The appeal is the old bargain
Adobe’s Creative Suite, later renamed Creative Cloud, became a fixture for illustrators, photographers, designers and video editors. Its subscription prices have long been a complaint, and the shift to cloud software ended full offline use.
ArtCraft’s answer is a set of apps designed to feel familiar:
The team says it is reverse-engineering Adobe software to build comparable tools without those drawbacks. The apps also include AI features, but using AI is not required; people who prefer manual workflows may have to close prompt windows.
A prototype is not a professional tool
ArtCraft’s most immediate constraint is maturity. Every app is under active development, and some tools remain in early alpha. That makes it difficult to see the suite as a practical switch for professional users, who will probably need to stay with Adobe for now.
The project’s use of vibe coding has also raised doubts about whether quickly assembled prototypes can become polished, stable software. One participant in the “FuckAdobe” subreddit called the work “impressive,” while warning that AI can help produce prototypes that are not necessarily polished or stable products.
Other Reddit users focused less on how the apps were built. One commenter said they had tried the suite briefly and found it “absolutely amazing”; another said it was long past time to leave Adobe.
The harder part comes next
Adobe’s digital media business is valued at nearly $18 billion. ArtCraft’s four-person team has a long way to go before it can take meaningful share from a business of that scale.
I think the central test is not whether ArtCraft can reproduce familiar screens and features, but whether it can make them dependable enough for work people cannot afford to lose. The project’s low-cost, offline-friendly premise gives users a reason to try it. Its unfinished tools—and the challenge of turning vibe-coded prototypes into stable products—are the harder part of the pitch.
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