"Best" depends on what you save. A designer who screenshots twenty app screens a day needs a different reference saving tool from a brand designer archiving high-resolution print work, and both need something different from a researcher collecting articles. So this comparison starts by saying what each tool is for, and only then ranks them.
We build GetRef, so read our verdict on it with that in mind. We have tried to be as fair about the others as we would want them to be about us.
The eight tools
- GetRef. Built for designers saving screenshots and web captures. One-click capture with the link, automatic text recognition and tagging, natural-language search, private by default. Free for 50 references, paid above that.
- Eagle. A desktop asset manager for Mac and Windows. Excellent for large local libraries of images, fonts, videos and design files, with folders, tags and colour search. One-time purchase. Cloud sync is your own job.
- mymind. A private, minimal everything-bucket for images, articles, notes and quotes. Automatic tagging, strong search, no folders by design. Subscription.
- Raindrop. A polished bookmark manager with visual previews, collections, tags and full-text search of saved pages. Great for links, weaker for screenshots.
- Milanote. A visual board tool for arranging references, notes and files into moodboards. Better for presenting a curated set than for storing thousands of items.
- Are.na. A calm, community-driven platform for collecting and connecting references into channels. Public by default, thoughtful, slow in a good way.
- Pinterest. The default. Huge discovery engine, easy saving, public boards unless you make them secret, no search inside images.
- Figma. Not a reference tool, but where many designers end up storing references anyway. Fine for a project moodboard, bad as a library.
How they compare on what matters
Capture. GetRef, Raindrop, mymind and Pinterest all save from a browser extension in one click. Eagle has an extension too and also drags in local files well. Milanote and Are.na work but the flow is heavier. Figma means paste.
Link kept with the image. GetRef, mymind, Raindrop, Pinterest and Are.na keep the source. Eagle records the URL for web captures. Figma and Milanote depend on you.
Text inside screenshots is searchable. GetRef and mymind, yes. Eagle, with optional setup. Everything else, no. If you save UI screens, this is the single most important row in the table, because the words on the screen are how you will remember it. We explain why in search text inside screenshots.
Automatic tagging. GetRef and mymind tag on save. Eagle offers colour and some automatic metadata. Raindrop suggests tags for links. Others rely on you.
Privacy. GetRef, mymind, Eagle, Raindrop and Milanote are private by default. Are.na and Pinterest are public by default with private options.
Price. Eagle is a one-time purchase and the cheapest over five years. Are.na and Raindrop have good free tiers. GetRef is free to 50 references. mymind is subscription only with no free tier beyond a trial. Pinterest is free.
Which one for which designer
- UI and product designers saving screenshots daily: GetRef. It is built for exactly this, and the text search is what makes a screenshot library usable.
- Designers with thousands of local files, fonts and assets: Eagle. Nothing else handles a large local library as well. See the best Eagle alternatives if the desktop-only model does not suit you.
- Designers who also collect articles, quotes and notes: mymind. One private place for everything, if you accept the price and the lack of folders.
- Link-heavy researchers: Raindrop. The best bookmark manager, and honest about being one.
- Presenting a curated set to a client or team: Milanote or a Figma board, fed from whichever library above you actually keep.
- Collecting in public, with others: Are.na.
The mistake to avoid
The wrong choice is not picking the wrong tool. It is picking two or three and splitting your references between them, so that nothing is ever in the place you look first. Pick one for keeping. Use the others for browsing and presenting if you like, but save in one place only.
If you are choosing between the three most often shortlisted, Eagle vs mymind vs GetRef goes deeper. If you are not sure you need a tool at all yet, start with what a design reference tool is.
Common questions
- What is the best reference saving tool for designers?
- For UI and web designers who mostly save screenshots and want to search them by description later, GetRef is the most direct fit. For large local asset libraries, Eagle. For a general everything-bucket that includes design, mymind. For public, collaborative research, Are.na.
- Is there a free reference saving tool?
- Raindrop and Are.na have generous free tiers, Pinterest is free, and GetRef has a free plan covering 50 references. Eagle is a one-time purchase and mymind is subscription only.
- Can a reference saving tool search text inside screenshots?
- Some can. GetRef and mymind read the text in saved images so it becomes searchable. Eagle can, with optional setup. Raindrop searches page text for links but not inside images. Pinterest does not.
- Should I save references locally or in the cloud?
- Cloud tools give you capture from any device and search from anywhere. Local tools like Eagle give you ownership of the files and no subscription. Most designers who work across a laptop and a phone end up preferring cloud.
