Comparison

REF90 Grassroots vs REF!

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

Head to head
About

REF90 Grassroots

Features
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REF90 Grassroots – The Referee’s Match Companion for Grassroots referee's. Managing a game is hard enough. Let your Apple Watch handle the admin. REF90 Grassroots is built for football referees. It helps you track everything that matters during a match — quickly, clearly, and without breaking focus. • No phone. • No signal. • No distractions. Key features • Match time – Kick-off, half-time, added time, sin bins and period breaks, all managed directly from your wrist. • Match control – Log goals, fouls and key incidents in seconds, even while play is live. • Ref-first design – Built for fast taps, sweaty hands and quick glances. No fiddly menus. • Works offline – No iPhone or internet connection required. Ideal for rural pitches and Sunday mornings. • Post-match review – Check full match logs after the final whistle to support reports and admin. • Easy sharing – Share game logs when needed. • Digital coin toss – One tap. No lost coins. No arguments. Why REF90 Grassroots? Because referees should referee — not juggle notebooks, watches and guesswork. REF90 Grassroots keeps the basics under control so you can focus on positioning, decisions and player management. Designed for • Grassroots referees Free, No subscriptions or recurring payments. Terms of use: https://ref90.com/terms Privacy policy: https://ref90.com/privacy

About

REF!

Features
Read full description

REF! is the ultimate app for football referees. Create the match, invite your crew and run it from the watch. No paper, no fuss. BEFORE THE MATCH - Create the match with teams, competition, ground, date and time. - Save your teams and the grounds you visit most. - Competitions with their own refereeing and travel fees. - Choose whether you're the referee or an assistant. - History for every team: how many times you've officiated them and how those matches ended. - A countdown to your next match in the widget, the Live Activity and your watch face. - A calendar event, created automatically. ON THE PITCH, FROM YOUR APPLE WATCH - Period timer: set how many periods, how long each one lasts and how long the break is. - Haptic alert when time is up, with added time and a warning if the break runs over. - Choose which team kicks off at the start of each period. - Goals with the scorer's shirt number. - Yellow and red cards, for players and for team staff - Substitutions with the numbers coming on and off. - A match summary on your wrist the moment you blow the final whistle. - Tournament mode to chain matches with their own timings and fees without leaving the watch. - Create a match on the watch itself if your appointment changes at the last minute. - Leave the app or let the screen sleep — the match picks up where you left it. AFTER THE MATCH - Distance covered, sprints, top speed, heart rate, calories and steps. - A heat map of your position over real imagery of the pitch, in satellite or pitch view. - Effort zones calculated from your maximum heart rate. - A full match report: goals, cards, minutes and substitutions across every period. YOUR SEASON - Stats across every season and any date range. - A complete history of teams, competitions and grounds. - Matches as referee and as assistant, counted separately. PAYMENTS - Total paid and total outstanding for the season, always in view. - Breakdown by competition and by month, with a per-match average. - Refereeing and travel fees kept separate. - A one-page annual PDF report and a CSV with one row per match, for your association or your tax return. - Mark matches as paid one by one or all at once. WITH YOUR CREW - Find other referees by name or @nickname and add them as friends. - Invite them to a match: they get a notification and accept it from their inbox. - The match syncs between all three of you in real time. - A combined heat map and stats for the whole refereeing team. - Your own profile with an avatar and nickname. AND ALSO - Everything synced through iCloud between iPhone and Apple Watch. - Backups you can export and import. - Works without a signal: whatever you record on the pitch is sent as soon as you're back online. - Tutorials for the app and the watch, plus a quick-start guide. - Match alerts and reminders. REF! PRO Core features are free. REF! PRO unlocks physical performance, full stats, payment reports, shared matches and tournament mode. €2.99/month or €16.99/year, with the first month free on the annual plan. Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the period. You can manage yours in your Apple ID settings. Terms of Use (EULA): https://therefapp.es/en/terms.html Privacy Policy: https://therefapp.es/en/privacy.html

Screenshots

REF!4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: REF90 Grassroots at none against REF!'s 2. REF!'s advantage is update cadence (every 6 days vs every 2 months). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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. REF! sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. REF90 Grassroots asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

REF90 Grassroots ships an update every 2 months, REF! every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on September 8, 2026 and September 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 4 level
REF90 Grassroots versus REF!: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterREF90 GrassrootsREF!
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 6 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, Apple Watch
Requires iOS18.018.0
Further details — not scored
Size7 MB17 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperInstride LtdRodrigo Vicente Valmorisco

In-app purchases

None

REF90 Grassroots

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

REF!

Subscriptions2
  • REF! PRO Monthly$2.991 Month
  • REF! PRO Yearly$14.991 Year

Questions

Is REF90 Grassroots free?
REF90 Grassroots is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is REF! free?
REF! is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do REF90 Grassroots or REF! have ads?
Neither REF90 Grassroots nor REF! shows ads.
Which is updated more often, REF90 Grassroots or REF!?
REF90 Grassroots ships an update every 2 months, and REF! every 6 days. Most recently, REF90 Grassroots was updated on September 8, 2026 and REF! on September 14, 2026.

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