Your all-in-one visual library.
Reimagined.
Reimagined.
refern [v2] is a totally offline reference organizer built for speed, privacy, and permanence.
collectsearchorganizemoodboardstudyreferences, all-in-one app.
collectsearchorganizemoodboardstudyreferences, all-in-one app.
Join 935 on the waitlist and 900+ in our Discord.
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Why we are rebuilding.
refern. started as a web application. But as our community grew, the reality set in: server costs were rising, and the burden of moderating a public cloud platform became unsustainable for one person to manage.
This began as a passion project to help people create, and I wanted it to remain accessible. I refused to compromise the experience by adding ads, selling your data, or forcing a monthly subscription just to keep the lights on.
So, in September 2025, I made the decision to shut down the cloud.
But the shutdown revealed the ultimate solution: Local-First.
By moving refern. to your desktop, server costs are eliminated entirely.
This allows me to offer you the same experience—but better, faster, and more secure. It also ensures refern. remains a sustainable business, and a one-time purchase tool that you own forever.
This began as a passion project to help people create, and I wanted it to remain accessible. I refused to compromise the experience by adding ads, selling your data, or forcing a monthly subscription just to keep the lights on.
So, in September 2025, I made the decision to shut down the cloud.
But the shutdown revealed the ultimate solution: Local-First.
By moving refern. to your desktop, server costs are eliminated entirely.
This allows me to offer you the same experience—but better, faster, and more secure. It also ensures refern. remains a sustainable business, and a one-time purchase tool that you own forever.
Local is the future.
By moving the engine to your desktop, we eliminate the server costs that killed the web app. This architecture ensures that refern. remains sustainable, affordable, and impossible to shut down.
Because it lives on your machine, it is yours to keep.
Because it lives on your machine, it is yours to keep.
So, what's the difference?
Your data remain yours.
Your files live on your file system, not our database. If we ever disappear, your files stays and your software keeps working.
Incredibly fast.
Stop waiting for spinners. V2 runs natively on your hardware. Search 50,000 images, organize heavy textures, and load libraries instantly.
Truly private.
In an era of rampant AI scraping, the safest place for your data is your own hard drive. V2 creates a private vault that web crawlers can never touch.
Buy Once. Keep Forever.
refern [v2] will launch with a simple, honest pricing model:
A one-time purchase for a lifetime license.
Stop renting your workflow. Own it.
A one-time purchase for a lifetime license.
Stop renting your workflow. Own it.
Don't wait alone.
While we build, our community is active.
Help us test early builds and shape the features of V2.
Join Community DiscordHelp us test early builds and shape the features of V2.