Softwr

Research · head to head

Aurelius vs Thermo SampleManager LIMS

Aurelius logo

Aurelius

Research

UX research repository for tagging notes, building insights and finding them again years later

From
$49/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Thermo SampleManager LIMS logo

Thermo SampleManager LIMS

Research

Enterprise LIMS for regulated QC laboratories, with LES and SDMS in one product

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Aurelius aurelius does not recruit participants or run unmoderated studies, so it is always a second tool alongside a testing or recruitment platform and never the whole research budget.; Thermo SampleManager LIMS no pricing is published in any form, and Thermo Fisher routes even basic cost questions through a request for quote, so early stage budget planning is guesswork.
  • They diverge on capability: Aurelius covers Research repository, Thermo SampleManager LIMS covers Sample lifecycle management.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Aurelius and Thermo SampleManager LIMS actually diverge.

Attributes where Aurelius and Thermo SampleManager LIMS differ
AttributeAureliusThermo SampleManager LIMS
Starting price$49/monthOn request
Pricing modelFlat monthly fee, unlimited usersquote
PlatformsWebWeb, Windows, Linux

Identical on both: free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Research).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Aurelius

  • Research repository
  • Analysis board
  • Tagging
  • Insights and recommendations
  • Transcription
  • AI assist
  • Automatic report builder
  • Universal search

Only in Thermo SampleManager LIMS

  • Sample lifecycle management
  • Specifications and OOS handling
  • Laboratory execution system
  • Scientific data management
  • Stability studies
  • Instrument management
  • Environmental monitoring

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Aurelius

  • A research team of three whose findings currently live in individual Miro boards and Google Docs that nobody outside the team can find six months laternot Thermo SampleManager LIMS
  • A product organisation that wants every designer and product manager to search past research without paying forty repository seatsnot Thermo SampleManager LIMS
  • A consultancy running discovery for multiple clients that needs tagged evidence kept separate per client but searchable internallynot Thermo SampleManager LIMS
  • A team preparing a repeat study who need to know what was already learned about the same problem two years ago before they recruit anyonenot Thermo SampleManager LIMS

Thermo SampleManager LIMS

  • A pharmaceutical QC laboratory that needs enforced method execution and electronic signatures for GMP release testingnot Aurelius
  • A multi site chemical or petrochemical business standardising sample handling and specifications across laboratoriesnot Aurelius
  • A water or environmental testing laboratory with high sample throughput and regulatory reporting obligationsnot Aurelius
  • A laboratory replacing a LIMS plus separate LES and SDMS estate and wanting to retire two integrations along with the old systemnot Aurelius

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Aurelius

  • Aurelius does not recruit participants or run unmoderated studies, so it is always a second tool alongside a testing or recruitment platform and never the whole research budget.
  • Integrations are thin, with Zapier, Jira and Slack rather than direct connections to the call recording and testing tools most teams already run, so getting material in often means manual upload.
  • The tag vocabulary is only as good as the discipline applied to it, and repositories where several researchers invent overlapping tags become unsearchable within a year with no built-in governance to prevent it.
  • Unlimited users is genuinely unlimited but permissions are basic below Enterprise, so a team that needs client-safe or stakeholder-only views has to buy the quoted tier for something that reads as a table-stakes control.
  • It is a small independent vendor competing with much better funded repositories, which is a real procurement risk for an organisation storing years of research in it, and enterprise assurance material such as penetration test reports sits behind the top tier.

Thermo SampleManager LIMS

  • No pricing is published in any form, and Thermo Fisher routes even basic cost questions through a request for quote, so early stage budget planning is guesswork.
  • Implementation is configuration heavy and normally requires Thermo Fisher professional services or a specialist partner, and services costs routinely exceed the licence cost in the first year.
  • Computer system validation is the customer responsibility on top of implementation, so a GMP laboratory carries a validation programme of its own before go live and repeats a subset of it at every upgrade.
  • Cloud hosting is charged as an annual fee scaled to licence count, so seats drive infrastructure cost as well as licence cost and occasional users are expensive twice.
  • The product carries a long codebase history and its configuration model is specialist, which makes in house administrators hard to recruit and creates a dependency on external consultants for changes that would be self service in a newer LIMS.

