Alchemy Electronic Lab Notebook vs openBIS

Alchemy Electronic Lab Notebook is a paid cloud ELN for researchers, scientists, and technical teams developing products. Configurable record templates capture information from testing instruments or other sources and store it in the cloud. Connected data structures, filters, multiple search methods, and natural language processing help teams find and reuse information. Users can make bar, scatter, and spider charts to compare experiments and review trial performance. A web interface configures digital workflows and pushes them to production. The system records project changes with version histories and audit trails, and supports electronic signatures, approval workflows, and tag-based permissions at workflow, record, and individual-data levels. Alchemy offers a REST API with documentation and SDK support, plus integrations with CRM, ERP, BI reporting systems, and lab equipment. It runs in browsers on desktops, laptops, and tablets without installation. Data is hosted and backed up in U.S. East Coast, Germany, and Ireland regions.

openBIS combines research data management, a digital lab notebook, and sample and protocol management. Researchers can connect data of any size and format to experiments through its web interface or API. The notebook links experiments with materials, samples, and protocols in the inventory, where teams can track lab materials and create experimental procedures to share with lab members.

BigDataLink provides a git-like way to link large datasets across locations while openBIS serves as the metadata repository. The system supports Excel import and export, and lab notebooks and inventory folders can be exported to Excel and PDF. User profiles and access privileges govern access, and database modifications are tracked. Plugins can extend existing functions or add new ones. Jupyter notebooks can be used with openBIS, and its APIs can connect workflow managers for cluster analysis.