Ref Tools
Review the Plan before the Code.
At a glance
Price not confirmed · Source review 2026-11-02- Price & billing
No price amount was verified on the official homepage reviewed on 2026-11-02; the page states no product price, so no price is asserted. Recheck official pricing before purchase.
- Free allowance
Not separately confirmed. Check the current plan before relying on a free allowance.
- Best suited to
Engineering teams whose AI coding agents need an agreed, reviewed plan before writing code
Fit is editorial guidance, not a measured result.- Platforms
Access: not separately verified. Operating systems not separately verified.
Published-source facts and editorial guidance. No product test is implied. Confirm current conditions before purchase.
No product screenshot is claimed for this listing. Use the official website ↗ to inspect the current interface.
What to know before choosing
Good fit
Engineering teams whose AI coding agents need an agreed, reviewed plan before writing code
Limits and trade-offs
No price amount was verified on the homepage reviewed, and no pricing page was verified; the homepage headline presents plan review, while the Context MCP is mentioned as a related offering; no authenticated product test was run. Method: official-page text review, not a live-browser render in this session.
Plans and free allowances
No price amount was verified on the official homepage reviewed on 2026-11-02; the page states no product price, so no price is asserted. Recheck official pricing before purchase.
Evidence
Official homepage ↗ (reviewed 2026-11-02)
Official published page review; no authenticated product test
Dates: Last reviewed 2026-11-02. Last reviewed is the latest source or editorial review date; it is not a content-change date.
A closer look at Ref Tools
Ref Tools (Ref) is a multiplayer plan editor with review built in: engineers and engineering teams plan, run, and review the work their AI coding agents are doing in a shared living document. Plans are designed to be read, with Mermaid diagrams, images, HTML prototypes, and progressive disclosure, and teammates and agents read, comment, and edit the same document, with threads, approvals, and reviews on the plan. Ref can launch external agents such as Cursor or Devin, review and merge code on the team behalf, research across every connected repository, and pull context from 675+ sources via its Context MCP and integrations.
Editorial guidance based on published documentation. The workflow below is a suggested starting point, not a measured product result.
When to choose Ref Tools
- Engineering teams aligning on an approach before an AI agent writes code
- Teams whose changes span multiple repositories and need system-wide plan context
When to choose something else
- Solo users who only need a personal plan document without multiplayer review
- Users who need a plan editor for non-engineering teams, since Ref Tools is for engineers and engineering teams planning AI coding agent work
A practical starting workflow
- Write the plan as a living document in Ref, with diagrams, images, or prototypes where they help.
- Share a link so teammates and agents read, comment, and edit the same document.
- Run threads, approvals, and reviews on the plan to align on the approach before code is written.
- Send tasks to agents such as Cursor, Claude Code, Devin, or Codex, and track everything from one place.
Check before committing
- Vendor claims on the official page are not guarantees; actual results, quality and availability must be tested in the product.
- Prices and features may change after this review; recheck the official site before purchase or signup.
Common questions
What is Ref?
Ref Plans is the workspace where engineers and engineering teams plan, run, and review the work their AI coding agents are doing, in a shared living document.
How is a Ref plan different from a text document?
Plans are designed to be read: Mermaid diagrams, images, HTML prototypes, and progressive disclosure, so a good plan takes minutes to read, not an afternoon.
How does review work?
Teammates and agents read, comment, and edit the same document, with threads, approvals, and reviews on the plan, catching issues before a large diff.
Which agents can it work with?
The homepage names launching external agents like Cursor or Devin, and sending tasks to Cursor, Claude Code, Devin, or Codex.
What does it cost?
No price amount was verified on the homepage reviewed, so no price is asserted; the homepage also mentions precise context for 1000s of docs via the Context MCP, which matches the directory tagline.
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Sources and checks
Last source review is not a date of product testing. No rating or test result is implied by inclusion. Check the current plan and terms before buying.