Free & Open-Source Creative Suite · Updated October 2026
Get the ArtCraft Apps: 12 Free, Open-Source Alternatives to Adobe and Office
ArtCraft is a suite of 12 free, open-source creative apps built in pure Rust — a clean-room alternative to Adobe Creative Cloud and Microsoft Office that you can download today for macOS, Windows, Linux or your browser. This guide shows you how to get the ArtCraft apps, what each of the 12 tools does, and how they honestly compare to the software they aim to replace.
What Is ArtCraft?
ArtCraft is a suite of 12 free, open-source creative apps built in pure Rust that clean-room reimplement the tools most teams pay Adobe and Microsoft for — Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, Lightroom, Acrobat, InDesign, Word, PowerPoint and Excel — plus a Pro Tools-style digital audio workstation and a CAD package.
The suite is developed by the storytold project, which went viral in 2026 when its apps — written largely with AI assistance — drew coverage from Futurism, PetaPixel and Hacker News as a credible open-source answer to subscription pricing. PhotoCraft, the image editor, leads the pack with more than 50,000 GitHub stars, and the project's repositories have over 130,000 combined stars as of October 2026.
Every app is also built for AI agents: a command-line interface, a JSON control channel and an MCP server in each tool mean agents like Claude can open files, apply edits and export results programmatically.
Open source
Every app's code is public on GitHub. PhotoCraft is dual-licensed under MIT and Apache-2.0, and the apps themselves cost nothing — no subscription, no account required.
Native, not wrapped
All 12 apps are written in pure Rust with GPU-accelerated rendering. No Electron shell and no bundled Chromium — small installs, fast startup.
Familiar from day one
Each app clean-room reimplements a tool you already know, so menus, tools and keyboard shortcuts behave the way Photoshop or Office users expect.
Your files, your machine
The editors work locally on your own files. Nothing needs to leave your computer to use the apps.
Agent-ready
Every app exposes a CLI, a JSON control channel and an MCP server, so AI agents like Claude can drive them programmatically.
Also in your browser
11 of the 12 apps compile to WebAssembly and run at getartcraft.com — FilmCraft, the video editor, is the exception.
The 12 Crafting Apps: Full Lineup and Status
Each of the 12 ArtCraft apps targets one professional tool. Two — PhotoCraft and PdfCraft — have reached early alpha; the other ten are in active development. All are free, open source and written in pure Rust, and 11 of 12 also run in the browser.
PhotoCraft
Early alphaImage editor
The open-source image editor you already know how to use: layers, masks, 27 blend modes and real PSD round-trips (307 of 309 files).
VectorCraft
In developmentVector illustration
Fast, open-source vector illustration, reimagined in pure Rust.
FilmCraft
In developmentVideo editor
Professional, open-source video editing, rebuilt from scratch in Rust — the only Crafting App without a browser build.
LightCraft
In developmentPhoto library & raw developer
An open-source photo library and raw developer that runs on your machine.
PdfCraft
Early alphaPDF workbench
The open-source PDF workbench: read, organize, combine, split and secure.
EffectCraft
In developmentMotion graphics & VFX
Open-source motion graphics and visual effects, built in pure Rust.
DesignCraft
In developmentPage layout & publishing
Open-source page layout and publishing, rebuilt in pure Rust.
WordCraft
In developmentWord processing
Fast, open-source word processing, rebuilt in pure Rust.
DeckCraft
In developmentPresentations
Build and deliver dynamic slide presentations, in pure Rust.
GridCraft
In developmentSpreadsheets & data analysis
Fast, open-source spreadsheets and data analysis, rebuilt in pure Rust.
SoundCraft
In developmentDigital audio workstation
Professional audio recording, editing and mixing in pure Rust.
CADCraft
In developmentCAD & drafting
Fast, open-source computer-aided design and drafting in pure Rust.
How to Download and Install ArtCraft Apps
The ArtCraft Launcher is the recommended way to get the apps: it installs every Crafting App and keeps them all up to date. Standalone installers and no-install browser versions are also available.
