ArtCraft: the free, open-source Adobe alternative

Updated 2026-10-13

ArtCraft is a set of free, open-source creative apps written in Rust that went viral in early October 2026 as an “Adobe alternative”. This page sums up what each app is, how ready it really is, and where the official downloads live.

Official ArtCraft apps page

ArtCraft apps and the Adobe tools they replace

Status labels are the ones shown on the official getartcraft.com/apps page when we checked on October 13, 2026.

The “closest app” column for the seven Adobe-style apps follows coverage by CineD and PetaPixel; the Microsoft mappings follow how the apps are commonly described. ArtCraft itself describes each app by category, not by the product it replaces.

What is ArtCraft?

ArtCraft started as an open-source desktop studio for AI image and video generation. In early October 2026 developer Brandon Thomas published a family of “Crafting Apps” — native desktop programs written from scratch in Rust that mirror the layout and shortcuts of Adobe’s Creative Cloud tools. He says much of the code was written with Anthropic’s Claude Opus 5.5 and describes the apps as a “clean-room” reimplementation containing no Adobe code.

The official site lists the shared principles: every line on GitHub under permissive licenses; native apps with “no Electron, no web views”; familiar layouts and shortcuts; everything runs locally on your own files; and every app can be driven from a CLI, a JSON control channel or an MCP server for automation and AI agents.

The launch spread fast. LinuxCompatible reported the PhotoCraft repository passing 20,000 GitHub stars within hours and reaching roughly 43,000 by October 11.

Is ArtCraft actually usable yet?

Honest answer: for curiosity and testing, yes; for paid production work, not yet.

• Thomas himself wrote on Hacker News that the apps are “not anywhere close to ready”, and said he had not planned to make the repositories public this early (CineD, Visualounge).
• Gizmodo’s hands-on with PhotoCraft, as summarized by Visualounge, found lasso, feather, paste, levels and colour correction working as expected, while Free Transform behaved erratically.
• Early users quoted by LinuxCompatible reported noticeable glitches, unpredictable tool behaviour and performance hiccups.
• The first announcement promised “100% parity within a month”; after pushback this was revised to 99% parity within months (CineD).

The project is paying bug bounties and inviting contributors, so expect rapid change — check the release notes before judging any single build.

How to get ArtCraft safely

1. Go to the official source
   Use getartcraft.com/apps or the storytold GitHub organization. Third-party “mirror” sites with similar names are not the official project.
2. Pick the Launcher or a single app
   The official recommendation is the ArtCraft Launcher, which installs every app and keeps them updated. Each app also has its own installers.
3. Verify and install
   Releases ship a SHA256SUMS.txt file — compare the checksum before running an installer. Full details on our download page.

More on this site

FAQ

Is ArtCraft really free?

Yes. The Crafting Apps are free and open source. ArtCraft makes money from a separate, optional AI generation studio that sells credits and subscriptions; the desktop apps do not require it.

Is ArtCraft made by Adobe?

No. ArtCraft is an independent open-source project and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Adobe. The apps are reimplementations written in Rust.

Which ArtCraft apps replace which Adobe apps?

PhotoCraft → Photoshop, VectorCraft → Illustrator, FilmCraft → Premiere Pro, LightCraft → Lightroom, EffectCraft → After Effects, DesignCraft → InDesign, PdfCraft → Acrobat Pro.

Does ArtCraft work on Linux?

Yes. The official pages list Linux builds (Flatpak, AppImage, .deb, .rpm and tarballs for x86_64 and ARM64 on the PhotoCraft and VectorCraft pages) alongside macOS and Windows.

Can PhotoCraft open PSD files?

The official PhotoCraft page says it opens and saves layered PSD and PSB documents and that 134 of 135 real-world test files round-trip byte for byte. That is the project’s own claim, not an independent test.

Is ArtCraft safe to install?

The code is public and releases include SHA-256 checksums. Download only from getartcraft.com or github.com/storytold and verify the checksum. Remember it is alpha software: keep backups of any files you open with it.

Is ArtCraft legal?

The developer describes it as a clean-room reimplementation with no Adobe code or assets. Commentators note that this addresses copyright but leaves patent and trade-dress questions open. No legal action had been reported in the coverage we read as of October 13, 2026.

Do I need AI or an account to use the apps?

No. Futurism reports that the apps include AI features but AI use is not required, and LightCraft is described as having “no account, no cloud, no telemetry, no subscription”.

Sources

• ArtCraft — Crafting Apps (official)
• CineD — ArtCraft Releases Free Open-Source Adobe Alternatives
• Futurism (Oct 8, 2026)
• LinuxCompatible (Oct 11, 2026)
• Visualounge — Seven Adobe Apps, Rebuilt in Rust

Unofficial, independent guide. Not affiliated with ArtCraft, storytold / Storyteller.ai, or Adobe Inc. Adobe, Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, Lightroom, After Effects, InDesign and Acrobat are trademarks of Adobe. We host no software — all downloads link to the official project.