For years, the choice has been familiar: pay for Microsoft 365, use a free alternative, or make do with the browser version of Word and Excel. Now a developer using AI-assisted coding is attempting something more ambitious — rebuilding the Office experience from scratch and giving the software away.
The projects are called WordCraft, GridCraft and DeckCraft. They are independent, open-source alternatives to Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint, created as part of the ArtCraft software collection. Their source code is public, and the developers are distributing desktop builds for people willing to experiment.
It is a striking demonstration of how quickly software can be assembled with modern AI coding tools. It is also a reminder that producing a familiar-looking application and replacing software people rely on every day are two very different achievements.
Microsoft has not open-sourced Word, Excel or PowerPoint. These are separate projects, not Microsoft products, and they are not affiliated with the company.
What are WordCraft, GridCraft and DeckCraft?
WordCraft is a word processor designed around the familiar Word ribbon, document styles, tables, comments and tracked changes. It can open and save DOCX files and offers exports including PDF. GridCraft aims to reproduce the spreadsheet experience, including formulas, charts and pivot tables, while reading and writing XLSX files. DeckCraft tackles presentations, with slide layouts, transitions and PPTX support.
All three are written in Rust, a programming language commonly used where speed and reliability matter. The ArtCraft team describes the work as a clean-room reimplementation: new code built from publicly available specifications and observation of how established applications behave, rather than a release of Microsoft’s own source code.
Developer Brandon Thomas has attracted attention for the broader ArtCraft collection, which also includes alternatives inspired by Adobe creative software. Reporting by The Register on 8 October and Tom’s Hardware on 11 October connected the new Office-style projects to AI-assisted development using Anthropic’s Claude.
That does not mean a chatbot independently created and verified three production-ready applications. AI may help write and revise code quickly, but the resulting software still needs human decisions, testing, bug fixes and long-term maintenance.
The difficult part isn’t making software look like Word
Open a blank document, type a letter, change the font and save it. Many word processors can handle that. The problems start when someone sends a complicated file created elsewhere.
Consider a university assignment with citations and tracked changes, a small-business budget containing linked formulas, or a presentation that depends on exact fonts and animations. The file may open, yet something important could move, disappear or calculate differently after it is saved.
That is why the developers’ own progress reports deserve closer attention than the feature lists. WordCraft’s public roadmap still describes the application as alpha software and identifies real-world DOCX compatibility, layout fidelity, stability and printing as unfinished work. Its readiness percentages are the team’s estimates, not independent measurements of how many Microsoft Word documents will survive editing without changes.
GridCraft faces a similarly demanding challenge with complex workbooks, especially spreadsheets that depend on specialised functions or automation. DeckCraft must preserve presentation layouts, embedded media and effects across different machines. The ability to open and save DOCX, XLSX or PPTX files is a starting point, not proof of complete compatibility.
The Register reported that WordCraft ran reasonably well during a brief test on an Arm-based Surface device, but stopped short of recommending it for production work. The Tech Boom has not independently installed or benchmarked these applications; the assessment here is based on the developers’ public repositories and published reporting.
Could Australians save money by moving away from Microsoft 365?
Potentially, but not simply because a free download exists.
For an Australian household writing letters, keeping personal notes or preparing simple documents, a capable free office application may be enough. Students and sole traders could also benefit from more choice, particularly if they do not need Microsoft’s cloud storage, collaboration features or advanced Excel workflows.
Yet subscription cost is only one part of the decision. A business that exchanges Word contracts with clients, maintains financial workbooks or prepares presentations for customers needs confidence that files will look and behave as expected. Fixing a damaged spreadsheet or a misformatted document can cost more than the subscription it was meant to replace.
There are also established free options. LibreOffice and ONLYOFFICE have been available for years, while Microsoft offers browser-based versions of some Office applications with free accounts and limitations. ArtCraft’s projects therefore enter an existing market; they are not the first free alternatives to Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
For anyone curious about WordCraft, GridCraft or DeckCraft, the sensible approach is to download only from the official project website or linked GitHub releases, test them with disposable copies of documents and check the results in the original application before sharing anything important. Avoid using early-stage software with confidential client files, sensitive records or critical business spreadsheets until you have assessed its reliability and security.
Why AI-assisted coding is the bigger story
ArtCraft’s most interesting idea may not be a cheaper word processor at all. The applications are designed so that commands can also be operated by software agents, not just by a person clicking buttons.
In principle, an AI assistant could be instructed to create a budget spreadsheet, format a report or assemble a slide deck using the application’s documented commands. WordCraft’s repository describes command-line and Model Context Protocol interfaces intended for this sort of automation.
That connects the project to a broader change in software: AI is being used both to build applications and potentially to operate them. It is a different approach from adding a chatbot panel to an existing product. Readers interested in that distinction can see our explanation of AI agents and our guide to free AI tools.
None of this establishes that Microsoft 365 is about to be displaced. Microsoft has a mature ecosystem of cloud services, collaboration, support and business integrations that three young desktop projects cannot reproduce overnight. But ArtCraft does raise a useful question: if a small team can build convincing versions of familiar applications with AI assistance, how much of tomorrow’s software market will depend on the cost of writing code — and how much will depend on trust, compatibility and support?
For now, WordCraft, GridCraft and DeckCraft are experiments worth watching, not replacements we would recommend for important work. The promise is real enough to investigate. So are the gaps.
Reporting note: This article was prepared from ArtCraft’s public project repositories and roadmaps, together with reporting by The Register and Tom’s Hardware, checked on 12 October 2026. No independent hands-on testing was conducted. Featured image is illustrative, not a screenshot of the applications. Photo: Nick Morrison / Unsplash.