Pricing, plan by plan

Aurelius

$49/month
  • Professional$49/month
    • Unlimited users
    • Unlimited projects and storage
    • Notes, tags and documents
  • Premium$199/month
    • Everything in Professional
    • Recommendations
    • Universal search across projects
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Everything in Premium
    • SSO with SAML 2.0
    • IP allowlisting

Thermo SampleManager LIMS

On request
  • SampleManager LIMS$undefined/year
    • Quoted through the Thermo Fisher sales team, nothing published
    • Annual hosting fee calculated on the number of licences for cloud deployments
    • Deployment as Thermo managed AWS, on premise, or customer cloud

Which should you pick?

Choose Aurelius if

  • You need research repository.
  • You also want analysis board.
Aurelius review

Choose Thermo SampleManager LIMS if

  • You need sample lifecycle management.
  • You work on Web, Windows, Linux.
  • You also want specifications and oos handling.
Thermo SampleManager LIMS review

Questions people ask

Is Aurelius or Thermo SampleManager LIMS better?
Neither clearly leads. Aurelius starts at $49/month and Thermo SampleManager LIMS at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Aurelius or Thermo SampleManager LIMS?
Aurelius starts at $49/month and Thermo SampleManager LIMS at On request.
Does Aurelius or Thermo SampleManager LIMS run on more platforms?
Aurelius runs on Web. Thermo SampleManager LIMS runs on Web, Windows, Linux.
What is Aurelius best used for?
Aurelius is most often used for a research team of three whose findings currently live in individual miro boards and google docs that nobody outside the team can find six months later, a product organisation that wants every designer and product manager to search past research without paying forty repository seats, a consultancy running discovery for multiple clients that needs tagged evidence kept separate per client but searchable internally, a team preparing a repeat study who need to know what was already learned about the same problem two years ago before they recruit anyone. Of those, a research team of three whose findings currently live in individual miro boards and google docs that nobody outside the team can find six months later and a product organisation that wants every designer and product manager to search past research without paying forty repository seats are not what Thermo SampleManager LIMS is typically brought in for.
What can Aurelius do that Thermo SampleManager LIMS cannot?
Aurelius covers Research repository, Analysis board, Tagging, Insights and recommendations. Thermo SampleManager LIMS covers Sample lifecycle management, Specifications and OOS handling, Laboratory execution system, Scientific data management.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Aurelius: Does the price really include unlimited users?

Yes. Professional at 49 US dollars a month and Premium at 199, both billed yearly, both with unlimited users, projects and storage.

Thermo SampleManager LIMS: Does SampleManager include LES and SDMS?

Yes. Laboratory execution and scientific data management are part of the product rather than separate purchases, which removes two integration projects.

Aurelius: Can I run usability tests in it?

No. Aurelius stores and analyses research; it does not recruit participants or host sessions. Pair it with a testing tool.

Thermo SampleManager LIMS: How much does it cost?

Nothing is published. Pricing is quoted, and cloud deployments carry an annual hosting fee based on licence count.

Aurelius: What is the difference between Professional and Premium?

Premium adds universal cross-project search, collections, recommendations and Zapier. If your value comes from finding old research, Premium is the tier that delivers it.

Thermo SampleManager LIMS: Is it validated when I buy it?

Thermo Fisher supplies qualification documentation, but computer system validation of your configured instance remains your responsibility.

Aurelius: Is there single sign-on?

Only on Enterprise, along with IP allowlisting, Jira and advanced permissions. Everything below is quoted separately.

Thermo SampleManager LIMS: Can I run it on premise?

Yes. Thermo managed AWS, on premise and customer cloud deployments are all offered.

Share

Related pages

More on Aurelius

More on Thermo SampleManager LIMS

Keep looking

Other head to heads