RoughAnimator vs Reference Board
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
RoughAnimator
Create traditional hand-drawn, frame-by-frame animations on your iPad. This app offers professional-grade tools like unlimited layers, onion skinning, and audio import, making it suitable for both beginners and experienced animators. Export your work in various formats or import it into professional animation software.
- Timeline with unlimited layers
- Onion skinning
- Audio and video import
- Custom brushes
- Apple Pencil support
- Export to video, GIF, image sequence
- Import to professional software
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A fully featured hand drawn animation application for iPad. Made by an animator, for animators. Powerful enough for professionals, simple enough for beginners. Everything you need to create traditional hand drawn frame-by-frame animation, anywhere you go! Features: - Timeline with unlimited layers and easily adjustable exposure length of individual drawings, for pose-to-pose or straight-ahead animating - Onion skinning - Preview playback - Scrub along timeline - Import audio for lip syncing - Import video for rotoscoping animation - Custom brushes - Supports Apple Pencil, Logitech Crayon - Control framerate and resolution - Export animation to Quicktime video, GIF, or image sequence - RoughAnimator projects can be imported to Adobe Flash/Animate, After Effects, and Toon Boom Harmony - Also available on desktop See a short film animated with RoughAnimator: https://youtu.be/vaHuJNNPoMM
Reference Board
This app offers an infinite canvas for visually organizing thoughts and inspiration. Users can drop in various media types, arrange them freely, and zoom in or out to explore connections. Instant search functionality helps locate specific items across all boards.
- Infinite canvas
- Visual idea organization
- Supports images, videos, quotes
- Freeform arrangement
- Instant search
- Zoom in/out functionality
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Reference Board is a private visual workspace for collecting inspiration, developing ideas, and keeping creative research close at hand on Mac, iPhone, and iPad. BUILD VISUAL BOARDS • Collect images, videos, links, text, colors, and PDFs in one place. • Arrange references freely on an infinite canvas or switch to an organized grid. • Move, resize, group, stack, crop, flip, and annotate without changing your original media. • Use the loupe to inspect fine details in images and videos. FIND WHAT YOU NEED • Search across boards and references. • Use on-device analysis, OCR, colors, metadata, and visual similarity to rediscover material quickly. • Keep notes and details attached to the work they describe. SYNC, COLLABORATE, AND SHARE • Keep your library in sync across Mac, iPhone, and iPad with iCloud. • Invite others to collaborate on shared boards. • Publish a separate public, view-only webpage when you want to present your work more widely. • Update or unpublish a published board whenever you like. WORK YOUR WAY • Import from Photos, Files, Safari, drag and drop, or the Share Sheet. • Export boards as images, PDFs, or Reference Board archives. • Use widgets, Shortcuts, the screen saver, and optional MCP automation to connect Reference Board to your workflow. ONE PURCHASE. NO SUBSCRIPTION. New customers receive Reference Pro with their App Store purchase, including unlimited private boards and items, Publish to Web, AI metadata and visual discovery, new collaborations, PDF export, and MCP automation. People who acquired Reference while it was free keep their existing Free plan with one private board and up to 20 items. They can unlock lifetime Reference Pro with a one-time in-app purchase. Reaching a Free limit never deletes or hides existing work. Original paid-app customers and people who already purchased lifetime Reference Pro keep permanent Pro access automatically.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: RoughAnimator at none against Reference Board's 1. RoughAnimator also leads on ratings volume (3K vs 7) and rating (4.6 vs 4.3). Reference Board's advantage is update cadence (every 4 days vs fortnightly) and price ($5.99 vs $7.99). On ads, monetization model 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
RoughAnimator costs $7.99 and Reference Board $5.99 up front. Reference Board sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. RoughAnimator asks for nothing beyond the download.
RoughAnimator holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: RoughAnimator has 3K ratings behind it against 7, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 79% of RoughAnimator's written reviews are positive against 64% of Reference Board's.
RoughAnimator ships an update fortnightly, Reference Board every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | RoughAnimator | Reference Board |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $7.99 | $5.99 — better |
| Rating | 4.6 (3K ratings) — better | 4.3 (7 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 78.6% of reviews — better | 63.6% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 3K — better | 7 |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | Every 4 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Best chart rank | #10 — better | #175 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Mac |
| Requires iOS | 13 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 31 MB | 23 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Jacob KAFKA | Jordan Ruchtie |
Customer experience
RoughAnimator
Reference Board
Bugs and requests
RoughAnimator
Reported bugs
4 issues- Crashes when importing audio
- Onion skin not working
- Pixelated drawings when playing animation
- Laggy performance with larger projects
Requested features
8 requests- Add transparency support for exports
- Implement a text tool
- Provide more brush options and customization
- Add a ruler/shape tool
- Improve audio handling (record, import, sync)
Show 3 moreShow fewer
- Implement a tween/animation feature
- Add layer grouping and organization tools
- Provide a dark mode option
Reference Board
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
RoughAnimator
No in-app purchases
Reference Board
- Reference Pro$5.99









