Comparison

Abstrakt vs Art Reference Board

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

Head to head
About

Abstrakt

Features
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Abstrakt is a design tool for iPhone. Build geometric posters shape by shape, and bring your own ideas to life. Start with a shape and build outward. Place it where you want it, turn it, size it, give it color, until the composition looks like something you meant to make. Nothing is fixed until you decide it is. FULL MANUAL CONTROL Every shape is yours to place and adjust. Nothing is locked once it's on the canvas. A STARTING POINT, IF YOU WANT ONE Tap shuffle for a composition to work from, then reshape it into your own. Or start from an empty grid and build from scratch. CURATED COLOR A hand-picked palette library inspired by Bauhaus and mid-century design. Built for compositions that look intentional. PRINT-READY EXPORT Export at real 300 DPI, sized for actual framed prints, not a phone-sized PNG. Make something you'd hang on a wall. YOURS, ONCE One purchase unlocks everything. No subscription, no recurring charge. Your posters stay on your device. Never uploaded.

About

Art Reference Board

Features
Read full description

Your references should stay as close as your next brushstroke. Mica is an art reference board built for illustrators, painters, animators, concept artists, character designers, tattoo artists, art students, and anyone who thinks visually. Gather images, photos, GIFs, WebP animations, video, and PDFs on an infinite canvas. Then study color, value, shape, pose, and motion without breaking your creative flow. BUILD THE BOARD YOUR ART NEEDS • Import from Photos, Files, folders, camera, document scanner, or clipboard • Drag and drop on iPad and Mac • Save references from other apps with the system share sheet • Send new ideas to Capture Inbox and organize them later • Reuse original images from your asset library across multiple boards STUDY—DON’T JUST COLLECT • Generate six- or twelve-color palettes from the dominant colors in your references • Combine grayscale with two-, three-, four-, or six-level posterization for value studies • Crop, flip, rotate, resize, and adjust opacity • Play GIF and WebP animation, inspect timelines, and step frame by frame • Step precisely through video and save useful frames to your canvas • Run timed reference studies with interval and shuffle controls • Annotate, highlight, measure, and sketch with Apple Pencil KEEP REFERENCES BESIDE YOUR WORK • Work beside your drawing or painting app on iPad • Float a reference with Picture in Picture on iPhone and iPad • Keep an always-on-top reference window on Mac • Enter focus or presentation mode when you want the interface to disappear ORGANIZE SERIOUS CREATIVE PROJECTS • Build boards with pages and layers • Arrange references in rows, columns, or a masonry-style grid • Group, lock, hide, duplicate, snap, and reorder canvas items • Add folders, tags, notes, sticky notes, styled text, and saved canvas regions • Search reusable assets by name or tag, filter by dominant color, and find boards with Spotlight • Keep favorites, recent work, reusable assets, and captured ideas within reach PRIVATE, PORTABLE, AND YOURS • Work offline by default • Protect private boards and folders with a passcode or supported biometrics • Restore an earlier local board version without overwriting your current work • Export pages as PNG or PDF, share selected references, or export original files • Move a complete project with Mica’s portable .refboard archive Collect what inspires you. Study what matters. Keep creating. Start free with one board, one page and up to 12 items. Advanced features require Mica Pro. Available purchases and any eligible trial are shown in the app. Privacy Policy: https://rezonating.app/privacy.html?id=mica Terms of Service: https://rezonating.app/terms.html?id=mica

Screenshots

Abstrakt4 screens
Art Reference Board4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Abstrakt at every 3 days against Art Reference Board's every 10 days. On price, ads, in-app purchases 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. Abstrakt sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Art Reference Board sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Abstrakt ships an update every 3 days, Art Reference Board every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on October 20, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 7 level
Abstrakt versus Art Reference Board: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAbstraktArt Reference Board
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Number of ratings—1 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 days — betterEvery 10 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS18.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size8 MB45 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperKaur KadakREZONATING APPS, LLC

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Abstrakt

One-time1
  • Abstrakt Pro - Lifetime$3.99
2 purchases

Art Reference Board

Subscriptions1
  • Mica Pro - Monthly3 Days trial$1.991 Month
One-time1
  • Mica Pro - Lifetime$5.99

Questions

Is Abstrakt free?
Abstrakt is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Art Reference Board free?
Art Reference Board is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Abstrakt or Art Reference Board have ads?
Neither Abstrakt nor Art Reference Board shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Abstrakt or Art Reference Board?
Abstrakt ships an update every 3 days, and Art Reference Board every 10 days. Most recently, Abstrakt was updated on October 20, 2026 and Art Reference Board on October 24, 2026.

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