub Copilot, it doesn’t directly compete with Replit. 

Copilot is more geared toward experienced programmers. Replit, on the other hand, appeals to both pros and beginners. 

It lets users describe what they want in everyday language, and the platform builds the app for them, handling things like login systems, storage, and databases automatically.

This partnership is being marketed as a new way for companies to prototype and design apps, similar to what design tool Figma offers, but with a twist. (Via: TechCrunch)

Replit and Microsoft aim to empower non-technical workers, like sales managers, to create their own tools. 

For instance, someone could make an app to track how customer support affects contract renewals, all without knowing how to code.

A Replit spokesperson said the goal is to help everyone, not just developers, build apps. That’s why Replit sees itself as working alongside Copilot, not competing with it.

Replit is growing fast. It jumped from $10 million to $100 million in yearly revenue in just six months. 

Backed by big-name investors like Andreessen Horowitz and Y Combinator, it has raised nearly $100 million and says it still has over half that money in the bank. More than 500,000 businesses are using it.

The main company that might lose out from this deal is Google Cloud, which currently hosts most Replit-built apps. 

But Replit says it’s not ditching Google, it’s just expanding to include Microsoft’s cloud too.

Have any thoughts on this partnership? Do you think it’s a good one, or should Microsoft not be allowed near more growing businesses? Tell us below in the comments, or via our Twitter or Facebook.