Adobe price from its US help pages, before tax, checked 25 Oct 2026. Timing from PhotoCraft's command line tool, Linux, 25 Oct 2026, an 800 by 534 test photo.
One email. No follow-up unless I ship something that fits.
Read firstThese five apps are young. The makers call PhotoCraft early alpha and say it is not yet a Photoshop replacement for daily professional work. Keep your Adobe plan until a job has run clean in the free app. The pairings below, such as Photoshop to PhotoCraft, are my own, not an official map.
THE FIVE APPS
What each one replaces, and how ready it says it is
All five come from the ArtCraft team, are free, and run on Mac, Windows and Linux. Readiness figures are the makers' own estimates from each README, read on 25 Oct 2026. VectorCraft and FilmCraft say theirs were measured on 10 Oct 2026.
Photoshop
Free app:PhotoCraft What its README says: Image editing with layers, masks, adjustment layers, brushes and real PSD files. Makers' own readiness: Early alpha. Not yet for daily pro work.
Premiere Pro
Free app:FilmCraft What its README says: Non linear video editing, colour and sound. Makers' own readiness: About 56% ready for real work.
Illustrator
Free app:VectorCraft What its README says: Vector illustration. Makers' own readiness: About 65% for a mainstream illustrator.
Lightroom
Free app:LightCraft What its README says: Photo library and raw development. Makers' own readiness: About 51% for a typical working photographer.
After Effects
Free app:EffectCraft What its README says: Motion graphics and visual effects, with 306 effects. Makers' own readiness: About 45% of the way to full pro production.
INSTALL
Get each app, any system
The easy way is each app's page on getartcraft.com. The same builds sit on GitHub under releases/latest, and the file names follow one pattern.
Linux catchOn a very bare Linux box, PhotoCraft's window failed to start for me with a missing libxkbcommon X11 library error. A normal desktop install usually has it. On Wayland, dragging a file onto the window does not work yet. Use File, Open, or copy the image and paste it.
THE ONE PAGE SWITCH CHECKLIST
Which jobs to move first
Three jobs, in this order. Do one, check the result against your Adobe version, then move on. Never point a new tool at your only copy of a file.
Job 1Resize ad imagesPhotoCraft. Open the ad, choose Image Size, set the width your ad platform asks for, then use Export As. It shows a preview and a file size estimate. Done when the export looks the same as the Photoshop export at a glance.
Job 2Cut out a product shotPhotoCraft. Use Object Selection or Select Subject, then turn the selection into a layer mask. Zoom to 200% and check hair, glass and shadows. Done when the edges hold up on a white and a dark background.
Job 3Cut a short videoFilmCraft. Import the clip, cut it with the razor tool or add edit (⌘K on Mac), then export as H.264 MP4 with AAC. Done when the file plays on your phone with sound in sync.
Before you move a real file: make a copy of the PSD, open the copy, and compare layers, fonts and effects against the original. PhotoCraft says it opens real PSD files. Test yours, because fonts and plug ins are known gaps.
Not run by meI ran PhotoCraft's command line tool, shown below. I did not run the desktop windows for any of the five, so the menu steps above follow the READMEs and use Photoshop's menu names.
A REAL RUN
The tool works from the terminal too
PhotoCraft ships a command line tool, photocraft-cli, in the same download. This is what it did on my Linux machine with version 0.15.1, using an 800 by 534 test photo.
convert a photocaptured 25 Oct 2026
photocraft-cli convert in.jpg out.psdreal 0m0.042sout.psd 2.17 MB, one layer named Background
resize one imagesame run
photocraft-cli run in.jpg --cmd image.imageSize --params '{"width":400}' --out half.jpg{"command":"image.imageSize","result":{"height":267,"width":400}}
The batch command is the one to try for resizing a whole folder of ads. It refuses to write over your originals unless you add --in-place.
Read it rightThis proves the tool installs and resizes on one machine. It does not prove PhotoCraft matches Photoshop on your files.
WHAT WILL TRIP YOU
Six things to know before you rely on it
FilmCraft cannot open a Premiere project
No .prproj import yet, per its README. Bring sequences over as FCP7 XML, AAF or OTIO.
EffectCraft is not an After Effects plug in host
The README lists no After Effects SDK plug in support. Your paid plug ins will not load. Check its own gaps page before planning a motion job.
PhotoCraft gaps, in its own words
AI and generative features, 15 missing tools, depth in typography and pro workflows, and plug in compatibility. Expect rough edges.
A fresh Linux box will not open the window
Install the libxkbcommon X11 library. The command line tool needs no window at all.
Wayland drag and drop
Files dropped on the window do not open yet. Use File, Open, or copy the image and paste it.
The licence line differs by source
The README badge says MIT or Apache 2.0, and GitHub lists Apache 2.0. Either way it is free to use. Read the LICENSE file in the repo if it matters to you.
Free means freeNo account, no subscription and no card, per the READMEs. They are donation and community projects, so there is no support desk and no guarantee. Keep Adobe for any job where a missed deadline costs money.
A SENSIBLE ORDER
Start here, then stop where it stops working
Week one: PhotoCraft, resize and cutout jobs on copies.
Week two: FilmCraft for one short clip, only if the video job is small.
Later: LightCraft, VectorCraft and EffectCraft once the first two are comfortable. Their makers rate them between about 45% and 65% ready.
My rule: cancel nothing until a job has run clean three times in a row. Annual plans bill monthly, so check your cancellation date first.
THE PRICE YOU ARE COMPARING
What you would stop paying
Adobe lists Creative Cloud Pro at US$69.99 a month on its annual plan billed monthly, US$104.99 month to month, and US$54.99 for Creative Cloud Standard. Prices exclude tax and vary by country. Source: Adobe help pages, checked 25 Oct 2026. Check Adobe's current page before you decide.
SOURCES AND DATES
Where these facts come from
PhotoCraft, FilmCraft, VectorCraft, LightCraft and EffectCraft READMEs and releases, read 25 Oct 2026. Latest releases on 23 Oct 2026: PhotoCraft 0.15.1, FilmCraft 0.12.0, VectorCraft 0.16.0, LightCraft 0.13.0, EffectCraft 0.16.0.
GitHub stars on 25 Oct 2026: PhotoCraft 72,466, FilmCraft 16,119, VectorCraft 10,615, LightCraft 14,565, EffectCraft 7,851. Stars show interest, not quality.
All five repos list Apache 2.0 on GitHub, none archived, all pushed within the last day on 25 Oct 2026.
Adobe prices: Adobe help pages for changing to an individual plan, updated February 2026, checked 25 Oct 2026.
That is the whole thing
Move one small job, check it against Adobe, and keep the subscription until the free app has earned it. The makers are open about the gaps. So am I.
I'm Raj Singh. I've led ecommerce at two Fortune 100 companies, and at one of them I ran about $8M a year in ads for four years. I've worked with AI since 2019. Now my engineering team and I ship AI products, including debtops.ai. Each guide here is written from a real install, with the output dated.
