Replit's Amjad Masad on the Cursor Deal, Fighting Apple, and the Future of AI Coding

**Replit's AI coding assistant company has achieved a billion-dollar annual run rate, but is it bound to sell amidst the rival Cursor's reported $60 billion acquisition by SpaceX? We spoke with Replit's CEO, Amjad Masad, about the company's plans for independence, net revenue retention, and its ongoing battle with Apple over the App Store.

Amjad Masad has been building Replit for a decade, but the last 18 months have been something else entirely. The AI coding assistant company went from $2.8 million in revenue in all of 2024 to tracking toward what Masad describes as a billion-dollar annual run rate.

Replit's success can be attributed to its unique approach to AI coding, targeting a different customer set and providing a full-stack platform that handles security, databases, and database migration. This allows non-technical users to create software with ease, which has led to a low churn rate and high net revenue retention of up to 300%.

"For us at Replit, partly because we target a different customer set, we've been able to run the business more rationally," Masad said. "We've been gross margin positive for over a year. We're slightly more expensive, but we provide a lot more."

Despite the company's success, Replit is facing a challenge from Apple, which has been blocking its updates on the App Store. Masad believes that Apple's decision is due to the company's ability to create iOS apps, which threatens the App Store's dominance.

"The reason Replit got blocked when others weren't, we believe, is that Replit makes iOS apps," Masad said. "When we launched that capability in December, there were charts going around showing how many apps were getting into the App Store through us. We think Apple feels threatened by that."

Replit is not considering a sale, despite the reported acquisition of Cursor by SpaceX. Masad believes that the company has the economics to remain independent and continue to invest in its customers.

"We've been around for 10 years, before it was even accepted that you could make apps just from ideas," Masad said. "We were talking about creating a billion software creators back in 2018 at YC, and people sometimes actually laughed at that dream. Now that dream is possible, and we kicked off this revolution with our agentic coding experience in September 2024."

Replit is also exploring the possibility of investing in its own customers, which could provide a new revenue stream for the company. Masad has already invested in several startups that started on Replit, including Magic School, which was valued at half a billion dollars.

"We've thought a lot about it, and it is a consideration," Masad said. "I've personally invested in a few startups that started on Replit before they made any money. Some of them, like Magic School, are genuinely exciting."

As Replit continues to grow and expand its reach, it will be interesting to see how the company navigates the challenges of the AI coding market and its ongoing battle with Apple.

**Replit's Amjad Masad on the Future of AI Coding

• Replit's AI coding assistant company has achieved a billion-dollar annual run rate.
• The company has a low churn rate and high net revenue retention of up to 300%.
• Replit is facing a challenge from Apple, which has been blocking its updates on the App Store.
• The company is not considering a sale, despite the reported acquisition of Cursor by SpaceX.
• Replit is exploring the possibility of investing in its own customers.

**Replit's Amjad Masad on the Future of AI Coding

• 'We've been around for 10 years, before it was even accepted that you could make apps just from ideas,' Masad said. 'We were talking about creating a billion software creators back in 2018 at YC, and people sometimes actually laughed at that dream. Now that dream is possible, and we kicked off this revolution with our agentic coding experience in September 2024.'

**Replit's Amjad Masad on the Future of AI Coding

• 'We've thought a lot about it, and it is a consideration,' Masad said. 'I've personally invested in a few startups that started on Replit before they made any money. Some of them, like Magic School, are genuinely exciting.'