Comparison

Art Reference vs Snick

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

Head to head
About

Art Reference

This app provides traditional artists with digital tools to aid in physical art creation. Features include value studies, gridlines, side-by-side reference viewing, and curated project collections. It offers a clean, ad-free experience designed for painters and illustrators.

Highlights
  • Value study mode
  • Gridlines for sketching
  • Side-by-side reference/canvas view
  • Crop and frame tools
  • Curated project collections
  • Color harmony experimentation
  • Offline functionality
Features
Read full description

Artists Reference is made for painters, illustrators, and traditional artists who work with real materials, not pixels. It gives you the digital reference tools you need while you're creating physical art. Key Features - Gallery: Take a photo of your finished work, add a frame, and view them all together in your personal gallery. - Value Study Mode: Instantly view your reference in 7-value scale to see shadows and highlights or greyscale to see tone and contrast clearly. - Gridlines: Helps get your under-sketch down accurately. - Side-by-Side View: Compare your reference and your canvas at the same time, optimized for tablets and stands. - Crop and Frame Tools: Adjust composition and aspect ratio of your reference to match your canvas before you begin. - Collections: Curated starter projects to help you practice and improve, including Animals, Architecture, Botanical, Figure, Landscape, Master Study, Portrait, and Still Life. - Color harmonies: Experiment with color harmonies to define the feeling if your piece and save swatches - Offline Friendly: Works anywhere, even in the studio or outdoors. - Clean, Focused Design: No ads. No clutter. Just the reference tools you need. - All of your artwork is private and only saved in your personal icloud. No artwork is visble to the internet or AI models Made for Traditional Artists Whether you're painting with oils, gouache, watercolor, or charcoal, Artists Reference helps you translate what you see into confident compositions and balanced values. Start with curated Collections to build your skills, or bring your own references for any project. No AI art is used for any of the starter project references in this app. All photos are attributed to the original artists with links to their portfolio.

About

Snick

Features
Read full description

[Snick — Sticker Maker] Turn any photo into a transparent sticker. Crop, refine edges, adjust tone, and export a clean PNG — all on-device. - Real-time preview with precise controls - Save presets for consistent results - GPU-accelerated, high-res output - No ads, no subscriptions, no cloud Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Art Reference4 screens
Snick4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Snick at none against Art Reference's 1. On price, update cadence, 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. Art Reference sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Snick asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Art Reference ships an update every 2 weeks, Snick fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
Art Reference versus Snick: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterArt ReferenceSnick
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (4 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings4 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterFortnightly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS26.026.0
Further details — not scored
Size172 MB5 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperGil OsborneGridus Co.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Art Reference

One-time1
  • Lifetime Full Access$9.99
None

Snick

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Art Reference free?
Art Reference is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Snick free?
Snick is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Art Reference or Snick have ads?
Neither Art Reference nor Snick shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Art Reference or Snick?
Art Reference ships an update every 2 weeks, and Snick fortnightly. Most recently, Art Reference was updated on October 30, 2026 and Snick on October 25, 2026.

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