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Research · head to head

Condens vs LabArchives

Condens logo

Condens

Research

UX research repository for storing, tagging and sharing qualitative study findings

From
€15/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
LabArchives logo

LabArchives

Research

Electronic lab notebook with witnessing, version history and long-term institutional retention

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only LabArchives has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Condens the gap between the 15 euro Lite plan and the 500 euro Business plan has nothing in it, so a team adding a second and third researcher jumps roughly thirtyfold in cost at exactly the point budget scrutiny arrives.; LabArchives the corporate rate is roughly 75 per cent above the academic rate for the same product, so a university spinout crossing into commercial status faces a step change in cost at exactly the point its budget is tightest.
  • They diverge on capability: Condens covers Automatic transcription, LabArchives covers Versioned entries.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Condens and LabArchives actually diverge.

Attributes where Condens and LabArchives differ
AttributeCondensLabArchives
Starting price€15/monthFree
Pricing modelPer contributor per monthPer user per year
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWebWeb, iOS, Android

Identical on both: 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 Condens

  • Automatic transcription
  • Highlight and tag
  • Theme clustering
  • Insight pages
  • Participant profiles
  • Search across studies
  • Viewer seats
  • Video clip reels

Only in LabArchives

  • Versioned entries
  • Witnessing and signing
  • Inventory
  • Scheduler
  • Education edition
  • Single sign-on
  • Structured data entry
  • DOI and repository publishing

What people use each for

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

Condens

  • A solo researcher at a 40-person product company building a searchable evidence base for 15 euros a monthnot LabArchives
  • A European enterprise research team that needs GDPR-oriented data handling to clear internal procurementnot LabArchives
  • A team wanting product managers to click from a stated insight straight to the participant clip that supports itnot LabArchives
  • A researcher inheriting years of interview recordings and needing them transcribed, tagged and searchable in one placenot LabArchives

LabArchives

  • A university group that must keep research records after a PhD student leaves, rather than losing them with a laptopnot Condens
  • A core facility that needs instrument booking and a shared record of who ran what and whennot Condens
  • A small biotech building patent-defensible evidence of invention with witnessed, timestamped entriesnot Condens
  • A teaching department running undergraduate laboratory courses where instructors need to see and grade notebook worknot Condens

Where each one falls short

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

Condens

  • The gap between the 15 euro Lite plan and the 500 euro Business plan has nothing in it, so a team adding a second and third researcher jumps roughly thirtyfold in cost at exactly the point budget scrutiny arrives.
  • Lite includes no viewer seats at all, which defeats the main purpose of a repository: anyone outside the research team who wants to read a finding has to be paid for as a contributor or sent a static export.
  • Cross-project participant profiles are capped at 25 on Lite, so a solo researcher doing longitudinal work with a recurring panel outgrows the entry tier on that limit rather than on seats.
  • As a bootstrapped fifteen-person company it ships AI synthesis, automatic theme extraction and moderated-interview features more slowly than venture-funded rivals, so teams that want the repository to do the analysis rather than organise it will find it behind.
  • It is a repository, not a research platform: recruitment, panel management, unmoderated testing and survey fielding all live elsewhere, so it adds a subscription rather than consolidating one.

LabArchives

  • The corporate rate is roughly 75 per cent above the academic rate for the same product, so a university spinout crossing into commercial status faces a step change in cost at exactly the point its budget is tightest.
  • Inventory and Scheduler are separate per-user line items, so a lab that assumed one price per person for a working system ends up paying two or three.
  • It is now a Dotmatics product inside a large scientific software portfolio, which puts roadmap priority with enterprise pharmaceutical buyers rather than with the academic labs that made it popular.
  • The interface is functional rather than pleasant, and adoption typically fails not on features but on researchers quietly continuing to keep notes elsewhere; you need a mandate, not a rollout email.
  • Instrument integration is thin compared with dedicated laboratory information management systems, so automated capture from analytical equipment usually still means manual upload or custom scripting.

Pricing, plan by plan

Condens

€15/month
  • Lite$15/month
    • 1 contributor included, additional contributors 15 euros each
    • No viewer seats
    • Unlimited projects, transcription hours and storage
  • Business$500/month
    • 5 contributors included, additional contributors 85 euros each
    • Unlimited viewers
    • Unlimited participant profiles and folders
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Minimum 5 contributors
    • Custom contributor rates
    • Unlimited viewers

LabArchives

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Limited storage
    • Core notebook and versioning
    • Intended for evaluation and individual use
  • Professional (Academic)$330/year
    • Full ELN with witnessing and signing
    • Academic rate per user per year
    • Corporate rate is $575 per user per year
  • ELN plus Inventory bundle$360/year
    • Notebook plus sample and reagent inventory
    • Academic rate; corporate rate is $675 per user per year
  • Inventory standalone$99/year
    • Sample tracking without the notebook
    • Academic rate; corporate rate is $199 per user per year

Which should you pick?

Choose Condens if

  • You need automatic transcription.
  • You also want highlight and tag.
Condens review

Choose LabArchives if

  • You need versioned entries.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want witnessing and signing.
LabArchives review

Questions people ask

Is Condens or LabArchives better?
Neither clearly leads. Condens starts at €15/month and LabArchives at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Condens or LabArchives?
LabArchives has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at €15/month for Condens and Free for LabArchives.
Does Condens or LabArchives run on more platforms?
Condens runs on Web. LabArchives runs on Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use LabArchives for free?
Yes. LabArchives has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Condens starts at €15/month.
What is Condens best used for?
Condens is most often used for a solo researcher at a 40-person product company building a searchable evidence base for 15 euros a month, a european enterprise research team that needs gdpr-oriented data handling to clear internal procurement, a team wanting product managers to click from a stated insight straight to the participant clip that supports it, a researcher inheriting years of interview recordings and needing them transcribed, tagged and searchable in one place. Of those, a solo researcher at a 40-person product company building a searchable evidence base for 15 euros a month and a european enterprise research team that needs gdpr-oriented data handling to clear internal procurement are not what LabArchives is typically brought in for.
What can Condens do that LabArchives cannot?
Condens covers Automatic transcription, Highlight and tag, Theme clustering, Insight pages. LabArchives covers Versioned entries, Witnessing and signing, Inventory, Scheduler.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Condens: Is there a free plan?

No, only a 15-day trial on any tier with no card required.

LabArchives: Does LabArchives satisfy patent evidence requirements?

Its versioning, timestamping and witnessed signatures are designed for that purpose, and it is widely accepted for it, but the legal weight depends on your institution's process being followed, not on the software alone.

Condens: Can stakeholders read findings without a licence?

Only on Business and above, where viewer seats are unlimited. Lite has none.

LabArchives: Who owns LabArchives?

Dotmatics. The product is branded LabArchives by Dotmatics and shares that company's corporate footprint.

Condens: Is transcription metered?

No. Transcription hours, storage and project count are unlimited on every plan; participant profiles and folders are what the tiers restrict.

LabArchives: Is there really a free tier?

Yes, with limited storage. It is suitable for trialling or a single researcher, not for a group that needs retention guarantees.

Condens: Where is data hosted?

Condens is a German company with an explicitly GDPR-oriented setup, which is a common reason European enterprises shortlist it.

LabArchives: Can we export everything if we leave?

Yes, notebooks export in bulk, but exported archives lose much of the interactive structure, so treat the export as an archive rather than as a migration path into another ELN.

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