A developer says he has used AI to rebuild seven of Adobe’s best-known apps as free, open source software, and expects to match their features within months. The suite is called ArtCraft, and it is very much an alpha.
Per Ars Technica, ArtCraft began last year as a “controllable AI for artists” for editing AI-generated images and video. Over the weekend, it pivoted to a set of seven apps that recreate the interface and tools of Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere, Lightroom, After Effects, InDesign and Acrobat Pro. Founder Brandon Thomas announced them on Reddit, saying he used Anthropic’s Claude Opus 5.5 to write “clean-room replacements” in Rust, with WebAssembly builds that run in a browser.
What’s in the suite
PetaPixel reports the apps run on macOS, Windows and Linux. Gizmodo lists the names: PhotoCraft, VectorCraft, FilmCraft, LightCraft, PrintCraft, EffectCraft and DesignCraft. PetaPixel says PhotoCraft looks a lot like Photoshop and FilmCraft looks nearly identical to Premiere. LightCraft is modelled on Lightroom CC rather than Lightroom Classic, though Thomas says people have asked for a Classic equivalent.
The code is released under MIT and Apache licences. Thomas says development will be funded by selling token-based access to the existing ArtCraft image model, which also appears inside the apps next to third-party models. “We have a team building popular software for filmmakers, so supporting this is fully funded,” he wrote on Hacker News.
Big promises, early software
Thomas first said ArtCraft would reach “100% [feature] parity within a month”. Days later, he told Hacker News that “99% parity will take a while, but I’m sure it’ll be measured in months and not years.” Commenters on Hacker News and elsewhere have pointed out many current shortcomings, and Ars describes the apps as “super early alpha”. Gizmodo’s writer also advises caution before installing vibe-coded software.
Thomas says he was pushed to build the suite after being charged Adobe’s “cancellation fee” more than once. Gizmodo notes that Adobe agreed earlier this year to a $150 million settlement after a 2024 federal lawsuit alleging it trapped people in subscription plans.
There’s also a legal question. Reverse engineering a product’s functionality without copying its code is generally considered acceptable, per Ars, but the apps could still face trade dress claims if their look copies Adobe’s interface too closely. Adobe hasn’t commented in any of the coverage we’ve seen.
Where this leaves creatives
Adobe faces credible rivals in individual categories, as PetaPixel notes: DaVinci Resolve and Final Cut Pro in video, and Affinity in image editing. What ArtCraft claims to offer is a free suite with familiar layouts, so there’s little to relearn. For now, that’s a claim rather than a finished product.
Adobe, meanwhile, is leaning into AI partnerships; it recently brought Photoshop and Firefly to Google Gemini, and launched Premiere on Android with free 4K exports. We found no UAE or Saudi availability details or regional pricing for ArtCraft, and agencies there who rely on Adobe’s file formats and plugins should treat it as something to watch, not a replacement, until the apps mature.
Is ArtCraft really free?
Yes. The apps are open source under MIT and Apache licences, and Thomas plans to fund them by selling token-based access to ArtCraft’s AI image model, which is optional.
Is it ready to replace Photoshop or Premiere?
No. Thomas and Ars both describe it as an early alpha, and users report many missing features and bugs.
Could Adobe take legal action?
Possibly. Clean-room reimplementation is generally accepted, but Ars says copying Adobe’s look and interface closely could raise trade dress issues.
