Reference Board
Free to start€19 lifetime Pro
3 boards and 100 items free, plus a 14-day Pro trial. One unlock for iPhone, iPad, and Mac. No subscription.
View App Store listingReference Board vs VizRef
VizRef keeps references beside your art.Reference Board keeps them with you everywhere.
Both are focused reference-board apps without subscriptions. Reference Board goes further: start free across iPhone, iPad, and Mac, then unlock a searchable visual library and deep AI integrations with lifetime Pro.
Pricing at a glance
Similar upfront cost. More places to work.
Both products avoid subscriptions. Reference Board starts free and offers one €19 Pro unlock across iPhone, iPad, and Mac; VizRef sells its iPad and iPhone editions separately.
VizRef
$3.99 onceVizRef for iPad
VizRef Lite for iPhone is a separate $1.99 purchase. VizRef does not list a native Mac app.
View official pricingPrices checked August 2026. Reference Board price shown in euros; Apple displays current regional pricing and taxes. Competitor plans, currencies, limits, and billing terms apply.
Choose Reference Board
When the board should become a visual library.
Choose Reference Board for native iPhone, iPad, and Mac apps, iCloud board sync, semantic visual search, rich source context, Apple Pencil, and permission-controlled AI integrations.Choose VizRef
When you want a minimal iPad companion.
VizRef is a focused choice for keeping image and GIF references beside a drawing app, with split-screen, Auto Pack, Focus Mode, and frame-by-frame animation review.Reference boards work because visual thinking needs space, context, and a way back.
A reference board is more than a collage. It lets you compare images side by side, notice patterns, group a direction, and keep the source material visible while an idea develops. That spatial context matters: the relationship between references often explains a creative decision better than any folder name can. VizRef understands this well. Its focused iPad canvas is a useful companion beside Procreate and other drawing apps, especially when you want a simple image or GIF board without much interface in the way.
Reference Board builds on the same focused idea, then turns the board into a visual library that can travel through the whole creative process. Capture something on iPhone, arrange and annotate it with Apple Pencil on iPad, and continue on the native Mac app with the same board synced through iCloud. One App Store purchase covers all three, so there is no separate mobile edition and no missing desktop step.
The deeper difference appears after your collection grows. Reference Board understands what you save through descriptions, OCR, tags, colors, objects, scenes, faces, metadata, sources, and similar-image suggestions. You can search across every board in natural language instead of relying only on memory and layout. Named regions, a minimap, grid browsing, and archives help large boards remain useful long after the first burst of inspiration.
Reference Board can also connect securely to Codex, Claude, and other compatible AI clients through MCP. With the access level you choose, an AI client can search and inspect references, add and arrange material, analyze a visual direction, manage regions, and import or export boards. VizRef is a strong minimal companion for looking at references on iPad. Reference Board is the stronger choice when you want those references synced, searchable, understood, and connected to the next generation of creative tools.
Comparison Overview
The difference is a reference canvas versus a connected visual library.
VizRef is refreshingly focused on viewing images beside your art. Reference Board adds the native devices, continuity, intelligence, search, and AI connections that make a reference board valuable across an entire workflow.
Topic
Reference Board
VizRef
Reference board focus
A long-lived visual library where images, videos, links, notes, sources, colors, metadata, and board structure remain connected and searchable.
A deliberately simple image and GIF board built to sit beside drawing and animation apps, especially through iPad multitasking.
Native apps
Native apps for iPhone, iPad, and Mac, designed for each screen and included in one Reference Pro purchase.
VizRef is sold for iPad, with a separate VizRef Lite purchase for iPhone. Its public product pages do not list a Mac app.
Sync across devices
Boards sync natively through iCloud across iPhone, iPad, and Mac, so the same visual library follows the work from capture to studio.
VizRef can import from iCloud Drive and other file providers, but its iPad and iPhone apps are separate and do not advertise board sync between them.
AI client integration
Connect Codex, Claude, and other compatible AI clients through MCP to search, inspect, create, organize, import, analyze, and export board content with explicit permissions.
VizRef keeps the workflow intentionally manual and focused on viewing and arranging references beside creative apps.
Automatic understanding
References gain generated descriptions, OCR, tags, dominant colors, object and scene signals, face names, metadata, and similar-image suggestions.
Images remain lightweight visual material that you arrange, crop, rotate, flip, desaturate, and review yourself.
Finding references again
Search every board by visible text, color, object, scene, face, tag, description, source, camera detail, or natural-language terms, with Spotlight support on Apple devices.
The public workflow centers on opening visually organized boards and using board thumbnails rather than semantic search across a reference library.
Why boards matter
A spatial board keeps relationships visible: compare alternatives side by side, cluster a visual direction, zoom between overview and detail, and preserve the context behind a decision.
VizRef shares the core advantage of reference boards: inspiration stays visible and close to the artwork instead of disappearing into folders or layers.
Large board navigation
Named regions, region thumbnails, a minimap, previous and next region controls, and a grid view make large collections easier to scan and revisit.
Focus Mode hides controls for a clean canvas, while board thumbnails and Auto Pack support a quick, visually organized workflow.
Mixed media and context
Images, videos, GIFs, YouTube links, websites, quotes, sticky notes, maps, scans, files, source links, and recognized text can live together.
Strong support for images and animated GIFs, including pausing and frame-by-frame review through an animation timeline.
Capture and import
Use drag and drop, clipboard, Share Sheet, Shortcuts, browser extension, right-click web capture, URLs, Files, Photos, and Continuity Camera.
Import from Photos, the web, Files, iCloud Drive, Dropbox, and Google Drive, with batch import and drag-and-drop workflows on iPad.
Drawing and notes
Draw directly on iPad boards with Apple Pencil and keep handwritten annotations, sticky notes, and quotes attached to the visual context.
Public VizRef materials emphasize image manipulation and Focus Mode rather than drawing or searchable notes on the board.
Pricing
Free for 3 boards and 100 items across iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Pro is €19 once for all three apps, with no subscription.
$3.99 once for VizRef on iPad. VizRef Lite for iPhone is a separate $1.99 purchase; no Mac app is listed.
Export and portability
Export PNGs and PDFs, or use a Reference archive that can preserve media, layout, tags, OCR, captions, colors, locations, analysis, and source-aware structure.
Batch export selected images, flatten a board as an image, export PDF, and keep locally stored .VRB board files.
Best fit
Artists and visual thinkers who want one synced Apple-native reference library that stays searchable, contextual, and ready for AI-assisted workflows.
Artists who want a minimal iPad reference companion beside Procreate or another drawing app, with strong GIF review and very little interface overhead.
Bottom Line
Keep the simplicity of a reference board. Add the memory of a visual library.
Start Reference Board free across iPhone, iPad, and Mac, then unlock Pro once for unlimited boards, intelligent search, iCloud workflows, and secure AI connections.