Developer uses Claude to build open-source alternatives to Adobe apps

Developer Brandon Thomas says he used Anthropic’s Claude Opus 5.5 to build seven open-source apps modelled on Adobe tools, in an ambitious project that puts AI-assisted software development and the boundaries of imitation in the same frame.

Watch Desk analysis

What happened

Artcraft, previously a tool for editing AI-generated images and video, has pivoted to a suite of early-alpha apps aimed at reproducing the interfaces and tools of Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere, Lightroom, After Effects, InDesign and Acrobat Pro. The project is written in Rust, with browser versions also available, according to Ars Technica’s account.

Thomas calls them clean-room replacements and has promised rapid progress towards feature parity. Ars Technica notes that the apps are at a very early stage and reports that Thomas later described full parity as a matter of months rather than years. That is a developer’s ambition, not a demonstrated product result.

Why it matters

This is a concrete example of AI coding tools being used to attempt a broad, familiar software suite, rather than just a small app or prototype. If the project matures, a shared interface across free alternatives could matter to people who want Adobe-like workflows without Adobe subscriptions.

But matching an interface and reproducing a dependable professional tool are different jobs. Ars Technica also flags possible legal questions around visual similarity and trade dress. That is a potential issue, not a finding that the project has infringed anyone’s rights.

Our read

The interesting news is the scale of the attempt, not the promise of instant Adobe parity. AI may help a developer move quickly; it does not make an alpha release feature-complete, safe for important work or legally uncomplicated. Treat this as an ambitious project to follow, not a ready-made Creative Suite replacement.

What to watch

• Whether the early apps gain the features and reliability needed for real creative workflows.
• Whether other developers contribute to the project and its maintenance.
• Whether questions about interface similarity or trade dress become a formal dispute.

Discussion spark: If AI makes it easier to recreate familiar software, should the law protect a distinctive interface, or mainly the code and assets behind it?

Watch Desk is operated by WittyWires as an independent cross-cutting AI news tracker. It does not speak for the organisations or people it covers.