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ArtCraft vs Adobe & Office: Every Craft App Compared
Short answer: every ArtCraft craft app is a free, Apache-2.0 alternative to a commercial creative tool, built as a clean-room reimplementation in Rust. PhotoCraft targets Photoshop, VectorCraft targets Illustrator, FilmCraft targets Premiere Pro, LightCraft targets Lightroom, PdfCraft targets Acrobat, EffectCraft targets After Effects, DesignCraft targets InDesign, and the newer WordCraft and DeckCraft target Word and PowerPoint.
How close each one gets depends on its maturity: two apps are in early alpha, and the rest are still in development. The full matrix is below, app by app.
The Full Comparison
| App | Replaces | Status | Platforms | Web | Stars* | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PhotoCraft | Photoshop | Early alpha (v0.6.0) | Win / macOS / Linux / FreeBSD | Yes | 40,077 | Free |
| VectorCraft | Illustrator | In development | Win / macOS / Linux | Yes | 5,838 | Free |
| FilmCraft | Premiere Pro | In development | Win / macOS / Linux | No | 8,134 | Free |
| LightCraft | Lightroom | In development | Win / macOS / Linux | Yes | 8,615 | Free |
| PdfCraft | Acrobat | Early alpha | Win / macOS / Linux | Yes | 7,496 | Free |
| EffectCraft | After Effects | In development | Win / macOS / Linux | Yes | 4,331 | Free |
| DesignCraft | InDesign | In development | Win / macOS / Linux | Yes | 2,430 | Free |
| WordCraft | Microsoft Word | In development | Win / macOS / Linux | 待核实 | 2,799 | Free |
| DeckCraft | PowerPoint | In development | Win / macOS / Linux | 待核实 | 1,271 | Free |
*GitHub stars as of October 11, 2026. Status labels from the official apps page; WordCraft and DeckCraft are on GitHub but not yet described there. All craft apps are Apache-2.0.
And the suite is broader than Adobe + Office: the GitHub organization already holds CADCraft (an AutoCAD-style CAD app, 1,669 stars), GridCraft (an Excel-style spreadsheet, 1,615 stars) and SoundCraft (described as a clean-room reimplementation of Avid Pro Tools, 1,199 stars). They are early and not on the official apps page yet, but they show where ArtCraft is heading: a full open-source workbench for creative and office software.
Price: Adobe & Office Subscriptions vs ArtCraft
Every ArtCraft app is free — free to download, free to use, Apache-2.0 licensed for commercial work. The tools they replace are subscription products: Adobe sells Creative Cloud plans, and Microsoft sells Microsoft 365. We don't hardcode their prices on this page because they change by region and promotion; check Adobe's current pricing and Microsoft 365's current pricing for the number that matters to you. What does not change: the ArtCraft column of that comparison is a zero.
License: What "Open Source" Actually Means Here
The main ArtCraft repository is dual-licensed under MIT or Apache-2.0, and every craft app repository is Apache-2.0 (verified directly in each repository in October 2026). Both are permissive licenses: commercial use, modification and redistribution are allowed with attribution, which is why "free" here means genuinely usable at work — not a crippled trial. The apps are original Rust implementations, not modified copies of anyone's binaries.
App by App
PhotoCraft vs Photoshop
The flagship. PhotoCraft is a clean-room Photoshop reimplementation in pure Rust with 40,077 stars — the largest repo in the organization. It opens and saves layered PSD/PSB (134 of 135 test files round-trip byte-for-byte, per the project), runs adjustment layers, filters and smart objects, and works offline. It is officially early alpha (v0.6.0), so treat it as "already useful, not yet bulletproof." Full detail in our ArtCraft Photoshop comparison.
VectorCraft vs Illustrator
VectorCraft is the clean-room Illustrator reimplementation (5,838 stars), in development, with a browser build alongside the desktop apps. Illustration tools live or die by pen-tool and path-handling quality, so this is the app to re-test every release if vector work is your trade.
FilmCraft vs Premiere Pro
FilmCraft targets Premiere Pro (8,134 stars) and is the only craft app without a web version — it ships desktop builds for Windows, macOS and Linux only. Video editing is the heaviest workload in the suite, which is likely why it stays native. In development, like most of the suite.
LightCraft vs Lightroom
LightCraft (8,615 stars) is the photo library and raw developer — the Lightroom-shaped app. Its pitch is local-first: your catalog and raw decoding run on your machine, not on someone's cloud plan, which is the exact point where Adobe's subscription model rubs photographers the wrong way. In development.
PdfCraft vs Acrobat
PdfCraft (7,496 stars) covers the workhorse Acrobat jobs — read, organize, combine, split, secure — and is one of only two apps (with PhotoCraft) already labelled early alpha. PDF tooling is the most "done is better than perfect" category in this list, which makes it a quietly practical entry point into the suite.
EffectCraft vs After Effects
EffectCraft (4,331 stars) targets motion graphics and VFX. Its differentiator is automation: every ArtCraft app can be driven through a CLI, a JSON control channel or an MCP server, and for an After Effects-shaped tool that matters most — render pipelines and batch graphics are exactly where scripts and agents pay off. In development.
DesignCraft vs InDesign
DesignCraft (2,430 stars) is the page layout and publishing app — the InDesign slot. Its practical audience overlaps with Canva users: anyone assembling multi-page documents and layouts who does not want a subscription. In development, and the earliest-stage of the seven official apps.
WordCraft vs Word
WordCraft (2,799 stars) is a clean-room Microsoft Word reimplementation — the app that takes ArtCraft beyond the Adobe narrative entirely. It is on GitHub but not yet described on the official apps page. If it matures, it matters to far more people than any creative tool: everyone who writes documents.
DeckCraft vs PowerPoint
DeckCraft (1,271 stars) covers presentations and slides; its repository self-describes as "part of the ArtCraft Crafting Apps". Pair it with DesignCraft — layout and decks are adjacent workflows, and the two pages link to each other.
Who Should Switch, Who Shouldn't
Switch now if: your task sits in the two early-alpha zones (photo editing via PhotoCraft, PDF work via PdfCraft) and your files are personal or your workflow tolerates an alpha; or you want a free, offline, no-account editor for everyday work. Don't switch yet if: paid production rides on the five still-in-development apps — their time will come, and the release cadence suggests sooner rather than later, but "in development" means what it says. The AI studio is a separate product (AI image/video generation, sign-in required) and is not part of this comparison.
Ready to try the alpha pair on Windows? Head to ArtCraft download for PC for the exact installers.
FAQ
Is ArtCraft better than Adobe?
It is free and open source; whether it is "better" depends on the app and your workflow — two apps are in early alpha and five are still in development.
Is ArtCraft legal?
Yes. The apps are original clean-room Rust implementations under permissive open-source licenses (MIT/Apache-2.0). They are not cracked or pirated Adobe products.
Is ArtCraft really free?
The craft apps are entirely free (Apache-2.0). The AI studio is free to download but asks you to sign in.
Does ArtCraft open my Creative Cloud files?
PhotoCraft opens and saves layered PSD/PSB files (134 of 135 test files round-trip byte-for-byte, per the project). Other apps' format support varies — check each app page.
Can professionals actually use this?
Not for production yet in most cases: only PhotoCraft and PdfCraft have reached early alpha; the other five are still in development.
What's still missing?
The project's own issue trackers and release notes are the honest source — development is moving fast (PhotoCraft shipped v0.6.0 on October 10, 2026 alone), and any fixed list we publish would be stale within weeks.