Engineer Ships 13 Free Vibe-Coded Clones of Photoshop, Word, and PowerPoint

By Marcus Bennett

Software engineer Brandon Thomas released 13 free, open-source clones of Adobe and Microsoft flagship programs this month through a new website called ArtCraft, including standalone substitutes for Photoshop, Word, and PowerPoint that he has named PhotoCraft, WordCraft, and DeckCraft.

Thomas, who posts on Reddit under the handle "u/ai_art_is_art," disclosed the suite on the platform where it first drew the attention of AI builders. The apps replicate core functions of Photoshop, Microsoft Word, and Microsoft PowerPoint, three flagship products from Adobe and Microsoft respectively.

The release lands in a market that Adobe, Microsoft, and their rivals have spent two decades monetizing through monthly subscriptions. It also arrives during a regulatory reckoning for Adobe, which in March reached a $150 million settlement with the US government over allegations it trapped consumers in subscription plans with hidden fees.

What does "vibe coding" actually mean here?

Vibe coding refers to building software by prompting an AI model rather than hand-writing source code. Practitioners describe the workflow as iterative: describe a feature, let the model generate it, test the result, prompt again.

Apple, the operator of one of the two dominant mobile app stores, has begun treating such tools with greater scrutiny. The company removed several vibe-coding companion apps earlier this year for non-compliance with its developer rules, per CNET's reporting.

Apple's enforcement creates friction for projects like ArtCraft that intend to ship to consumers through the App Store. Thomas's current distribution path is the open web.

What is actually in the ArtCraft suite?

The 13 apps on ArtCraft cover image editing, document drafting, and slide creation at minimum. The named entries are:

• PhotoCraft, a Photoshop analog focused on raster (bitmap pixel) editing
• WordCraft, a Word analog for text formatting and document output
• DeckCraft, a PowerPoint analog for slide composition

The remaining ten apps were not enumerated in the source. The full suite is free under an open-source license, which lets users inspect, modify, and redistribute the underlying source code.

Running an open-source AI model on a personal device gives the user greater control over their data than a cloud subscription through a major vendor. That tradeoff appeals to privacy-conscious consumers and to hobbyists willing to configure their own software.

CNET recommended that prospective users inspect the privacy and safety policies of any vibe-coded application before installing it, calling the precaution "especially important" for that category of software. The outlet did not endorse ArtCraft specifically.

Where does ArtCraft fit in the existing competitive field?

ArtCraft is not the first challenger to Adobe or Microsoft. Canva, Affinity, and CapCut have built sizable user bases as Adobe alternatives for content creation and editing. Google and Apple each ship office suites that compete with Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

The differentiator, the source argues, is ownership. Canva and Affinity still require subscriptions, even when their pricing undercuts Adobe's. ArtCraft is free and user-modifiable, which lets individuals avoid handing over cash and data to a major vendor.

What legal risks does the project carry?

Copyright and licensing exposure for vibe-coded replicas is unresolved. Blake Stimac, a vibe coding expert writing for CNET, framed the threat succinctly.

"Vibe coding can make it super easy to swap out old software tools, but it's legally questionable," Stimac said. "What works great for you as a quick fix could easily turn into a legal battlefield the second you try to share it with the world."

The warning maps onto a broader pattern. Adobe and Microsoft have historically pursued legal action against competitors that clone proprietary interfaces or workflows. Tests of those boundaries have produced mixed verdicts over the past decade.

Representatives for ArtCraft and Adobe did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Microsoft declined to comment.

Why is the timing of this launch notable?

Adobe's $150 million settlement with the US Department of Justice closed in March and reset the company's standing with regulators. Under the terms, Adobe will pay a $75 million civil penalty and provide $75 million in free services to affected users. Adobe continues to deny any wrongdoing.

The settlement is a direct vindication of consumer frustration with subscription pricing. It also reopens the question of what a paying customer receives in return.

Microsoft has taken a separate path. The company has embedded its Copilot AI assistant throughout Windows, Microsoft 365, and the Edge browser. Users pushed back against several embedded features. Microsoft removed a small number of Windows AI capabilities in response. The company is still allocating billions of dollars to AI development, with capital expenditure guidance exceeding analyst expectations in recent quarters.

Could ArtCraft actually displace the incumbents?

No, not at scale. Three structural limits protect Adobe and Microsoft.

First, enterprise customers buy indemnification (legal protection against third-party intellectual property claims) and audit trails that open-source projects cannot match. Large-company procurement officers require software vendors to carry insurance and maintain support contracts. ArtCraft provides neither.

Second, professional creators depend on file compatibility. Design agencies must produce PSD (Photoshop Document) files that other Photoshop users can open. Microsoft Office files use complex formats such as DOCX, XLSX, and PPTX (the current Word, Excel, and PowerPoint file standards) that change between versions. Thomas's suite may handle these formats. The source did not specify compliance with current Office or Creative Cloud specifications.

Third, friction matters. Setting up an open-source AI application requires downloading dependencies (supporting software libraries the program needs to run), configuring model weights (the numerical parameters that govern an AI model's behavior), and troubleshooting errors. Many consumers will not invest that time.

What changes if open-source clones go mainstream?

The deeper question is what happens when a critical mass of users adopts vibe-coded clones. Each new adopter becomes a data point that generative AI tools have become sufficient for common productivity work. That conclusion pressures Adobe and Microsoft to justify pricing and feature roadmaps.

The ArtCraft launch is not evidence of critical mass. It is one engineer, 13 apps, and a Reddit post.

But the launch sits inside a year in which Adobe settled a $150 million subscription lawsuit, Apple began ejecting vibe-coding tools from its store, and Microsoft pulled AI features after user complaints. Each event points in the same direction: the contract between legacy software vendors and their users is under renegotiation.

For now, ArtCraft is a working proof that the cost barrier to a personal productivity stack has collapsed, and that the legal cost of providing one has not.