← Atlas · Topics: inspiration, ux-patterns, agents-and-prompts
Refero
- Site
- refero.design
- Type
- gallery
- Verdict
- Very useful
- Licence
- Conditional licence, proprietary paid
proprietary-paidAt review, free access covered roughly 3% of the library and basic search. Pro was US$10/month billed annually (US$120/year), with MCP and the full screen and flow library. Terms permit ordinary design research and product design from what you learn, but prohibit redistributing screenshots, scraping, republishing the library or using its content for model training. Third-party screens remain their owners' property. - Agent channels
- mcp, skill
- Pricing
- freemium
- Reviewed
What it is
Refero is a searchable reference library of real web and iOS product screens and user flows. The main site is distinct from Refero Styles: this library focuses on captured product screens and journeys, while Styles publishes text-based design-system descriptions. Screens can be filtered by page type, UX pattern, UI element, site, colour and font.
When to open it
- Before designing a common product screen or flow, to compare how shipped products handle the same task.
- When you know the pattern (such as a dashboard, dark mode or onboarding) but need examples from real products.
- When you want an agent to search and compare screen references through the MCP server.
Most useful
- Independent filters: browse dashboards, onboarding flows, UI elements, products, fonts or colours as separate facets.
- Individual screen pages: each specimen carries tags for page type, UX patterns, UI elements, fonts and colours. For example, Runey's dashboard is tagged with dashboard, activity feed, stats, dark mode, charts, cards, lists and sidebar elements.
- MCP and skill: Pro includes MCP access for agents; the Refero Skill installs separately and describes a design-research method.
- Large searchable collection: the pricing page listed 142,000+ web and iOS screens at review, with user flows and weekly additions.
Using it with agents
Install the Refero MCP with a Pro plan to search screens and flows from an MCP-compatible tool. The site also publishes an installable Refero Skill (npx skills add https://github.com/referodesign/refero_skill) for researching references and turning findings into a design direction. Free access exposes only a small library preview and basic search.
Watch out for
- At review, free accounts saw about 3% of the library. The full web and iOS collection, flows and MCP require Pro; annual Pro was US$120.
- In the individual Runey example, the screen and tags were visible in Refero, but its source dashboard redirected to a sign-in page. Use Refero's capture to study the screen and follow the source link for the live product when you have access.
- Screenshots and logos belong to the represented products. Refero's terms allow using insights for ordinary product design, but not republishing screenshots, building a competing dataset or training models on its content.
- Do not treat a screenshot as evidence of the current live product; verify the original when it is accessible.
Reusable ideas
- Make page type, pattern, UI element, product, colour and typography separate filters, so one reference can be found from different starting questions.
- Tag each screen with multiple visual and functional facets rather than forcing it into one category.
- Link screenshots back to the original product and show ownership context before a visitor reuses an image.
- Offer agents the same structured facets as the human search interface.