Open-source apps challenge Adobe and Office
Developer publishes free Rust programmes, but the software is still in an early alpha phase.
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An open-source project has published new programmes that replicate features of Adobe and Microsoft Office apps. The creator presents them as standalone alternatives, but the projects are not yet ready for professional use and compatibility with existing files is still being tested.
The ArtCraft project is being developed by the team behind several public GitHub repositories. In recent weeks, PhotoCraft, VectorCraft, LightCraft, FilmCraft and PdfCraft appeared as open-source programmes for creative tasks. They were joined by WordCraft, GridCraft and DeckCraft for documents, spreadsheets and presentations.
The programmes are written in Rust and released under open licences. WordCraft focuses on opening and saving, among other things, docx files. According to the project documentation, GridCraft supports xlsx files and includes functions for formulas, tables, charts and pivot tables. DeckCraft focuses on presentations and supports, among other things, pptx import and export.
The developers call their programmes clean-room reimplementations. By this they mean that the software was built independently on the basis of publicly available specifications and observed behaviour, without copying Adobe or Microsoft source code. The names of the commercial programmes are used to describe their purpose and compatibility; the developers stress that the projects are not affiliated with Adobe or Microsoft.
The main limitation is the stage of development. WordCraft describes itself as an alpha project and estimates its functional similarity to Word at around 62 per cent. The developers themselves point to missing or not yet fully tested components, such as complex documents, printing, charts, SmartArt and some formatting functions. Being able to open a file also does not mean that every edit can be saved again without loss.
Attention for the project is partly due to the use of AI in its development. According to reporting about ArtCraft, developer Brandon Thomas used AI coding assistance, while there is no complete public build log. This makes the projects relevant to the discussion about programmer productivity, but in itself says nothing about the quality, security or legal viability of the final programmes.
For users, open software can be attractive because no subscription or licence server is required and some functions can work locally. For organisations, other questions also matter: support, security updates, file fidelity, privacy and liability. The coming months will show above all whether the apps progress beyond demonstrations and small test projects.
One story, several perspectives
What is established
- ArtCraft publishes several open-source programmes that attempt to replicate functions of commercial creative and office software.
- The main projects are still under development and identify their own limitations in compatibility and completeness.
- Open licences, local processing and support are business and societal choices alongside technical performance.
Left
Arguments Emphasises that public and open technology can reduce concentrations of power and dependence on subscriptions. AI can make programming work cheaper, provided creators’ and workers’ rights are protected.
Values Digital autonomy, affordability, accessibility and a fair distribution of productivity gains.
Consequences Fears that large software companies will close off the market and that unsupervised AI development will put jobs, privacy and creative work under pressure.
Centre
Arguments Wants to make room for open innovation, but calls for testing, security standards, clear licences and reliable support before organisations switch. Compatibility must be demonstrable, not merely promised.
Values Practical reliability, consumer protection and innovation without unnecessary barriers.
Consequences Fears both vendor lock-in and a proliferation of immature software on which institutions will later be unable to build.
Right
Arguments Sees competition and entrepreneurship as the best way to constrain subscription prices and market power. Regulation should prevent open-source developers from being discouraged by unclear copyright rules.
Values Competition, property rights, freedom of contract and technological progress.
Consequences Fears that onerous AI or copyright rules will mainly affect small developers and protect established market leaders.
The perspectives describe how these political currents typically approach the subject; the newsroom takes no position on which perspective is right.
Fact-check Approved · Nour Haddad — AI agent
This check was carried out by AI: every claim was re-tested against the sources. Even an approved article can contain errors — stay critical.
The repositories, technology, licences and limitations described were checked against the project pages and an independent technical review. The text does not present the programmes as full replacements and attributes the AI claim.
- confirmed ArtCraft has published open-source programmes for creative applications and Office-like tasks. — The public organisation page and repositories show several of these projects. source
- confirmed WordCraft is written in Rust and focuses on Word-compatible workflows. — This is stated in the repository’s project description. source
- confirmed GridCraft supports xlsx files and functions such as formulas, tables and charts. — The repository lists these functions and the xlsx format. source
- confirmed WordCraft is in an alpha phase and estimates its functional similarity to Word at around 62 per cent. — The project’s current roadmap gives this status and estimate. source
- confirmed The developer used AI coding assistance on the project. — Tbreak describes this as part of the development; the wording in the article remains attributed. source
Editor's note
The existence of the repositories, the licences and the alpha phase cited by the creators can be established with confidence. Claims about AI use are attributed to reporting; the projects publish no complete independent audit of performance, security or compatibility.Sources
- ArtCraft Apps and Open Source Tools — ArtCraft / GitHub
- WordCraft: open-source reimplementation of Microsoft Word — ArtCraft / GitHub
- GridCraft: open-source spreadsheet in pure Rust — ArtCraft / GitHub
- ArtCraft takes on Microsoft Office with three free, open-source apps — Tbreak
More on this in Dutch media
- Tweakers — „open source”
- AD — „open source”
- RTL Nieuws — „open source”