PhotoCraft is built to feel like Photoshop. The ArtCraft team rebuilt it from scratch in Rust so that Photoshop's menus, panels, tools and shortcuts are where your hands expect them, and so that it opens and saves real PSD files. That makes switching easy. The question is how much of Photoshop it covers today.
The short answer
PhotoCraft is free, open source and already covers a large part of everyday Photoshop work: layers, masks, adjustment layers, layer styles, type, vectors, selections, healing and filters. Photoshop is far more complete. PhotoCraft's own README says it is in early alpha and "not yet a Photoshop replacement for daily professional work".
If you edit images now and then, open PSDs you were sent, or don't want a subscription, PhotoCraft is worth trying today. If Photoshop is your job, keep it and watch PhotoCraft's progress.
Side by side
| PhotoCraft | Photoshop | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Paid Adobe subscription |
| License | Open source (MIT or Apache-2.0) | Proprietary |
| Account needed | No | Adobe account |
| Runs on | Windows, macOS, Linux, FreeBSD, web browser | Windows, macOS, web and iPad versions |
| Works offline | Yes, fully | Desktop app yes, with periodic sign-in |
| PSD files | Opens, edits and saves layered PSD, PSB, 16/32-bit, CMYK, Lab | Native format |
| Adjustment layers | 16 | Full set |
| Tools | 68 | Full set |
| Generative AI | No | Yes |
| Plug-ins | Not compatible yet | Large plug-in ecosystem |
| Scripting | CLI, JSON control channel, MCP server | Actions and scripting |
| Maturity | Early alpha, first release 2 October 2026 | Decades of development |
What PhotoCraft already does well
- Familiar workflow. Shortcuts such as ⌘J (Layer via Copy) and ⇧⌘D (Reselect) work as in Photoshop.
- Non-destructive editing. Adjustment layers, masks and smart objects with smart filters keep your original pixels untouched.
- PSD round trips. The project reports that opening and re-saving keeps the render of 307 of the 309 files in the psd-tools test set, and that 116 of 116 shape layers in its PSD corpus match Photoshop's pixels.
- Speed. A GPU compositor and multithreaded filters; the README cites a radius-180 Gaussian blur on a 3.6-megapixel image in under a second.
- Automation. More than 500 commands, all usable from the command line and an MCP server for AI agents.
Where Photoshop is still ahead
The PhotoCraft README names the biggest gaps itself:
- AI and generative features. There is no generative fill or expand.
- 15 missing tools compared with Photoshop's toolbox.
- Typography and pro workflows. Type works and stays editable, but with less depth.
- Plug-in compatibility. Photoshop plug-ins don't run in PhotoCraft.
The project also notes that every Photoshop menu item is wired to a command, but that this "measures wiring, not behaviour", so some features exist in a simpler form.
Who should switch to PhotoCraft today?
- Hobbyists and students who want layers, masks and adjustments without paying for a subscription.
- Anyone who receives PSD files and needs to open, tweak and export them.
- Linux and FreeBSD users, who don't have a native Photoshop at all.
- Developers who want to script image edits or let an AI agent drive an editor.
Try it first in the browser with the PhotoCraft online editor, then download the desktop app if it fits.