VectorCraft: ArtCraft's Open-Source Illustrator Alternative

VectorCraft is a native Rust editor that tries to cover the job Illustrator is known for. VectorCraft runs on macOS, Windows, and Linux, FreeBSD packages exist for the crafting apps, and a browser build is possible through WebAssembly. The VectorCraft license is MIT or Apache-2.0. VectorCraft is alpha, and it is not an Adobe product.

VectorCraft ships beside PhotoCraft, LightCraft, and the other crafting apps. Brandon Thomas is the developer named in coverage, and reports including PetaPixel on Oct 7, 2026 say Brandon Thomas used Claude Opus 5.5 to recreate seven Adobe apps in Rust. On the Oct 11, 2026 snapshot, the repository had 6,531 stars. Stars are not the VectorCraft readiness estimate.

The apps page at getartcraft.com still says VectorCraft is in development, while the README describes it as alpha. Both labels can be true of VectorCraft. Neither label means you should retire Illustrator for VectorCraft. The trademark on the ArtCraft name and logo sits outside the code license, so a published fork has to remove those marks, unless the fork exists only to propose changes upstream. Read the VectorCraft release you actually install, not a repost that borrowed the name.

VectorCraft vs Illustrator is a maturity gap, not a tie, if you use the project’s own estimate. About 88 percent of VectorCraft menus, tools, effects, and formats exist. VectorCraft feature depth is about 75 percent. VectorCraft fitness for real work is about 65 percent. Those three numbers are VectorCraft’s own estimate.

PSDraw did not re-score VectorCraft, and this page will not round the numbers up. Present on a menu is not the same as deep enough for a client file. That is why the middle number sits below the first, and why the real-work number sits lower still. Illustrator remains the commercial app VectorCraft is aimed at. Nothing in the README says the remaining percent is a matter of one missing button. Treat 65 percent as a warning label on VectorCraft production work.

Price is the easy contrast. VectorCraft is free under MIT or Apache-2.0. Adobe’s own checkout lists the Photography plan (1TB) at US$19.99 a month when billed annually (US$239.88 a year), and US$29.99 a month month-to-month. That plan is not an Illustrator quote, so confirm Illustrator’s own price before you compare bills. The useful comparison is still the readiness estimate above, dated with the rest of this guide to Oct 11, 2026.

VectorCraft can open and save SVG and PDF, and it can use AI files only when they are compatible with PDF. EPS, DXF, and EMF or WMF are on the VectorCraft list. PNG, JPEG, and WebP can be exported from VectorCraft. PSD can be exported, and PSD or PSB can be imported only as a flattened image.

Affinity files can be opened and cannot be written back. The table under this section is that list. A flattened PSD import will not give you Illustrator-style live layers, and it is not PhotoCraft’s native PSD path. Native AI exchange in VectorCraft is called out separately as unreliable. If a file is the only copy, duplicate it before you open it in VectorCraft.

The VectorCraft download comes from the project, not from a bundle this site hosts. Use the download page, the ArtCraft Launcher, or GitHub Releases on the vectorcraft repository. Match the VectorCraft file to macOS, Windows, or Linux. The crafting apps also publish FreeBSD packages. PSDraw does not store the VectorCraft installers.

This guide will not copy PhotoCraft’s signed MSI and notarized DMG list onto VectorCraft. Those package details are documented for PhotoCraft. For VectorCraft, take the files the repository or getartcraft.com/apps actually offers, and use a checksum if that release ships one. The launcher is craft-launcher v0.2.0. It can install the crafting apps and update them.

Because VectorCraft is alpha and still listed as in development, read the release notes before you put it on a work machine. A VectorCraft browser build exists through WebAssembly. FilmCraft’s apps-page card has no Web badge, but FilmCraft v0.6.0 also ships a web zip. That is not a promise of a public VectorCraft demo. If the README’s build steps differ from a blog post, follow the README in the storytold repository.

This guide will not invent a feature-by-feature winner against another vector editor. VectorCraft is the ArtCraft app, still alpha, with the readiness estimate above. Other editors were not re-checked, so they are not named here.

What this page can say is limited on purpose. VectorCraft publishes a format list, a dual license, and a self-scored gap against Illustrator. It does not publish a scored comparison against another editor in the notes used here. If you need software with a long production history, do not assume VectorCraft is that software.

The Illustrator-shaped goals also differ from a general free editor’s goals. Native AI reliability, 3D, about half of raster effects, CJK vertical text, and generative AI are still gaps on the ArtCraft side. Those gaps describe VectorCraft. This guide did not audit another editor. For a wider set of options, use the alternatives guide rather than a forced ranking in this section.

VectorCraft is not ready to be your only Illustrator replacement. VectorCraft’s own estimate puts real-work fitness near 65 percent, with feature depth near 75 percent even where about 88 percent of menus, tools, effects, and formats exist. Alpha, plus an apps-page label of in development, is the status to plan around.

PSDraw did not produce those VectorCraft percentages. The gaps are concrete. Reliable exchange with Illustrator’s native AI files is still missing, even though PDF-compatible AI files can be used. 3D is missing in VectorCraft. About half of the raster effects are missing in VectorCraft. CJK vertical text is missing in VectorCraft. Generative AI is missing in VectorCraft. A flat PSD or PSB import will not reconstruct a live layer stack.

License freedom does not close those gaps. MIT or Apache-2.0 lets you use the code. The license does not add the missing VectorCraft effects. The ArtCraft name and logo still have to come off a published modified build, unless the fork exists only to propose changes upstream. If your file needs vertical CJK type, a true native AI round-trip, or effects in the missing half, keep it in a tool that already does that job.

VectorCraft is one free Illustrator alternative, and it is the ArtCraft one, with the alpha limits above. VectorCraft is not the only name people try when they do not want to pay for Illustrator. This page will not pretend to have re-priced every rival on Oct 11, 2026.

A free Illustrator alternative you already trust can be the safer production tool while VectorCraft is at about 65 percent real-work fitness, by the project’s own estimate. This page does not name another vector editor. Claims about a winner do not belong here, because the source notes do not include that test. Use a duplicate file if you compare them yourself. Do not convert the only copy of a client logo as an experiment.

More options, including tools outside vector work, are listed on the alternatives guide. Come back to VectorCraft when you specifically want the open source ArtCraft app, the SVG and PDF path, and you can live with PDF-compatible AI only. That is a narrower choice than “any free drawing tool,” and it should stay narrow until the README’s own percentage moves.

VectorCraft, in this guide, means only the ArtCraft app in the storytold organization. The name is already taken elsewhere, and those other uses are not this alpha. If a download will not show that repository, do not assume it is the Rust editor described above. The license, the format list, and the readiness estimate apply only to that project.

vectorcraft.com has a whois creation date of 2010-07-09. This guide does not identify the registrant and does not review that site. The crafting app is storytold/vectorcraft.

Search results mix these because the word is short and memorable. The Oct 11, 2026 snapshot of 6,531 stars belongs to the GitHub repository, not to the 2010 domain. Install from getartcraft.com, the launcher, or that repository. Leave the other names where you found them.