How AI apps are offering free substitutes for Big Tech software

Aljazeera ^ | October 14, 2026 | Edna Mohamed

[fireman15]

As AI development rapidly expands, people are replicating paid-for desktop and mobile apps with free apps, potentially changing the future of legacy software.

Last week, a Reddit user named Brandon Thomas shared a project called “ArtCraft” – essentially a free rebuild of the Adobe Creative Suite, which includes programmes such as Photoshop and Adobe PDF. The recreated services have been named PhotoCraft and PdfCraft.

This software package usually costs individuals $779.99 per year if paid upfront or $69.99 per month on an annual contract.

Earlier this week, ArtCraft also released copies of the Microsoft Office suite.

As with the Adobe package, ArtCraft has announced WordCraft, DeckCraft, and GridCraft, taking on Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. While the software engineer behind the new packages is based in the United States, the programmes are available worldwide.

Here’s what we know:

---

TOPICS: Business/Economy; Computers/Internet; Hobbies; Science
KEYWORDS: adobe; ai; artcraft; windows

[fireman15]

This is the introduction to an article that I found interesting.

I have been using Photoshop since version 2.5 that was released in 1992. It came with Kai's Power Tools This was the first edition which was ported to Windows. At the time its features were astounding. I used them with a PC that I had built specifically for desktop publishing, along with a scanner. When Epson released its first color ink jet printer, the Epson Stylus Color in 1994, the setup provided incredible capabilities for the time period.

I could not tell you how much money that I spent on Adobe products over the next couple of decades. I jumped off the Adobe train in 2013 when they switched to an all-subscription business model. So, I have never used the most recent versions. I downloaded the ArtCraft clone of photoshop last week, and although it is obviously a pre-beta version with few advanced features actually working... it was very impressive and since it went viral new improvements have been arriving daily. Ironically, they already have their own subscription service which at this point is a fraction of what Adobe charges and is optional. And you can actually use the photoshop clone online without downloading if you prefer.

[fireman15]

I must admit that I have spent a lot of time and money this last year experimenting with a wide variety of AI services, paid, local, and by running open-source LLMs on rented remote Virtual Machines. I have been very skeptical about the horror scenarios presented and also calling a tool with basically no actual reasoning abilities “super-intelligence”. But this and other software which is developed using AI tools is a very impressive implementation.

[dfwgator]

But there’s one thing they don’t have, and that’s legal recourse if it causes your business from going under because of the use of apps.

[Bob434]

a lot of online articles calling it a rip off clone, but it’s written in an entirely different platform- so not an actual clone- (clone is an exact duplicate). There is another imitator photoshop and lightroom too called Photon- The lightroom version opens, but can’t open photos- the photoshop photon works well- We’ll see which one comes closest to a true photoshop and lightroom (and other apps as well) alternative- right now both company’s selection tools aint really that great-

I think probably products like DXO and OnOne, and other such softwares and such are likely gonna be replicated too eventually-

[Pontiac]

If AI could make Adobe PDF less glitchy and reduce its memory and processing usage it would be a true service to humanity.

[fireman15]

a lot of online articles calling it a rip off clone, but it's written in an entirely different platform- so not an actual clone-

Yes, we have already switched over to other open-source software to replace other suites such as Microsoft Office who have switched to subscription models. These supposed “clones” are not as mature as other open-source projects... The interesting aspect is the movement toward “vibe coding” where plain language is used to do the initial coding and then it is manually cleaned up by programmers.

The legal question is likely going to be more about the appearance and menu structure than actual function. It reminds me of Non Linear Video editing programs. I started out with Adobe Premiere, when High-Definition equipment became available I switched over to open source and less expensive suites and found that although they didn't look the same and I had to learn a different menu structure and keyboard shortcuts, the functionality and the concepts were the same.

This development team is getting a lot of attention from their project and the story. I doubt that things are going to change that much very in the short term, but in the long term these companies that hope to profit from subscription services might be losing a lot of customers. This is especially true of persons similar to me who have no real need for the latgest bells and whistles.

[fireman15]

If AI could make Adobe PDF less glitchy and reduce its memory and processing usage it would be a true service to humanity.

I was speaking to a friend this morning about this. He is involved in a business where he is constantly using PDFs. He already has a routine where he uses Libre Office with PDF files which works very well for him. I just haven't had the need to work as much with PDF files although to the extent that he does.

It might be getting to the point where you should be exploring other options.

[Pontiac]

Fortunately I do not have to use PDFs to the extent I once did.

I am an iOS user and PDFs are extremely glitchy in in iOS.

But when dealing with government forms in PDF I prefer to fill in the forms in a PDF editor rather than print the form and fill it in by hand.

If AI can come up with a Freeware PDF editor that runs smoothly in iOS that would be great.

Oh, it would be nice if that AP didn’t have any malware implanted in it, I don’t need AI putting a backdoor in my Laptop.

[fireman15]

If AI can come up with a Freeware PDF editor that runs smoothly in iOS that would be great.

The closest thing seems to be Stirling-PDF on GitHub. “#1 PDF Application on GitHub that lets you edit PDFs on any device anywhere”

https://www.stirling.com/

I have basically no familiarity with IOS, so I am the last person you should be looking to for this type of advice.

Oh, it would be nice if that AP didn't have any malware implanted in it, I don't need AI putting a backdoor in my Laptop.

Since this set of “Adobe Clones” has gone viral... if there is malware or a backdoor, we are fairly likely to hear about it soon.

[Pontiac]

Thanks I’ll check it out.

[P8riot]

Today at lunch, a friend of mine designed and sold a logo and label for a local business in about 3 minutes using AI. He said that before AI the same job would take him several days.