Creative Cloud is easy to start and awkward to leave. The good news is that every app in it now has a free, open source stand-in, and since ArtCraft released its AI-written rewrites of Photoshop, Premiere Pro and the rest, there are two kinds to choose from.

The older projects (GIMP, Inkscape, darktable, Kdenlive) have had years to settle and work differently from Adobe. The new Craft apps copy Adobe’s layout and shortcuts closely, but are early alphas. Most people will want one of each: a steady app for real work and a new one to watch.

Before you cancel

Check which plan you’re on. Annual plans paid monthly can carry a fee for cancelling early; switching off auto-renew and leaving at the end of the year usually avoids it.

Download everything in Creative Cloud storage, and package any open InDesign or Premiere projects with their fonts and media. Fonts activated through Adobe Fonts stop working once the subscription ends, so note which ones your files use.

Save copies in open formats while you still can: PDF for layouts and vectors, TIFF or PNG for finished images, and rendered video for edits you may need to change later.

Photoshop

GIMP is the long-standing free editor and opens PSD files with their layers. Krita is happier as a painting app. Photopea runs in a browser and looks most like Photoshop. PhotoCraft copies Photoshop most closely and saves PSDs back out, but its own readme says it isn’t ready for daily professional work yet.

  • GIMPWindows, Mac, LinuxFreeThe long-standing free photo editor: layers, masks, curves, healing and plug-ins.DownloadWebsite
  • KritaWindows, Mac, LinuxFreeA painting app made by artists, with brushes, layers and animation built in.DownloadWebsite
  • PhotoCraftWindows, Mac, Linux, BrowserAlphaA Photoshop look-alike written in Rust that opens and saves layered PSD files.DownloadWebsite

Illustrator and InDesign

Inkscape handles logos, icons and print, and opens Illustrator files saved with PDF compatibility. Scribus does page layout with print-ready PDF export. VectorCraft and DesignCraft are the Adobe-shaped newcomers.

  • InkscapeWindows, Mac, LinuxFreeVector drawing for logos, icons and print, saving straight to SVG.DownloadWebsite
  • ScribusWindows, Mac, LinuxFreePage layout for magazines, posters and books, with print-ready PDF export.DownloadWebsite
  • VectorCraftWindows, Mac, Linux, BrowserAlphaVector illustration with Illustrator’s tools and shortcuts, rebuilt in Rust.DownloadWebsite
  • DesignCraftWindows, Mac, Linux, BrowserAlphaPage layout and publishing laid out like InDesign, written in Rust.DownloadWebsite

Lightroom

darktable and RawTherapee both develop raw files without touching the originals; darktable also keeps a library. Your Lightroom edits won’t come across, so export finished photos first. LightCraft copies Lightroom’s layout if that matters more to you.

  • darktableWindows, Mac, LinuxFreeA raw photo developer and library that never touches your originals.DownloadWebsite
  • RawTherapeeWindows, Mac, LinuxFreeRaw processing with fine control over colour, detail and noise.DownloadWebsite
  • LightCraftWindows, Mac, Linux, BrowserAlphaA photo library and raw developer laid out like Lightroom, running on your machine.DownloadWebsite

Premiere Pro and After Effects

Kdenlive and Shotcut cover most editing jobs, and Blender does motion graphics, compositing and 3D. Premiere projects don’t open elsewhere, so finish or render them before you go. FilmCraft and EffectCraft follow Adobe’s layout and are moving fast.

  • KdenliveWindows, Mac, LinuxFreeA multitrack video editor with effects, titles and proxy editing for big files.DownloadWebsite
  • ShotcutWindows, Mac, LinuxFreeA straightforward editor that opens almost any format without importing.DownloadWebsite
  • BlenderWindows, Mac, LinuxFreeModelling, sculpting, animation, rendering and even video editing in one app.DownloadWebsite
  • FilmCraftWindows, Mac, LinuxAlphaA Premiere-style editor: source and program monitors, a multitrack timeline and the usual trims.DownloadWebsite
  • EffectCraftWindows, Mac, Linux, BrowserAlphaMotion graphics and visual effects with layers and keyframes, rebuilt in Rust.DownloadWebsite

Acrobat

For merging, splitting and rotating, PDFsam Basic does the job offline. PdfCraft adds reading and securing PDFs in one app.

  • PDFsam BasicWindows, Mac, LinuxFreeMerge, split, rotate and pull pages out of PDFs, offline.DownloadWebsite
  • PdfCraftWindows, Mac, Linux, BrowserAlphaRead, organise, combine, split and secure PDFs.DownloadWebsite

Should you trust the vibe-coded ones?

Try them, but on copies. They were written quickly with an AI coding agent, they are open about being alphas, and features you rely on may be missing or behave differently. Download only from getartcraft.com or the storytold pages on GitHub.

The upside is real: they’re free, native and open, and agents can drive them. If one fits your work today, keep it; if not, check back in a few months.