ArtCraft Creator Unveils Open Source Excel, PowerPoint and Word Clones

Office Clones Join the ArtCraft Suite

Brandon Thomas, the developer behind ArtCraft, a suite of open source creative tools that replicate Adobe applications for free, has announced a new set of programs aimed at Microsoft Office. The apps, named GridCraft, DeckCraft and WordCraft, are replications of Excel, PowerPoint and Word respectively, and were created with Claude. Thomas shared the new clones to the ArtCraft GitHub repository, making them free for anyone to download.

Cross Platform Support as a Core Feature

One of the biggest pain points for the software ArtCraft replaces is operating system compatibility. Adobe applications run on MacOS and Windows, while Linux users need additional compatibility layers and Windows emulation. ArtCraft instead runs all of its software across the three platforms while delivering an identical user experience regardless of OS, which is part of the parity the project wants to achieve. The project also positions itself against the online only model of free tools such as Google Sheets, Docs and Slides, arguing that browser based access takes away the ownership aspect of the software, with the fear that the tools could one day suddenly require a subscription and users would have no say in it.

A Response to Subscription Criticism

Microsoft sits among the most criticized companies for its business practices, similar to Adobe. Products that were once sold as one time purchases now arrive as subscription packages containing tools many users do not need, with overlapping features and uses that some see as wasted subscription value. According to the report, Thomas is not only creating open source alternatives but is also creating a targeted protest against these practices. After ArtCraft became popular, many criticisms followed about vibecoded software and AI slop, to which Thomas responded on his X account by saying that he does know how to code. The report identifies the Reddit user u/ai_art_is_art as Thomas, a software engineer with 15 years of experience.

Autodesk May Be Next

ArtCraft's Discord community is growing very quickly, with members constantly recommending other software they would like to see replaced. CADcraft is commonly discussed among 3D printing and engineering enthusiasts who do not like Autodesk, mirroring the sentiment toward Microsoft and Adobe. The report notes that Autodesk tools and other subscription based services may come next. Most of these apps are still far from what they intend to replace, however, so it remains to be seen how far the effort will go.

Sources: Tom'S Hardware