ref="userText" - Vue detects such refs and stores them internally. It basically memorizes that you want access to elements and in your js code you can have access to these elements.
$refs - is an object full of key value pairs where the keys are ref identifiers you set up in your template
ex:
this.message = this.$refs.userText.value;
console.log(this.$refs.userText) // the whole element will be seen
<input type="text" ref="userInput>
methods: {
someFunc(evt) {
this.text = this.$refs.userInput.value;
}
}