Free AI-built apps now copy Word, Excel and Photoshop

A set of free apps called ArtCraft now copies much of what Word, Excel, PowerPoint and several Adobe programs do. The apps are open source, which means anyone can see and reuse the code. Most were built with the help of AI. A writer at How-To Geek wrote his review in the Word copy and often forgot it was not Word. He still kept his Microsoft 365 subscription.

What ArtCraft offers

Developer Brandon Thomas built, or had AI build, multiple apps in a programming language called Rust. One is PhotoCraft, an image editor with layers, brushes, masks and support for Photoshop (PSD) files. Others aim at Lightroom and Premiere Pro. Three more copy Microsoft's office tools:

• WordCraft, a lookalike for Word.
• GridCraft, a spreadsheet with more than 500 functions and pivot tables.
• DeckCraft, a PowerPoint alternative with animations, transitions and a presenter view.

Why it got attention

Free alternatives are not new. GIMP and OpenOffice have existed for years. The surprise is the scale and speed. ArtCraft covers much of an entire software lineup, including alternatives to Illustrator, After Effects, InDesign and Acrobat Pro. Many of these are copied only to varying degrees. The review says it shows that almost anyone with AI tools, time and enough computing credits can now build something that once took a team of developers a long time.

Where it falls short

The apps are not perfect replacements. The review notes missing features and bugs. In WordCraft, the tool that checks for errors was painful to use compared with Word. More important, WordCraft cannot automatically back up writing to the cloud. The reviewer says Microsoft 365's automatic backup has saved hours of work more than once. He also stays wary of trusting an app that was mostly written by AI prompts.

What it means for your bills

For everyday writing, the review found WordCraft not hugely different from Word. That makes it a possible way to trim a subscription for casual use. For work you cannot afford to lose, the risks are bigger. The review says professionals are unlikely to drop Adobe Creative Cloud for ArtCraft, because relying on an AI-built app for a livelihood is probably unwise.

The build-your-own trend

The writer also points to a bigger shift. A longtime colleague is dropping apps such as ClickUp and Asana and building custom ones that do only what they want. The review argues that as more people build their own tools instead of renting them, the era of the software subscription may be nearing its end. It also says these AI results are the worst they will ever be, since the models keep improving.