Comparison

zRef vs RefHand

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

Head to head
About

zRef

This app helps referees manage sports matches by tracking time, logging goals, cautions, and ejections. It provides a timer and stopwatch for game management and generates end-of-game reports with scores and event details.

Highlights
  • Match time tracking
  • Goal logging
  • Caution and ejection tracking
  • Timer and stopwatch
  • End-of-game reports
  • Simple match creation
Read full description

zRef is a refereeing app to help you keep track of your matches. The app can keep track of time, log goals, cautions, ejections, and more. The app is simple to use. Simply create a new match, and supply the time per half. Click the start button to start the timer and press it to stop. There is a timer and stopwatch, so you can know he time remaining and the elapsed time for filling out game cards. You can also click and hold start/stop the button to log things such as goals, cautions, and ejections. When the game is over, you will be given an end of game report. This will contain the final score and each event that occurred (including time).

About

RefHand

Features
Read full description

The complete tool for a handball referee. The playing time, the goals, the two-minute suspensions and the report, in one app that works with no signal at all. Several suspensions at once From both teams, each on its own clock, always on screen and ordered by who comes back first. The app counts every player's suspensions and warns on the third — the one that disqualifies. The number of players on court is always right, without anyone doing arithmetic. The clocks never stop because of the app: they survive the phone going in a pocket, the screen locking and the system killing the app. Suspensions run against the playing time rather than the wall clock, so a time-out freezes them and a suspension whistled before half time carries correctly into the second half. An Apple Watch that works on its own The running suspensions on your wrist, without walking to the table. The watch does not need the phone: its own clock, its own store, and a reconciliation whenever the two devices next see each other. Learn the rules Over 200 questions on the IHF Rules of the Game, each anchored to a rule, an article and a short quote of the official text, scheduled by spaced repetition. The rules are configuration 2 × 30 as the IHF plays it, the youth formats of Rule 2:1, minihandball and a free format. Half length, suspension length, players on court and team time-outs are all editable. No sign-up. No account. No data collected. RefHand is an unofficial tool, not affiliated with the IHF or any national federation. Free and PRO. Free covers three games with the clock, the score and the suspension panel, plus 20 study questions. PRO adds unlimited games and history, the PDF report signed with your own signature, statistics, the Apple Watch app, the full question bank and iCloud sync. The paywall never appears during a game. Terms of use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

RefHand4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: zRef at none against RefHand's 2. zRef also leads on iOS requirement (13.0 vs 17.0). RefHand's advantage is update cadence (every 2 days vs every 2 months). On price, 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

Both are free to download. RefHand sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. zRef asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

zRef ships an update every 2 months, RefHand every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 11, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
zRef versus RefHand: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterzRefRefHand
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (6 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings6 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPod, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, Apple Watch
Requires iOS13.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size1 MB11 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperRami SinnoLUIS ORLANDO LAZO GONZALEZ

In-app purchases

None

zRef

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

RefHand

Subscriptions2
  • RefHand PRO — Monthly$3.991 Month
  • RefHand PRO — Annual3 Days trial$24.991 Year

Questions

Is zRef free?
zRef is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is RefHand free?
RefHand is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do zRef or RefHand have ads?
Neither zRef nor RefHand shows ads.
Which is updated more often, zRef or RefHand?
zRef ships an update every 2 months, and RefHand every 2 days. Most recently, zRef was updated on October 11, 2026 and RefHand on October 6, 2026.

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