Skip to content
SPECIFICTION
Get listed

Phoenix ELN

chembytes.com

Free plan Windows
Visit chembytes.com
Spec score 7.0 #21 of 23 in Electronic Lab Notebook Software

What it is

Phoenix ELN is a free, open-source electronic lab notebook for Windows, designed for organic, organometallic and peptide chemistry. Experiment protocols can place reactants, reagents, solvents, comments, products, images and files in workflow order. Adding materials supplies stoichiometric information such as equivalents and millimoles. The self-learning materials database contains nearly 200 commonly used reagents, solvents and auxiliaries, with cross-checked molecular weights and densities. An integrated drawing editor supports organic, organometallic, peptide and resin-bound structures. Reaction substructure searches work across local experiments; an optional server extends searches to finalized experiments across an organization. Phoenix ELN runs without a server connection and supports offline access. The optional in-house server adds continuous backup, experiment sharing and organization-wide searches, with an installation script for MySQL or MariaDB. Protocols export to PDF compliant with PDF/A-3b, embedding inserted documents as PDF attachments; ZIP, JPEG, PNG and TIF are also listed. Support is directed to GitHub Issues and Discussions.

Spec sheet

Purpose
Phoenix ELN is an open-source electronic lab notebook suited for organic, organometallic and peptide chemistry.Read 8 Oct 2026 · chembytes.com
Support
The maker directs bug reports, feature suggestions and questions to the project's GitHub Issues and Discussions pages, and says ChemBytes support is for commercial software only.Read 8 Oct 2026 · chembytes.com
Database integration
The optional server package includes an installation script for a MySQL or MariaDB database.Read 8 Oct 2026 · github.com
Experiment protocols
Protocols can include reactants, reagents, solvents, comments, products, images and files arranged in workflow order.Read 8 Oct 2026 · github.com
Materials database
The built-in self-learning materials database comes with nearly 200 commonly used reagents, solvents and auxiliaries with cross-checked molecular weights and densities.Read 8 Oct 2026 · chembytes.com
PDF export
Protocols can be exported to PDF compliant with PDF/A-3b, and inserted documents are embedded as PDF attachments.Read 8 Oct 2026 · github.com
Platform
The project's README identifies Windows as the target platform.Read 8 Oct 2026 · github.com
Reaction editor
The integrated drawing editor supports organic, organometallic, peptide and resin-bound structures.Read 8 Oct 2026 · chembytes.com
Search
Reaction substructure searches can search local experiments or, with the optional server database, finalized experiments across an organization.Read 8 Oct 2026 · github.com
Server option
Phoenix ELN runs without a server connection; an optional in-house server supports continuous backup, experiment sharing and organization-wide reaction searches.Read 8 Oct 2026 · chembytes.com
Stoichiometry
The application automatically supplies stoichiometric data such as equivalents and millimoles when materials are added to a protocol.Read 8 Oct 2026 · github.com

Plans and prices

Phoenix ELN Free Available at no cost to end users · Windows target platform Read 8 Oct 2026 · chembytes.com

Every Phoenix ELN plan and price →

Strong points and limits

Strong points

  • Free and open-source Windows application
  • Automatic equivalents and millimole calculations
  • Nearly 200 materials in the database
  • Works offline without a server
  • PDF/A-3b export with embedded attachments

Limits

  • Windows is the listed target platform
  • Organization-wide searches require the optional server
  • Commercial-software support excludes this project

Who it suits

It suits chemistry researchers who need a Windows notebook for structured protocols, reaction searching and document export. Organizations can add the optional server for backup, sharing and broader searches.

Verdict

Phoenix ELN provides chemistry-focused protocol structure, calculations, drawing and search without requiring a server. The optional server adds collaborative and backup functions, while the core application remains free and offline-capable.

Where Specifiction places it

Alternatives to Phoenix ELNAll alternatives →