Developer Brandon Thomas has released open-source clones of Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint built with Anthropic's Claude. Thomas published the apps on GitHub as WordCraft, GridCraft and DeckCraft, respectively. The apps are free and run fully offline. The MIT and Apache 2.0 licenses allow anyone to read, copy, modify and reuse the code, including commercially. The apps use Rust, a programming language designed for speed and protection against memory bugs that cause crashes. A single codebase runs natively on Windows, macOS, Linux and BSD, and also runs in a web browser.
Thomas calls the project a clean-room rebuild, based on public file-format specifications and observations of Microsoft's apps rather than copied Microsoft code. Compaq used the same legal approach to clone IBM's PC BIOS in the 1980s.
WordCraft reads and writes Word's native .docx format and covers 88% of the features in Word's ribbon of tabs and buttons. WordCraft includes track changes, footnotes, citations and mail merge, which personalizes letters using spreadsheet data. However, the team estimates WordCraft is only about 60% ready to replace Word for real work when file fidelity and stability are considered. WordCraft remains an alpha release, an early test version. Testing found the 91 Mb app responsive and visually close to Microsoft Word. WordCraft can readily replace the paid suite for everyday office tasks.
GridCraft handles 513 of Excel's 523 worksheet functions, including formulas such as SUM and VLOOKUP. GridCraft also supports 89% of Excel's ribbon commands. However, GridCraft's developers rate the app about 50% ready for real work, with compatibility testing on real-world .xlsx files next on the agenda. GridCraft may still have difficulty with company spreadsheets despite supporting almost every formula.
DeckCraft covers about 79% of PowerPoint's features and 93% of PowerPoint's core features, according to DeckCraft's GitHub page. DeckCraft opens and saves .pptx files, runs transitions and animations, and exports to PDF. However, DeckCraft has not reached its first alpha release.
Every button in all three apps also works as a command that an AI agent can trigger. The apps connect through the Model Context Protocol, a standard Anthropic created to let AI models operate external tools. A user could ask Claude to build a spreadsheet chart or reformat a report without using a mouse.
Microsoft charges $99.99 a year for Microsoft 365 Personal, which serves a single user. Microsoft charges $129.99 a year for the family plan. Microsoft 365 subscriptions are how most households obtain Word and Excel today. The clones' similar design should make switching easier for heavy Microsoft Office users.
Earlier this month, Thomas released ArtCraft, free apps mirroring Adobe's Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere and Lightroom. Thomas built ArtCraft with Claude Opus 5.5 after repeated frustration with Adobe's cancellation fee. Thomas released the three Office clones less than two weeks after the Adobe clones while working with an AI model. Free alternatives have existed for decades: OpenOffice.org began when Sun Microsystems released StarOffice's code in October 2000. LibreOffice split from OpenOffice.org in 2010. Both projects required years of work by large developer communities.
Claude Opus 5.5 launched September 22 at $4 per million input tokens and $20 per million output tokens. Tokens are chunks of text that AI models read and write and that AI companies use for billing. Opus 5.5 completed 66.4% of tasks on Terminal-Bench 4.0, which tests complex professional work in a command-line environment.
Thomas has already withdrawn a pledge to match Adobe's feature set within a month. WordCraft had collected more than 12,000 GitHub stars, the platform's equivalent of bookmarks, as of Wednesday. WordCraft's roadmap says a beta still requires real-world .docx testing, charts and SmartArt that survive saving, closer page-layout compatibility, stability work and native printing.
Developer Releases AI-Powered Open-Source Clones of Microsoft Office Apps
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Summary
AI + crypto news: Developer Brandon Thomas has launched open-source clones of Microsoft Office apps—WordCraft, GridCraft, and DeckCraft—built using Anthropic's Claude. The apps are free, cross-platform, and run offline. WordCraft supports 88% of Word’s features, GridCraft handles 513 of Excel’s 523 functions, and DeckCraft covers 79% of PowerPoint’s features. The tools use the Model Context Protocol for AI command execution. Thomas built the apps in under two weeks using an AI model. On-chain news continues to highlight AI-driven innovation in open-source software.
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