Overview

LabArchives is a research software suite spanning electronic lab notebooks, inventory and equipment scheduling. It is best suited to research groups that want to manage scientific records alongside lab operations. Its breadth is useful when those needs overlap, but may be more than a team looking only for a basic notebook needs.

The ELN for Research records, organizes, searches and shares scientific data. LabArchives says it serves 750,000 scientists in academic, nonprofit and commercial organizations; the company was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.

Key features

The ELN includes more than 20 built-in widgets and supports custom widgets, giving teams ways to structure records around their work. Integrations include GraphPad Prism, SnapGene, REDCap, Jupyter and Protocols.io. These connections and configurable widgets make it a stronger fit for research workflows than a notebook intended only for simple note-taking.

LabArchives Inventory organizes, tracks and orders laboratory inventory, while Scheduler manages equipment and other lab resources. The ELN + Inventory plans link reagents to experiments and automatically debit inventory items, a practical advantage for labs that need records and materials to stay connected. Teams needing only one of those functions may not need the broader suite.

Audit trails, electronic signatures and approval workflows support controlled recordkeeping. Offline access and API access add flexibility, while PDF and read-only offline HTML in ZIP exports provide ways to retain or share records outside the application. LabArchives states that it has FedRAMP, SOC 2 and ISO 27001 certifications, supports HIPAA and GDPR requirements, and is compliant with 21 CFR Part 11, HIPAA and NIST 800-171.

Browser access is available on Windows, macOS and Linux. The ELN is optimized for mobile browsers and supports direct image, video and audio capture; Android users can also install an app that wraps the browser-based session. LabArchives provides a Help Center with a knowledge base, FAQs and application support staff, as well as regular training webinars.

Pricing

LabArchives uses a freemium model, with free options and paid plans for education, academic and corporate users. Plan prices and terms differ by product, so the right comparison depends on whether a lab needs an ELN, inventory tools or both.

Free: 0.00 USD per free, billed Free. It includes 2 owned notebooks, 1GB per user, a 25MB file limit, and SnapGene and GraphPad Prism integrations. This is a reasonable starting point for an individual or small group with modest storage needs; the notebook and file caps may constrain larger projects.
Inventory Free: 0.00 USD per free, billed Free for 90 days. It includes the ELN for Research integration, custom inventory categories and custom storage locations. The 90-day term makes it a short-term way to assess inventory workflows, rather than a permanent free inventory plan.
ELN for Education: 25.00 USD per contact, billed per student / term, with course management tools. It is aimed at teaching settings where managing a course matters more than a per-user annual research plan.
Inventory Academic: 99.00 USD per year, billed per user per year. It adds the ELN for Research integration, custom inventory categories and storage locations, and parent/child item relationships. It fits academic labs seeking inventory management without the combined plan's reagent-to-experiment links and automatic debiting.
Inventory Corporate: 199.00 USD per year, billed per user per year, with the same listed inventory features as Inventory Academic. It provides a corporate-priced route to those inventory capabilities.
Professional Academic: 330.00 USD per year, billed per user per year. It includes unlimited owned notebooks, 100GB per user, a 250MB file limit, and NIH Data Management Mandates & Sharing support. Compared with Free, the higher storage and file ceiling suit research users working with larger files or more notebooks.
ELN + Inventory Academic: 360.00 USD per year, billed per user per year. It includes the Inventory application, unlimited inventory items, reagent links to experiments and automatic inventory debiting. It is the more complete academic option for labs that want materials tracking tied to experiments.
Professional Corporate: 575.00 USD per year, billed per user per year, with unlimited owned notebooks, 100GB per user, a 250MB file limit, and NIH Data Management Mandates & Sharing support.
ELN + Inventory Corporate: 675.00 USD per year, billed per user per year, with the Inventory application, unlimited inventory items, reagent links to experiments and automatic inventory debiting.
Enterprise ELN: custom pricing. It offers unlimited storage, files up to 16GB, advanced security and usage reports, SAML SSO, a Developer API, an uptime guarantee and SLA, and a dedicated success manager. Those controls and service commitments make it the option for organizations with enterprise requirements, rather than teams choosing primarily on a low per-user price.

Free is capped at 1GB per user and 25MB per file, while Professional raises those limits to 100GB per user and 250MB per file. Professional Academic and Professional Corporate also differ substantially in annual per-user price, so academic and corporate buyers should compare the plan intended for their organization before budgeting.

Platforms

LabArchives lists Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, web and Windows platforms, as well as an API. Browser access covers Windows, macOS and Linux; mobile browser access supports direct media capture. The Android app wraps a browser-based session, so it is not a separate native ELN experience.

Who it's for

Academic and commercial research groups that need searchable scientific records plus inventory or equipment scheduling are the clearest fit. Teaching programs can consider ELN for Education, while labs handling larger files may benefit from Professional's expanded storage and file limits. A group that needs only a simple notebook, or wants to avoid per-user paid plans, should weigh whether the suite's additional operational tools justify the cost.

Pros and cons

Pros: The suite brings ELN, inventory and equipment scheduling together, and combined plans can link reagents to experiments and debit inventory automatically.
Pros: Professional plans raise the free plan's storage and file limits substantially, which is useful for research records with larger files.
Pros: Audit trails, signatures, approval workflows and stated compliance credentials address controlled research-record needs.
Cons: The Free plan's 1GB per-user storage, 25MB file limit and 2 owned notebooks can be restrictive as projects grow.
Cons: Inventory Free lasts only 90 days, so it is not a lasting free path to inventory management.
Cons: Annual per-user pricing can add up for teams, and combining ELN and inventory costs more than the standalone inventory plans.

Alternatives

For a broader comparison, see Electronic Lab Notebook Software and Equipment Scheduling Software.

LabCollector ELN is worth considering if its free Startup Pack's three-user allowance and 1,000 data records suit a smaller setup.
SciNote may suit a single user seeking a free dedicated workspace, while its premium plans require a quote.
eLabFTW is an option for teams prepared to host and administer free, self-hosted software under AGPLv3.
Labfolder is an alternative for teams willing to request a quote based on their number of users.
NETVIBES is another option to consider.
Benchling Notebook may appeal to academic researchers seeking a free plan that includes Notebook and Molecular Biology.
LabKey ELN is another alternative to compare.
CDD Vault Electronic Lab Notebook is another alternative to compare.

Verdict

Choose LabArchives if your research group wants scientific documentation connected to inventory and equipment scheduling, particularly when auditability and larger-file support matter. Its main trade-off is cost: meaningful storage headroom and integrated inventory come with paid per-user plans, while the free notebook has tight caps. If you need only a basic ELN or cannot justify those recurring costs, compare a simpler or self-hosted alternative.

	Current RMS	LabArchives
Free plan	No	Yes
Free trial	Yes	Yes
Paid from	$49/mo	$8.25/mo
Open source	No	No
Platforms	Android, iOS, Web	Android, api, iOS, Linux, macOS, Web, Windows
Free plan	No	Yes

Current RMS vs LabArchives

Current RMS

LabArchives