Sakuga Mobile vs RefCanvas
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Sakuga Mobile
This app enhances the sakuga viewing experience for artists and fans by providing tools to analyze and interact with high-quality animation sequences. Features include real-time frame counting, segment trimming, and timestamp recognition for quick scene navigation.
- Real-time frame counting
- Frame stepping
- Segment trimming for GIFs/images
- Timestamp recognition in comments
- Autoplay previews
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Sakuga from Japanese 作画 usually refers to a remarkably higher quality sequence, used to highlight a particularly important scene. Sakuga Mobile helps the sakuga community and artist who work on this scenes by adding some features to the sakugabooru expierence like: - Frames count in real time - Frames step - Trim the segment you want to get the frames images (or GIF) - Recognize time stamp on comments so you can tap on them and see right away when an artist sequence begins. - Autoplay previews ...and more!
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 review sentiment: Sakuga Mobile at 86% against RefCanvas's 43%. Sakuga Mobile also leads on rating (4.8 vs 2.3) and in-app purchases (none vs 3). On price, ratings volume, 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
Both are free to download. RefCanvas sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Sakuga Mobile asks for nothing beyond the download.
Sakuga Mobile holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 2.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 20 and 7 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 86% of Sakuga Mobile's written reviews are positive against 43% of RefCanvas's.
Sakuga Mobile ships an update every 2 months, RefCanvas every 17 months. The most recent releases landed on September 10, 2026 and September 15, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Sakuga Mobile | RefCanvas |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (20 ratings) — better | 2.3 (7 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 85.7% of reviews — better | 42.9% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 20 — better | 7 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months — better | Every 17 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 35 MB | 131 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Bryan Martinez Carrizales | youcef boukit |
Customer experience
Sakuga Mobile
RefCanvas
In-app purchases
Sakuga Mobile
No in-app purchases
RefCanvas
- Pro version$2.99
- Pro version2 variants$3.99









