Benchling Notebook vs LabKey ELN
Benchling Notebook
benchling.comLabKey ELN
labkey.comSide by side
| Figure | Benchling Notebook | LabKey ELN |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | — |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 2 | 0 |
| Spec score · Life Sciences Software | 8.0 (#6) | 7.5 (#11) |
| Spec score · Electronic Lab Notebook Software | 8.0 (#8) | 7.3 (#19) |
| Compliance | Benchling says its notebook supports 21 CFR Part 11 requirements with audit-ready electronic records and signatures. | LabKey says its security and compliance features support handling PHI under HIPAA and electronic records under 21 CFR Part 11. |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, California, United States | Seattle, Washington, USA |
| Integrations | Benchling lists ecosystem integrations including AWS, Google Cloud Platform, Jupyter, Snowflake, and Titian Mosaic, along with instrument integrations through Benchling Automation. | LabKey says its ELN integrates with Sample Manager, Biologics LIMS, LabKey LIMS, and SDMS. |
| Intended users | Benchling describes its customers as organizations ranging from startups to global enterprises in biopharma, agriculture, materials, and other biology-driven fields. | LabKey describes its ELN as designed for scientific R&D organizations. |
| Purpose | Benchling Notebook is a cloud-based electronic lab notebook for capturing, accessing, and sharing scientific work. | LabKey ELN helps scientists document experiments and share research in an electronic lab notebook. |
| Security | Benchling says data is encrypted at rest with AES 256-bit encryption and in transit with TLS 1.2 or higher. | LabKey states that it holds a SOC 2 Type II attestation and commissions independent penetration tests. |
Plans
In their own words
Benchling Notebook
Benchling Notebook is a cloud-based electronic lab notebook for capturing, accessing, and sharing scientific work. It keeps experiments, metadata, collaboration, and analysis together, with search, templates, and schemas for organizing records. Teams can share and co-edit entries using tags, comments, task assignments, and role-based permissions. Entries can link results to samples and experimental data, while the product describes LIMS integration for connecting samples and results. Benchling says the notebook supports 21 CFR Part 11 requirements through audit-ready electronic records and signatures. Listed ecosystem integrations include AWS, Google Cloud Platform, Jupyter, Snowflake, and Titian Mosaic, with instrument connections through Benchling Automation. Developer tools include REST APIs, a Python SDK, webhooks, an application framework, and a Postgres SQL data warehouse. Benchling states that data is encrypted at rest with AES 256-bit encryption and in transit with TLS 1.2 or higher, and that it maintains SOC 2 Type 2 attestation and ISO 27001:2022 certification. The free academic plan includes Notebook and Molecular Biology; industry pricing is customized.
LabKey ELN
LabKey ELN helps scientific R&D organizations document experiments and share research through notebooks connected to samples, assay data and other registered information. Entries support templates, rich text, data links, inline attachments, comments, project tags and notebook status. Teams can request reviews, receive notifications, comment and sign off notebooks. Sign-off creates an encrypted snapshot of notebook text and linked data, preserving the original state. Entries can link to bioregistry entities, samples, assays, workflows and other notebooks. Access is available through web, API and self-hosted deployments, with PDF export. Security features include role-based permissions, single sign-on, two-factor authentication, audit logs and electronic signatures. LabKey describes support for HIPAA PHI handling and 21 CFR Part 11 records. Cloud hosting lists encryption, monitoring and managed backups retained up to seven years. A free plan and free trial are listed.