- 1
Open the ArtCraft apps page
Go to getartcraft.com/apps in your browser. It lists all 12 Crafting Apps with their status, supported platforms and download links.
getartcraft.com/apps - 2
Download the ArtCraft Launcher
Grab the launcher for your operating system — macOS, Windows or Linux (Flatpak). The ArtCraft Launcher installs every Crafting App and keeps them all up to date, so you download once and never chase updates yourself.
- 3
Install the apps you want
Open the launcher and pick your apps. Prefer a single tool? Each app also ships standalone installers on its own page. And 11 of the 12 apps run in the browser via WebAssembly with no install at all — only FilmCraft requires the native build.
Note: the ArtCraft download page lists Windows 10 (64-bit) or newer, macOS 12.0 or newer, 8 GB RAM recommended and 2 GB of storage — a sensible baseline for the native apps too.
ArtCraft vs Adobe (and Office): Tool-by-Tool Comparison
Which ArtCraft app replaces which paid tool — and how ready each one is. Star counts are from the storytold GitHub organization on October 12, 2026.
| ArtCraft app | Replaces | Status (Oct 2026) | Platforms | GitHub stars |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PhotoCraft | Adobe Photoshop | Early alpha | macOS · Windows · Linux · Web | 50,891 |
| VectorCraft | Adobe Illustrator | In development | macOS · Windows · Linux · Web | 7,503 |
| FilmCraft | Adobe Premiere Pro | In development | macOS · Windows · Linux | 10,848 |
| LightCraft | Adobe Lightroom | In development | macOS · Windows · Linux · Web | 10,711 |
| PdfCraft | Adobe Acrobat | Early alpha | macOS · Windows · Linux · Web | 10,425 |
| EffectCraft | Adobe After Effects | In development | macOS · Windows · Linux · Web | 5,463 |
| DesignCraft | Adobe InDesign | In development | macOS · Windows · Linux · Web | 3,203 |
| WordCraft | Microsoft Word | In development | macOS · Windows · Linux · Web | 7,718 |
| DeckCraft | Microsoft PowerPoint | In development | macOS · Windows · Linux · Web | 2,262 |
| GridCraft | Microsoft Excel | In development | macOS · Windows · Linux · Web | 3,379 |
| SoundCraft | Avid Pro Tools | In development | macOS · Windows · Linux · Web | 2,037 |
| CADCraft | Autodesk AutoCAD | In development | macOS · Windows · Linux · Web | 3,067 |
Looking for the spreadsheet in the suite? See our dedicated GridCraft — ArtCraft's Excel alternative guide, or the full ArtCraft vs Adobe comparison.
Can ArtCraft Replace Adobe and Office?
Not yet — but PhotoCraft is already useful. As of October 2026, two of the twelve apps (PhotoCraft and PdfCraft) are in early alpha and the other ten are still in development. For Photoshop-style editing and PSD round-trips, PhotoCraft works today; for everything else, ArtCraft is a suite to watch rather than one to switch to.
PhotoCraft — usable today
Real layers, masks, 27 blend modes and PSD round-trips on 307 of 309 psd-tools files. If you need a free Photoshop-style editor now, this is the one app in the suite ready for daily work.
PdfCraft — early alpha
Fine for reading, organizing, splitting and combining PDFs. Promising, but not yet where you would migrate an entire document workflow.
The other ten apps — in development
Open source, actively built and moving fast, but not ready to replace Illustrator, Premiere Pro, Excel or the rest of the professional stack today.
The practical read: this is one of the fastest-moving open-source projects of 2026. If you only occasionally need an editor, PhotoCraft's browser version is a zero-install option right now. If you have an established Adobe or Office workflow, keep an eye on the suite and check back each release.
Frequently Asked Questions
Get the ArtCraft Apps Today
Twelve free, open-source tools, one launcher. For more tool guides, browse the AIXList resources hub or explore the full AI tools directory.