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Research · head to head

LabArchives vs Seven Bridges

LabArchives logo

LabArchives

Research

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

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Seven Bridges logo

Seven Bridges

Research

Cloud bioinformatics platform and trusted research environment, sold by Velsera

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only LabArchives has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: 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.; Seven Bridges the parent merged into Velsera in 2023 alongside Pierian and UgenTec, so the platform now competes for roadmap attention with clinical interpretation and diagnostics products inside a private equity owned group.
  • They diverge on capability: LabArchives covers Versioned entries, Seven Bridges covers Trusted research environment.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which LabArchives and Seven Bridges actually diverge.

Attributes where LabArchives and Seven Bridges differ
AttributeLabArchivesSeven Bridges
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelPer user per yearquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidWeb, API, Cloud

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 LabArchives

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

Only in Seven Bridges

  • Trusted research environment
  • Cloud-agnostic
  • CWL pipelines
  • Compliance certifications
  • Cost prediction
  • Public data commons
  • Collaboration
  • Tool library

What people use each for

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

LabArchives

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

Seven Bridges

  • A cancer genomics group analysing controlled-access dbGaP data that cannot be moved to local infrastructurenot LabArchives
  • A federal or federally funded programme that needs FedRAMP Moderate authorisation for its analysis environmentnot LabArchives
  • A multi-institution consortium sharing pipelines and results under defined access controls rather than by emailing filesnot LabArchives
  • A diagnostics developer building reproducible CWL pipelines that must stand up to later regulatory reviewnot LabArchives

Where each one falls short

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

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.

Seven Bridges

  • The parent merged into Velsera in 2023 alongside Pierian and UgenTec, so the platform now competes for roadmap attention with clinical interpretation and diagnostics products inside a private equity owned group.
  • Pricing is not published and splits into a platform subscription plus consumption-based cloud compute, so a heavy analysis quarter produces a bill that headcount-based budgeting does not anticipate.
  • The analysis capability itself has credible open source equivalents in Nextflow and Cromwell on raw cloud, so you are principally paying for compliance and governance rather than for the science.
  • Pipelines are built around Common Workflow Language, which is a real learning curve and a portability commitment for teams whose existing work is in other workflow languages.
  • Cloud storage of large genomic datasets accrues continuously whether or not you are analysing, and egress charges apply when moving results out, both of which are outside the subscription line.

Pricing, plan by plan

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

Seven Bridges

On request
  • Seven Bridges Platform$undefined/year
    • Platform subscription quoted through Velsera sales
    • Cloud compute and storage charged on consumption on top of the subscription
    • Cost predictor tools provided to estimate analysis spend in advance

Which should you pick?

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

Choose Seven Bridges if

  • You need trusted research environment.
  • You work on Web, API, Cloud.
  • You also want cloud-agnostic.
Seven Bridges review

Questions people ask

Is LabArchives or Seven Bridges better?
Neither clearly leads. LabArchives starts at Free and Seven Bridges at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, LabArchives or Seven Bridges?
LabArchives has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for LabArchives and On request for Seven Bridges.
Does LabArchives or Seven Bridges run on more platforms?
LabArchives runs on Web, iOS, Android. Seven Bridges runs on Web, API, Cloud.
Can I use LabArchives for free?
Yes. LabArchives has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Seven Bridges starts at On request.
What is LabArchives best used for?
LabArchives is most often used for a university group that must keep research records after a phd student leaves, rather than losing them with a laptop, a core facility that needs instrument booking and a shared record of who ran what and when, a small biotech building patent-defensible evidence of invention with witnessed, timestamped entries, a teaching department running undergraduate laboratory courses where instructors need to see and grade notebook work. Of those, a university group that must keep research records after a phd student leaves, rather than losing them with a laptop and a core facility that needs instrument booking and a shared record of who ran what and when are not what Seven Bridges is typically brought in for.
What can LabArchives do that Seven Bridges cannot?
LabArchives covers Versioned entries, Witnessing and signing, Inventory, Scheduler. Seven Bridges covers Trusted research environment, Cloud-agnostic, CWL pipelines, Compliance certifications.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

Seven Bridges: Is Seven Bridges still sold?

Yes. It is sold by Velsera, formed in 2023 when Summa Equity merged Seven Bridges with Pierian and UgenTec. The Seven Bridges name was retained for the platform.

LabArchives: Who owns LabArchives?

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

Seven Bridges: What compliance does it hold?

FedRAMP Moderate, SOC 2, HIPAA, GDPR, dbGaP and ISO 27001, 27017, 27018 and 27701, which is the usual reason institutions choose it over building on raw cloud.

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.

Seven Bridges: How is it priced?

Not published. Expect a platform subscription plus consumption charges for cloud compute and storage.

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.

Seven Bridges: Do I have to use a specific cloud?

No. The platform is cloud-agnostic and designed to bring analysis to where the data already resides.

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