Free AI-Made Photoshop Clones Could End Adobe Subscriptions

A software developer named Brandon Thomas has used AI to build free, open-source versions of Adobe's most popular creative apps, including Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere, and Acrobat. He announced seven new apps under his Artcraft brand, claiming they replicate the look and tools of Adobe's software. Thomas says he used Anthropic's Claude AI to reverse-engineer Adobe's programs, creating 'clean-room' replacements that don't copy code directly. The apps are written in Rust, a fast programming language, and can run in a web browser.

For anyone who pays for Adobe's Creative Cloud, which costs hundreds of dollars a year, this could mean big savings. Thomas says he was inspired by frustration with Adobe's cancellation fees. His apps are completely free under open-source licenses. He plans to fund development by selling access to his existing AI image-generation tool, so the project won't be abandoned. He promises '100% feature parity within a month,' though he later admitted it might take months, not years, to reach 99% parity.

However, the software is currently in a 'super early alpha' state, meaning it's buggy and missing many features. Early users have pointed out numerous shortcomings. Also, while reverse-engineering is generally legal, Adobe could sue if the apps copy Adobe's distinctive interface too closely, a legal concept called 'trade dress.' Thomas remains confident, saying AI will let developers replace paid software with free alternatives, 'take back the internet,' and 'de-enshittify the entire tech world.'