LabCollector ELN vs openBIS

LabCollector ELN organizes experimental data in books that teams can share, with tree-style structure and keyword or content search for finding records. Its editor supports text, tables, images, linked LabCollector records, a flat spreadsheet and Zoho Sheet. Users can build custom fields and templates for pages, reactions and spreadsheets, then associate workflows with pages. The ELN describes audit trails, activity and task-time logs, and optional versioning for books, experiments and pages. Electronic signature validation based on CFR 21 Part 11 is available only in the Compliancy Pack. A Chemistry plugin supports reaction design and importing structures from LabCollector’s Chemical Structures module. AgileBio offers cloud hosting and self-hosting; deployments can run on an intranet, one computer or a web server account. The free Startup Pack is free and includes 3 users and 1,000 data records; ELN is optional, limited to 500 pages and experiments. The ELN Pack starts at €600 a year and includes unlimited pages and experiments.

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.