ArtCraft Is Challenging the Software Giants

By Suad Seferi · 12 October 2026

A developer has used artificial intelligence to build free alternatives to some of the world's most established software applications. After targeting Adobe's creative tools, the project has expanded to Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint. The applications are far from finished. But the development raises a question that goes beyond software pricing: what happens when customers who have spent years depending on a company's products discover that building alternatives is becoming easier? From Adobe to Microsoft Brandon Thomas, an experienced software developer behind the ArtCraft project, has attracted attention for creating open-source alternatives to applications such as Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and Premiere Pro. Using Anthropic's Claude to accelerate development, Thomas has helped create a growing collection of applications written in Rust, designed to reproduce familiar professional workflows without proprietary subscription requirements. The project has now expanded to Microsoft Office with three applications: WordCraft, an alternative to Microsoft Word. GridCraft, a spreadsheet application modelled on Excel. DeckCraft, a presentation tool inspired by PowerPoint. The source code is publicly available on GitHub. ArtCraft's website currently lists 12 applications spanning image editing, video production, documents, spreadsheets, presentations, audio and computer-aided design. Thomas is not someone who discovered programming through a few AI prompts. Reporting by Tom's Hardware identifies him as a developer with approximately 15 years of software engineering experience. That distinction matters. AI has accelerated the development process, but the project should not be mistaken for evidence that engineering experience has become unnecessary. The applications are also designed to operate locally, with support for several operating systems. Their architecture includes command-line controls and Model Context Protocol (MCP) interfaces, allowing AI agents to interact directly with the software. That last feature deserves attention. ArtCraft is trying to reproduce familiar applications while making them accessible to a different kind of user: software agents capable of carrying out tasks on someone's behalf. We tested the applications AI Balkans also tested a selection of the ArtCraft applications. Our initial experience was remarkably positive. The applications we tried worked smoothly, demonstrating that these projects are more than attractive interface concepts or screenshots circulating on social media. This was an initial hands-on assessment, not an exhaustive technical evaluation. We did not establish full compatibility with Adobe or Microsoft products, nor did we perform a comprehensive assessment of security, accessibility, performance under heavy workloads or professional reliability. Those distinctions are important. ArtCraft's own documentation acknowledges substantial limitations. WordCraft's maintainers estimate that the application is approximately 60% of the way towards fully replacing Word for real work. GridCraft is estimated at around 50%, while DeckCraft is approximately 55% ready by the project's own assessments. These are developer estimates rather than independently verified benchmarks. A presentation application that can create slides is not necessarily ready to manage a complex corporate presentation. A spreadsheet that supports formulas still needs to preserve calculations, formatting and large workbooks reliably. Professional image editing demands accurate file handling, colour management and consistent results. ArtCraft is still alpha software, and its developers say so. Yet there is a substantial difference between an unfinished project that barely functions and one that already performs useful work while development continues. Our experience suggests these applications deserve serious attention, even if recommending them as complete replacements would be premature. The consequences of changing the rules For years, companies such as Adobe and Microsoft have operated from positions of considerable market strength. Their products are deeply embedded in education, business, government and creative industries. Files, training programmes, established workflows and collaboration practices make switching difficult, even when users become dissatisfied. This creates a degree of protection that newer software developers rarely enjoy. It also creates a risk. In 2025, Adobe changed its Creative Cloud individual plans, introducing Creative Cloud Pro and revised pricing in affected markets. Microsoft subsequently announced changes to commercial Microsoft 365 subscription prices, effective July 2026, alongside additional capabilities. PDFCraft Preview Both companies presented their changes as part of continuing investment in product development and customer value. There are legitimate costs associated with maintaining complex software, providing security updates, operating cloud infrastructure and supporting enterprise customers. Nevertheless, customers judge those decisions according to their own needs and budgets. Adobe's subscription practices have also faced regulatory scrutiny. In March 2026, the company announced a settlement with the US Department of Justice concerning allegations about subscription disclosures and cancellation practices. Adobe denied wrongdoing while agreeing to a $75 million payment and $75 million in services for eligible customers. None of this establishes that ArtCraft users have abandoned Adobe or Microsoft in significant numbers. There is no reliable evidence yet of such a migration. What it does establish is the commercial environment in which alternatives are emerging. For an established software company, changing a subscription policy may be relatively straightforward. Recovering a customer's confidence can be much harder. And if dissatisfaction encourages developers to create alternatives, reversing the original decision does not make those…