
Figma
UXpin
Sketch
ProtoPie
Invision
Mockplus
Balsamiq
Adobe XD is an all-in-one UX/UI solution for designing websites, mobile apps and more.

PureRef
Milanote
Eagle App
Pinterest
Miro
Allusion
digiKam
A visual reference manager for creatives. Organize your reference library and build moodboards on an infinite canvas, all in one desktop app.

Which is more popular?
Website, pricing, platforms and company facts side by side.
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| Website | adobe.com | refern.app |
| Pricing | — | |
| Platforms | — | |
| Company | Startup from the United States | Startup from Canada · 1 - 9 employees · 2026 |
| Listed in |
In their own words, as submitted to SaaSHub.


No description of Adobe XD yet.
refern is a local-first desktop app for collecting, organizing, and working with visual references. The library side gives you folders, hierarchical tags, smart folders, ratings, color labels, color search by hex, image-to-image visual similarity, and more than 14 typed search operators, all...
What each product offers, as listed by its team.


Possible disadvantages
An editorial look at what each product does well and who it suits.


No analysis of Adobe XD yet.
Overall verdict
Why this product is good
Recommended for
Walkthroughs and reviews on video.
Sketch vs Adobe XD: Which One Should You Use?
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How often each product is chosen within a category, 0–100% relative to the other.


As answered by people managing Adobe XD and refern..
refern.'s answer:
I'm an artist, and too often I was frustrated: I couldn't find the right pictures, I struggled to organize and keep track of my reference images, and I was juggling too many apps when all I wanted to do was draw. I wanted one tool that could do it all, with every component well integrated. So I made refern.
refern.'s answer:
The flow of collecting references for art usually goes like this:
find references and inspiration online -> save and organize those images -> use them on their own or in a moodboard -> reuse them for the next project or share them with others
Normally that means a different app for each step. refern does all of it in one place, with every part built to work together.
refern.'s answer:
Most tools solve only one part of the reference workflow, so artists end up juggling several. refern combines them in one app: Eagle-style organization and search, a PureRef-style infinite canvas, and an Obsidian-style graph of how your references connect. It never copies your files, so it doesn't double your disk usage. It runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux, works fully offline, and is a $30 one-time purchase with no subscription. Built in Rust, it stays fast even on libraries with hundreds of thousands of images.
refern.'s answer:
Individual artists and creative professionals: illustrators, concept artists, digital painters, designers, and photographers. They collect and organize large libraries of visual references, build moodboards, and study from reference. refern is built for solo creators rather than teams, spanning hobbyists and students through working professionals.
refern.'s answer:
refern is a Tauri v2 desktop app with a Rust backend and a React 19 (with React Compiler) plus TypeScript frontend. Data is stored locally in SQLite (rusqlite) with FTS5 full-text search. The interface uses Tailwind CSS, Zustand, and TanStack Query, with motion/react for animation. The infinite canvas and graph view are built on react-three-fiber and three.js. Thumbnailing, perceptual hashing, and color and visual similarity run in Rust with rayon and SIMD.
Share your experience with using Adobe XD and refern.. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
External articles and on-site reviews we used to compare the two products.


While not a direct competitor to Figma regarding design capabilities, Zeplin serves as a bridge between designers and developers by providing a platform for sharing design specs, assets, and style guides. Its seamless...
Adobe XD gives Figma a run for its money as it’s loaded with robust features to make your visual content stand out. The software is generally easy-to-use for various visual content, concept mapping, and prototypes.
Furthermore, you can share your designs and collect feedback so you can iterate quickly without having to jump to a different tool. Adobe XD lets you do it all.
We have no reviews of refern. yet. Be the first one to post
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Unify your creative inspiration in one place. Store anything – inspiring images, design mockups, illustrations, screenshots and more.
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