Comparison

VizRef vs Nomad Sculpt

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

VizRef

This app allows artists and animators to create visual reference boards using images and GIFs from various sources. It integrates with popular drawing applications, offering tools to organize and refine inspiration for creative projects.

Highlights
  • Create visual reference boards
  • Import images and GIFs from web, cloud, photos
  • Companion app for Procreate, Adobe Fresco, etc.
  • Organize inspiration with thumbnails
  • Animated GIF support with frame-by-frame playback
  • Image editing tools: crop, greyscale, flip, rotate
  • Drag and drop from web, batch import
Read full description

VizRef for iPad enables creatives to finally take their inspiration anywhere. It becomes the perfect companion app for Procreate® or paired with your favorite drawing/animation application by utilizing iPad IOS multitasking features. Clear up your hard to find hidden layers in your drawing app and easily organize your inspiration on the go. Make visual reference boards with any images or gifs from web browsers, cloud storage, photos, screen captures and more. The first mood board creation app made by artists for artists, that brings comprehensive referencing tools to animators and visual artists/en. We are dedicated to bringing creatives what they need most in being inspired everywhere they go. HIGHLIGHTS -Perfect companion app paired with Procreate® Adobe Fresco ® Clip Studio Paint® Infinite Painter® etc. by utilizing iPad IOS multitasking features -Supports many image types including GIF -Drag and drop from web -Batch Import from Photos app -Batch Export images from boards to cloud storage using Files app - *Multi-Select and auto pack images for a quicker workflow * -Import High-Resolution images with HD toggle _*Focus on whats importing with Focus mode. ( rotate imageboard ) -Batch Import from iCloud, Dropbox, Google Drive with split-screen -Quick and responsive visual reference board experience -Easy to use/ minimal UI -Light mode and Dark mode -Set thumbnails for reference boards to visually organize your inspiration ANIMATED GIF SUPPORT -Reference your favorite animated gifs -Pause animation and play frame by frame to better understand referenced animations -Advanced animation timeline gives you an interactive visual breakdown of all frames EASY TO USE REFERENCE TOOLS -Crop images to optimize screen space and view more references -Greyscale toggle for images for value reference -Flip horizontally and vertically -Rotate Images -Copy-paste images into other apps Artwork and animation credits @_Artazi @_baomii @_Deadslug_ @amnesiapancake @barachan @belgeist @criisalys @ergo.josh @evan_monteiro @gloomwastaken @mrbeezul @onemegawatt @rocketboiART @samuelyounart @cobalt_requin VizRef was created by Max Gonzalez and RoboWorld Entertainment with supporting development from Valere Labs

About

Nomad Sculpt

Create 3D models with sculpting and painting tools. Features include layers, multiresolution sculpting, and PBR rendering. Supports various export formats for your digital art.

Highlights
  • Sculpting tools (clay, flatten, smooth, trim)
  • Vertex painting (color, roughness, metalness)
  • Layer system for sculpting and painting
  • Multiresolution and voxel remeshing
  • Automatic UV unwrapping
  • PBR rendering with post-processing effects
  • Export/import in glTF, OBJ, STL, PLY
Features
Read full description

• Sculpting tools Clay, flatten, smooth, mask and many other brushes will let you shape your creation. You can also use the trim boolean cutting tool with lasso, rectangle and other shapes, for hardsurface purposes. • Stroke customization Falloff, alphas, tilings, pencil pressure and other stroke parameters can be customized. You can save and load your tools preset as well. • Painting tools Vertex painting with color, roughness and metalness. You can easily manage all your material presets as well. • Layers Record your sculpting and painting operations in separate layers for easier iteration during the creation process. Both the sculpting and painting changes are recorded. • Multiresolution sculpting Go back and forth between multiple resolution of your mesh for a flexible workflow. • Voxel remeshing Remesh quickly your mesh to get a uniform level of detail. It can be used to quickly sketch a rough shape at the beginning of the creation process. • Dynamic topology Refine locally your mesh under your brush to get an automatic level of detail. You can even keep your layers, as they will be automatically updated! • Decimate Reduce the number of polygons by keeping as many details as possible. • Face Group Segment your mesh into subgroups with the face group tool. • Automatic UV unwrap The automatic UV unwrapper can use face groups to control the unwrapping process. • Baking You can transfer vertex data such as color, roughness, metalness and small scaled detail in to textures. You can also do the opposite, transfering textures data into vertex data or layers. • Primitive shape Cylinder, torus, tube, lathe and other primitives can be used to quickly start new shapes from scratch. • PBR rendering Beautiful PBR rendering by default, with lighting and shadows. You can always switch to matcap for a more standard shading for sculpting purposes. • Post processing Screen Space Reflection, Depth of Field, Ambient Occlusion, Tone mapping, etc • Export and Import Supported formats include glTF, OBJ, STL or PLY files. • Interface Easy-to-use interface, designed for mobile experience. Customization is possible as well! • Quad Remesher (separate in-app purchase only) Remesh your object automatically with a quad dominant mesh that follows the mesh curvatures. It supports guides, face groups and density painting.

