Refbox Mobile vs Proref
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side โ with what reviewers say about each.
Refbox Mobile
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Refbox is a fast, easy-to-use visual reference board for collecting and organizing images to inspire your creative work. Create Boxes for projects, moods, subjects, or styles. Add images from your device or drag and drop from the web. Browse everything on a fluid masonry canvas, open any image fullscreen for a closer look, and keep your references organized without getting buried in folders or clutter. Refbox is built for artists, designers, photographers, and other visual thinkers who want their reference library by their side as they work. - Images are automatically organized in a responsive masonry canvas - Create multiple Boxes for projects or collections - Pin Boxes for quick access, and switch between favorites - Import images from Photos, Files, Camera, clipboard, or by dragging from the web - View images full screen to inspect details - Flip, crop, or greyscale any image - Import and export .refbox files (compatible with the Refbox desktop app)
Proref
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Proref is where your references live while you draw โ and where the finished piece goes afterwards. GATHER YOUR REFERENCES Drop everything you're looking at onto one huge canvas and arrange it into a board. Import from Photos, your camera, Files, a web link, the share sheet, or by dragging straight in from Safari. Zoom from 2% to 25,600%, so the board grows with the project. WORK BESIDE THEM Proref is built for Split View: your references on one side, your drawing app on the other. Sketch and annotate over them with Apple Pencil, with pressure. Tune brightness, contrast and saturation, or crop non-destructively โ the original is always recoverable. A minimap shows where you are, and saved views jump you back to any spot in one tap. KEEP THE PIECE, AND THE LESSON When something's finished, keep it. Attach a piece to the board it came from, open it full screen, and see everything you've made on a dated timeline โ as a gallery to swipe or a list to scan. Note what worked and what didn't while it's fresh, star the things to carry forward, and those notes sit in a pane on the board while you draw the next one. If you'd rather Proref stayed purely a reference app, turn the art journey off in Settings and it does. PRIVATE BY DEFAULT No accounts. No sign-in. No server. No tracking, no analytics, no ads. Your boards, your artworks and your critique notes stay on your device. FREE, WITH A ONE-TIME UNLOCK Proref is free to use with 2 boards, 10 images per board, 3 saved views, 5 finished artworks, and 3 focused critique notes per piece. Proref Pro removes those limits and unlocks every feature โ a single one-time purchase, not a subscription. Buy it once and restore it on your other devices.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Refbox Mobile at none against Proref's 1. Proref's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 26.2). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Proref sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Refbox Mobile asks for nothing beyond the download.
| Parameter | Refbox Mobile | Proref |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | โ | Every 6 days |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No โ better | Yes |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod โ better |
| Requires iOS | 26.2 | 15.0 โ better |
| Further details โ not scored | ||
| Size | 5 MB | 44 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Brett Shepherd | John Oliver Atienza |
In-app purchases
Refbox Mobile
No in-app purchases
Proref
- Proref Pro$7.99









