Developer Uses AI to Build Free Clones of Adobe and Microsoft Apps, but Experts Doubt They’ll Displace the Giants

Atlanta engineer’s open-source ArtCraft suite recreates Photoshop, Word and PowerPoint, though the apps are early, glitchy and legally untested

October 14, 2026

An Atlanta-based software engineer has released a suite of free, open-source apps built largely with AI. They are designed to mimic Adobe’s creative tools and Microsoft’s Office programs. The project, called ArtCraft, is the work of Brandon Thomas, who says he used Anthropic’s Claude Opus 5.5 and the Rust programming language, according to Gizmodo.

What was built

ArtCraft’s apps carry rebranded names. Thomas’s Adobe-style apps include Photocraft (Photoshop), Vectorcraft (Illustrator), Filmcraft (Premiere), Lightcraft (Lightroom), Printcraft (Acrobat Pro), Effectcraft (After Effects) and Designcraft (InDesign). He later extended the approach to Microsoft Office: WordCraft, GridCraft and DeckCraft stand in for Word, Excel and PowerPoint. TechRadar reported that the Office clones appeared after the Adobe ones, and AppleInsider’s coverage mentions further apps in the repositories, including stand-ins for AutoCAD and Pro Tools. CNET reports Thomas has released 13 free apps in all.

Thomas has said he started the project partly out of frustration with Adobe’s cancellation fees. He also told critics that existing open-source projects such as GIMP are broken, according to TechRadar.

How good are they?

Early testers say they look and feel familiar but aren’t polished. Gizmodo’s reviewer described Photocraft as feeling like a glitchy but real Photoshop, and Vice reported the apps are in early alpha and buggy. AppleInsider noted the interfaces borrow heavily from the originals while differing in places. It also saw no suspicious network traffic in its limited testing, though that is not a security audit.

Risks and doubts

Reviewers urge caution. Gizmodo advised being careful about downloading and using vibe-coded software. CNET raised possible trademark, patent or copyright exposure, and said big companies like Adobe and Microsoft have deep customer bases and tightly integrated products that are hard to replace, especially for businesses and professional creators. Vice suggested Adobe’s lawyers may take interest. The developer calls the apps “clean-room” implementations, and AppleInsider said that suggests the code was generated rather than copied. That is the developer’s claim, and I haven’t seen it tested.

The bigger picture

The appeal, as CNET frames it, is that individuals can avoid hefty subscriptions and handing money and data to big tech companies. Whether AI-built clones can ever match mature products is the open question. For now they look more like a proof of concept than a threat to the incumbents.