ArtCraft Apps: 7 Free, Open-Source Adobe Alternatives Explained

Short answer: "ArtCraft apps" (the team calls them the Crafting Apps) are seven free, open-source desktop programs that rebuild the Adobe Creative Cloud workflow from scratch in Rust: PhotoCraft (Photoshop), VectorCraft (Illustrator), FilmCraft (Premiere Pro), LightCraft (Lightroom), PdfCraft (Acrobat), EffectCraft (After Effects) and DesignCraft (InDesign). They run on macOS, Windows and Linux, most also in the browser, and they were released in October 2026 as alpha software – promising, but not yet a safe replacement for paid client work.

None of the apps are made by Adobe or affiliated with it. ArtCraft describes them as "clean-room" reimplementations: the code is written from public documentation and testing, not copied from Adobe.

Which ArtCraft app replaces which Adobe app?

ArtCraft app	Adobe app it imitates	What it does	Status on getartcraft.com (Oct 11, 2026)
PhotoCraft	Photoshop	Layered image editor, opens and saves PSD	Early alpha
VectorCraft	Illustrator	Vector illustration, SVG/PDF	In development
FilmCraft	Premiere Pro	Non-linear video editor, color, audio	In development
LightCraft	Lightroom (not Classic)	Photo library and RAW developer	In development
PdfCraft	Acrobat	Read, organize, combine, split and secure PDFs	Early alpha
EffectCraft	After Effects	Motion graphics and VFX	In development
DesignCraft	InDesign	Page layout and publishing	In development

Every app has installers for macOS, Windows and Linux. Six of them – all except FilmCraft – also compile to WebAssembly and run in a browser tab.

Our deeper guides: PhotoCraft, VectorCraft and FilmCraft.

Who made the ArtCraft apps?

ArtCraft was founded by software engineer Brandon Thomas, previously CEO of Storyteller.ai and an engineer at Square, according to PetaPixel's report of October 7, 2026. The code lives under the storytold organization on GitHub. Thomas wrote on Reddit that he used Anthropic's Claude Opus 5.5 to recreate the seven apps in Rust, while stressing that he has used Rust for about a decade and is "not a casual vibe coder". He has said the goal is "100% feature parity" with Adobe's apps within about a month – an ambitious target that the project still has to prove.

ArtCraft itself started earlier as an AI image and video "IDE for artists" (see our ArtCraft on GitHub guide). That is why "artcraft" already had search traffic before the Adobe-style apps appeared.

What the apps have in common

From the official Crafting Apps page, every app follows the same rules:

Open source. Code on GitHub under permissive licenses (MIT and Apache-2.0 on the repositories we checked).
Native, not wrapped. Pure Rust desktop apps – no Electron, no embedded web views – so installs are small and canvases are fast.
Familiar from day one. Layouts, tools and shortcuts copy what professionals already know.
Your files, your machine. Editing runs locally; no cloud round-trips.
Agent-ready. Each app can be driven from a CLI, a JSON control channel or an MCP server, so AI agents can edit and export the same way a person does.

How to download the ArtCraft apps

Go to the Crafting Apps page on getartcraft.com/apps (the official site).
The recommended route is the ArtCraft Launcher, which installs every app and keeps them updated.
Or open a single app's page (or its GitHub repository's Releases) and pick the installer for your system – Windows (x64, ARM64, 32-bit), a universal macOS build, or Linux AppImage / Flatpak / .deb / .rpm.
Want to try without installing? Use the browser build where one is offered.

Only download from getartcraft.com or the storytold GitHub organization. Popular free software quickly attracts look-alike "download" sites.

Are the ArtCraft apps really free?

The apps themselves are free and open source, with no subscription needed to edit. ArtCraft's separate AI features (in the original ArtCraft creative app) use paid credits or subscriptions, and you can bring your own model accounts. Check getartcraft.com/pricing for the current plans – we don't quote prices because they change.

One licensing note: some coverage pointed to "fair source" wording elsewhere in the ArtCraft project. The app repositories we read list MIT and Apache-2.0 licenses, but if you plan to redistribute or build a commercial product on the code, read the license file of that exact repository first.

Should you switch from Adobe now?

Be realistic. Every app is labeled alpha or "in development". VectorCraft's own README, for example, self-assesses about 65% "ready for real work" for a mainstream illustrator as of October 10, 2026, and lists missing pieces such as reliable Illustrator .ai exchange.

A sensible way to use the ArtCraft apps today:

Hobby projects and learning – yes, especially if you already know Adobe shortcuts.
Linux users – Adobe doesn't support Linux at all, so this is a real new option.
Opening a PSD or SVG on a machine without Adobe – PhotoCraft and VectorCraft handle those formats.
Client work with deadlines, print color accuracy or plug-ins – keep your current tools until the apps reach beta and your files round-trip cleanly.

Established free alternatives such as GIMP, Inkscape, Krita, DaVinci Resolve (free version) and darktable are more mature today; ArtCraft's pitch is that it feels like Adobe from the first minute.

FAQ

What are the ArtCraft apps? Seven free, open-source creative apps from the ArtCraft team – PhotoCraft, VectorCraft, FilmCraft, LightCraft, PdfCraft, EffectCraft and DesignCraft – modeled on Adobe's Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, Lightroom, Acrobat, After Effects and InDesign.

Is ArtCraft made by Adobe? No. ArtCraft is an independent project with no affiliation to Adobe. It describes its apps as clean-room reimplementations.

Is getartcraft.com the official site? Yes. getartcraft.com is ArtCraft's own site, and its GitHub organization is storytold.

Do the ArtCraft apps work on Linux? Yes. All seven list Linux installers, and six also run in a web browser.

Were the ArtCraft apps made with AI? The founder says he used Claude Opus 5.5 to write the Rust code, guided by his own engineering experience.

Can ArtCraft open Photoshop files? PhotoCraft opens and saves layered PSD and PSB files. Illustrator .ai support in VectorCraft is still limited.