diff --git a/.github/workflows/pytest.yml b/.github/workflows/pytest.yml
index 64daa0ef..1d5f0e34 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/pytest.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pytest.yml
@@ -60,14 +60,6 @@ jobs:
           coverage report
           coverage xml -o coverage-unit.xml
 
-      - name: Upload test artifacts
-        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
-        if: failure()
-        with:
-          name: image-references
-          path: bec_widgets/tests/reference_failures/
-          if-no-files-found: ignore
-
       - name: Upload coverage to Codecov
         uses: codecov/codecov-action@v5
         with:
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 085f2a72..4e73bfe2 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -65,9 +65,6 @@ coverage.xml
 .pytest_cache/
 cover/
 
-# Output from end2end testing
-tests/reference_failures/
-
 # Translations
 *.mo
 *.pot
diff --git a/AGENTS.md b/AGENTS.md
index 45dc580f..d1b6bf0b 100644
--- a/AGENTS.md
+++ b/AGENTS.md
@@ -51,7 +51,6 @@ Main package and test areas:
 - `bec_widgets/tests/` — packaged test helpers for downstream plugin repos
 - `tests/unit_tests/` — main test suite
 - `tests/end-2-end/` — tests against a real BEC deployment
-- `tests/reference_failures/` — failed image-comparison output collected in CI
 
 Console scripts declared in `pyproject.toml`:
 
diff --git a/bec_widgets/utils/reference_utils.py b/bec_widgets/utils/reference_utils.py
deleted file mode 100644
index dc4ef78e..00000000
--- a/bec_widgets/utils/reference_utils.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,93 +0,0 @@
-import os
-import sys
-from typing import Any
-
-from PIL import Image, ImageChops
-from qtpy.QtGui import QPixmap
-
-import bec_widgets
-
-REFERENCE_DIR = os.path.join(
-    os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(bec_widgets.__file__)), "tests/references"
-)
-REFERENCE_DIR_FAILURES = os.path.join(
-    os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(bec_widgets.__file__)), "tests/reference_failures"
-)
-
-
-def compare_images(image1_path: str, reference_image_path: str):
-    """
-    Load two images and compare them pixel by pixel
-
-    Args:
-        image1_path(str): The path to the first image
-        reference_image_path(str): The path to the reference image
-
-    Raises:
-        ValueError: If the images are different
-    """
-    image1 = Image.open(image1_path)
-    image2 = Image.open(reference_image_path)
-    if image1.size != image2.size:
-        raise ValueError("Image size has changed")
-    diff = ImageChops.difference(image1, image2)
-    if diff.getbbox():
-        # copy image1 to the reference directory to upload as artifact
-        os.makedirs(REFERENCE_DIR_FAILURES, exist_ok=True)
-        image_name = os.path.join(REFERENCE_DIR_FAILURES, os.path.basename(image1_path))
-        image1.save(image_name)
-        print(f"Image saved to {image_name}")
-
-        raise ValueError("Images are different")
-
-
-def snap_and_compare(widget: Any, output_directory: str, suffix: str = ""):
-    """
-    Save a rendering of a widget and compare it to a reference image
-
-    Args:
-        widget(any): The widget to render
-        output_directory(str): The directory to save the image to
-        suffix(str): A suffix to append to the image name
-
-    Raises:
-        ValueError: If the images are different
-
-    Examples:
-        snap_and_compare(widget, tmpdir, suffix="started")
-
-    """
-
-    if not isinstance(output_directory, str):
-        output_directory = str(output_directory)
-
-    os_suffix = sys.platform
-
-    name = (
-        f"{widget.__class__.__name__}_{suffix}_{os_suffix}.png"
-        if suffix
-        else f"{widget.__class__.__name__}_{os_suffix}.png"
-    )
-
-    # Save the widget to a pixmap
-    test_image_path = os.path.join(output_directory, name)
-    pixmap = QPixmap(widget.size())
-    widget.render(pixmap)
-    pixmap.save(test_image_path)
-
-    try:
-        reference_path = os.path.join(REFERENCE_DIR, f"{widget.__class__.__name__}")
-        reference_image_path = os.path.join(reference_path, name)
-
-        if not os.path.exists(reference_image_path):
-            raise ValueError(f"Reference image not found: {reference_image_path}")
-
-        compare_images(test_image_path, reference_image_path)
-
-    except ValueError:
-        image = Image.open(test_image_path)
-        os.makedirs(REFERENCE_DIR_FAILURES, exist_ok=True)
-        image_name = os.path.join(REFERENCE_DIR_FAILURES, name)
-        image.save(image_name)
-        print(f"Image saved to {image_name}")
-        raise