Comparison

malmal vs DarkRef

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

Head to head
About

malmal

Collaborate on digital art with friends and a global community. Explore endless canvases, customize brushes, and share your creations in a vibrant gallery. Connect with fellow artists and find inspiration in this creative space.

Highlights
  • Collaborative drawing
  • Endless digital canvases
  • Customizable brushes
  • In-app chat
  • Public and private drawing boards
  • Artwork gallery
Features
Read full description

Since 2018 in your browser, now as a fully fledged app: malmal 2.0 is out now! Features include: - Drawing with friends and strangers - Endless digital canvases - Private and public drawing boards with freely selectable background colors - Multiple customisable brushes - In-app chat - A gallery for all the great artworks Join our global community of passionate artists of all skill levels and backgrounds! Malmal is a place where you can find new friends and get inspired. We look forward to having you here! Screenshots are featuring art by miwoo and SpaceCadet. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

DarkRef

Organize your visual inspiration with images, GIFs, and notes. This app offers a free, intuitive platform for artists to manage references across all devices, with optional cloud sync for seamless backup and access.

Highlights
  • Unlimited boards and images
  • Image and GIF support
  • Notes and annotations
  • Folder organization
  • Offline access
  • Cross-device sync
Features
Read full description

Your own library of art references, organised and on all your devices. DarkRef is a powerful reference board designed for digital artists. Organize your inspiration with images, GIFs, notes, videos and folders; all in one beautiful, minimalist library and use canvases to plan your next big artwork. 100% FREE TO USE All core features are completely free including your reference library, automatic image tagging, canvases and more. Create unlimited boards, add unlimited images and GIFs, take notes, and organize with folders. The only features requiring a paid plan are for syncing your files across devices and for live collaboration boards where you can work with your team together on a shared board. All the core features are completely free. WORKS OFFLINE All your references are stored locally on your device. Work anywhere, even without internet. With a DarkRef paid plan, your changes sync automatically when you're back online. WHY DARKREF? Unlike other reference board apps, DarkRef truly works everywhere. Whether you're sketching on your iPad at a coffee shop, at the office on your Mac or working at home, your references are always with you. Perfect for: • Digital artists and illustrators • Concept artists • Character designers • Environment artists • Animators • Game artists • Anyone who needs organized visual references Download DarkRef for free today and never lose track of your inspiration again.

Screenshots

malmal4 screens
DarkRef3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: malmal at 100% against DarkRef's 25%. malmal also leads on rating (4.5 vs 2.8) and update cadence (every 6 days vs every 3 weeks). DarkRef's advantage is device support (4 vs 2) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.6). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. malmal sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month and DarkRef sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

malmal holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 2.8. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 13 and 4 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of malmal's written reviews are positive against 25% of DarkRef's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

malmal ships an update every 6 days, DarkRef every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 9, 2026 and September 28, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
malmal versus DarkRef: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParametermalmalDarkRef
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (13 ratings) — better2.8 (4 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better25.0% of reviews
Number of ratings13 — better4
Update frequencyEvery 6 days — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better
Requires iOS17.615.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size65 MB62 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperLUCAS MERLIN MEURERTimothy Patrick Dommett

Customer experience

malmal

All ratings13 ratings
Positive92.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative7.7%
Written reviews7 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

DarkRef

All ratings4 ratings
Positive25.0%
Neutral25.0%
Negative50.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive25.0%
Neutral25.0%
Negative50.0%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

malmal

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly$5.991 Month
  • Yearly$49.991 Year
2 purchases

DarkRef

Subscriptions2
  • Sync Monthly1 Month trial$1.991 Month
  • Sync Annual$9.991 Year

Questions

Is malmal free?
malmal is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is DarkRef free?
DarkRef is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, malmal or DarkRef?
malmal is rated higher. malmal averages 4.5 out of 5 from 13 ratings, while DarkRef averages 2.8 from 4 ratings.
Do malmal or DarkRef have ads?
Neither malmal nor DarkRef shows ads.
Which is updated more often, malmal or DarkRef?
malmal ships an update every 6 days, and DarkRef every 3 weeks. Most recently, malmal was updated on October 9, 2026 and DarkRef on September 28, 2026.

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