Artcraft is an open-source software suite in development that aims to offer creatives an alternative to Adobe’s Creative Cloud. Developer Brandon Thomas says he built a Photoshop-like program with AI in a single session, and has since presented the project with a four-person team.
The suite includes Photocraft, positioned as an alternative to Photoshop, and Lightcraft, which takes the place of Lightroom. The project’s stated goal is to recreate Adobe-style tools without drawbacks such as cloud dependence and high monthly fees. Adobe’s Pro subscription, which includes apps such as Photoshop, Premiere and Firefly, costs individuals around €78 per month, according to the report.
Artcraft is not yet a finished product. Its developers describe the software as being in an early phase, while initial testers have pointed to shortcomings. Thomas says it could take several months for the suite to cover 99% of the features. The team says it used Anthropic’s Claude Opus 5.5 during development and wrote the software in Rust. The applications are intended to run on Windows, macOS and Linux.
Thomas says the project is not simply a “vibe-coding” experiment and points to 15 years of experience in software development and large Rust projects. He has also said he wants to demonstrate what current AI tools can do. However, Artcraft’s close resemblance to Adobe’s software raises questions about whether Adobe will challenge or tolerate the project. No outcome is yet clear.
Sources: t3n.