“Software is over”: Bold AI developer takes aim at Adobe with open source clones

A software developer has launched a suite of open-source applications designed to replicate the user interfaces and tools of Adobe's popular creative software. Developer Brandon Thomas used Anthropic’s Claude Opus 5.5 model to build clean-room alternatives in Rust for seven Adobe programs, including Photoshop, Illustrator, and Premiere. The free applications are available under MIT and Apache licenses, with WebAssembly versions for browser use.

Thomas stated that he was motivated by frustration with Adobe cancellation fees and aims to achieve complete feature parity within months. While reverse engineering software functionality without directly copying code is generally considered legal, the project could still face scrutiny if its trade dress too closely mirrors Adobe's familiar interface.

Commenters on Hacker News and other platforms have also pointed out that the current software is in a very early alpha state with notable shortcomings. Development is funded through token-based access to Artcraft, a pre-existing visual intelligence model and integrated development environment offered alongside third-party options inside the new apps.