Screenshots

Nomad Sculpt4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: VizRef at $3.99 against Nomad Sculpt's $19.99. VizRef also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 1) and iOS requirement (13.2 vs 16.0). Nomad Sculpt's advantage is rating (4.8 vs 4.1) and update cadence (every 10 days vs every 3 months). On ads and device support 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

VizRef costs $3.99 and Nomad Sculpt $19.99 up front. Nomad Sculpt sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. VizRef asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Nomad Sculpt holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Nomad Sculpt has 14K ratings behind it against 291, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 70% of VizRef's written reviews are positive against 88% of Nomad Sculpt's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

VizRef ships an update every 3 months, Nomad Sculpt every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on October 13, 2026 and October 18, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard9 real differences · 2 level
VizRef versus Nomad Sculpt: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterVizRefNomad Sculpt
Price$3.99 — better$19.99
Rating4.1 (291 ratings)4.8 (14K ratings) — better
Positive reviews69.8% of reviews87.6% of reviews — better
Number of ratings29114K — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 10 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank—#3 — better
DevicesiPadiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS13.2 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size4 MB293 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperStudio PixanohHexanomad

Customer experience

VizRef

All ratings291 ratings
Positive73.9%
Neutral12.4%
Negative13.7%
Written reviews189 reviews
Positive69.8%
Neutral13.2%
Negative16.9%

Nomad Sculpt

All ratings14,376 ratings
Positive95.8%
Neutral1.8%
Negative2.4%
Written reviews780 reviews
Positive87.6%
Neutral4.2%
Negative8.2%

User reviews

VizRef

From 291 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Simple and intuitive interface
  • 🚀 Smooth and fast performance
  • 🎨 Helpful for organizing references
  • 💡 Useful for artists and creatives
  • 🔍 Convenient for gathering inspiration

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes and stability issues
  • 🔒 Lack of backup/sync options
  • 🖌️ No annotation or note-taking features
  • 🔀 Difficulty rearranging/moving images
  • 💾 Limited image storage capacity

Nomad Sculpt

From 14K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Powerful sculpting tools
  • 👍 Intuitive and user-friendly interface
  • 💡 Impressive features for the price
  • 🎨 Great for digital painting and sculpting
  • 🎨 Smooth performance even on older iPads

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional crashes and bugs
  • 🐛 Issues with autosave and file management
  • 🔋 High battery consumption
  • 🎨 Lack of advanced features like rigging and animation
  • 🎨 Steep learning curve for beginners

Bugs and requests

VizRef

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Crashing when opening new boards
  • Issues with exporting boards and images
  • Losing images from boards unexpectedly
  • Limits on number of images per board

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add text/drawing tools for annotations
  • Implement cloud sync and backup options
  • Allow multi-select and batch operations
  • Provide more flexible image manipulation
  • Add folders/organization for boards

Nomad Sculpt

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Crashes when importing/exporting certain file types
  • Glitches with symmetry and transform tools
  • Inconsistent performance on older iPad models

Requested features

7 requests
  • Add UV mapping and unwrapping tools
  • Implement a more robust autosave system
  • Include rigging and animation capabilities
  • Add support for more file formats (e.g., FBX)
  • Improve palm rejection and gesture controls
Show 2 more
  • Provide more brush customization options
  • Implement a timeline or layer system for sculpting

In-app purchases

None

VizRef

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Nomad Sculpt

One-time1
  • Quad Remesher$15.99

Questions

Is VizRef free?
VizRef costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Nomad Sculpt free?
Nomad Sculpt costs $19.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, VizRef or Nomad Sculpt?
Nomad Sculpt is rated higher. VizRef averages 4.1 out of 5 from 291 ratings, while Nomad Sculpt averages 4.8 from 14K ratings.
Do VizRef or Nomad Sculpt have ads?
Neither VizRef nor Nomad Sculpt shows ads.
Which is updated more often, VizRef or Nomad Sculpt?
VizRef ships an update every 3 months, and Nomad Sculpt every 10 days. Most recently, VizRef was updated on October 13, 2026 and Nomad Sculpt on October 18, 2026.

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