Gathered vs RefCanvas
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Gathered
This app helps you curate a digital library of inspiring images for your creative projects. Easily collect visuals from photos, your camera roll, or other apps, and organize them into custom collections with notes and color palettes. Sync your library across devices via iCloud.
- Collect images from various sources
- Organize into custom collections
- Extract color palettes
- Add notes and edit image details
- Sync across devices with iCloud
- Drag & Drop functionality
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Gathered is a calm, beautiful home for the images, screenshots and links you want to keep. Collect what inspires you and organize it your way — into collections, with notes, tags, colors and locations. Everything syncs automatically across iPhone, iPad and Mac with iCloud. • Collections — group images and links however you like • Smart Filters — instantly browse Recents, Places, Screenshots, 3D Models and more • Rich metadata — color palettes, locations on a map, notes and tags • Links — save webpages alongside your images • Share Card — turn any image into a stylish card with its colour palette and location • Quick import — Share Extension, drag & drop, camera, scanner and paste • Home Screen widget — a daily dose of inspiration from your library • Private by design — your library lives in your own iCloud, with no account required
RefCanvas
This app helps artists and designers organize visual references for their projects. Import images and GIFs, arrange them on a canvas, add notes, and export your creations.
- Import images and GIFs
- Add text notes
- Move, scale, and rotate references
- Group references with nodes
- Supports split screen and pop-up view
- Export boards as SVG or images
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RefCanvas is an intuitive tool for artists and designers who need a comprehensive reference app to bring their creative vision to life. Key Features: - Import images and gifs. - Notes - Add text notes. - Move, scale and rotate references to create the perfect layout. - Multi selection - edit multiple references at one. - Nodes - Useful for grouping references. - Drag and drop - Drag and drop files from others apps like the gallery. - Paste files from the clipboard. - Supports split screen and pop-up view: Use it as a companion app with your favorite drawing app like Ibis Paint or Infinite Painter. - Save your progress as boards for future use. - Auto set thumbnails for boards after saving. - Eye dropper - Tap and hold to pick a color from your references as a hex code. - Drawing. Animated GIF support: - Reference your favorite animated gifs. - Pause animation and play frame by frame to better understand referenced animations. - Animation timeline gives you an interactive visual breakdown of all the frames. Easy to use reference tools: - Grayscale toggle. - Flip horizontally and vertically. - Add link - allows you to visit the source of your reference. Export: Export boards to share. Export board as SVG. Export Images/Gifs as files. Using RefCanvas to make reference boards & mood boards is easy, simply import your images or gifs, and move them around the canvas to arrange them in the layout that works best for your project. You can adjust their size, rotation and position to your liking, giving you maximum control over your creative process.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Gathered at 3.9 against RefCanvas's 2.3. Gathered also leads on update cadence (monthly vs every 17 months). RefCanvas's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 26.0). On price, review sentiment, ratings volume and ads there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Gathered sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and RefCanvas sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Gathered holds the better App Store score, 3.9 against 2.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 17 and 7 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 47% of Gathered's written reviews are positive against 43% of RefCanvas's.
Gathered ships an update monthly, RefCanvas every 17 months. The most recent releases landed on November 4, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Gathered | RefCanvas |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.9 (17 ratings) — better | 2.3 (7 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 47.1% of reviews — better | 42.9% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 17 — better | 7 |
| Update frequency | Monthly — better | Every 17 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Freemium | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Vision Pro — better | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 11 MB | 131 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Nikola Kirev | youcef boukit |
Customer experience
Gathered
RefCanvas
In-app purchases
Gathered
- Gathered Pro$24.99
RefCanvas
- Pro version$2.99
- Pro version2 variants$3.99









