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Research · head to head

LabArchives vs TetraScience

LabArchives logo

LabArchives

Research

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

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
TetraScience logo

TetraScience

Research

Scientific data cloud that harmonises instrument output across the lab estate

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.; TetraScience pricing is scoped on connected instruments and data engineering effort rather than a published unit, so the cost of adding a new laboratory or an acquired site is impossible to forecast without going back to the vendor.
  • They diverge on capability: LabArchives covers Versioned entries, TetraScience covers Instrument connectors.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which LabArchives and TetraScience actually diverge.

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

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 TetraScience

  • Instrument connectors
  • Tetra Data harmonisation
  • Cloud-native data platform
  • GxP package
  • Scientific applications
  • Data provenance
  • Open access
  • AWS Marketplace availability

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 TetraScience
  • A core facility that needs instrument booking and a shared record of who ran what and whennot TetraScience
  • A small biotech building patent-defensible evidence of invention with witnessed, timestamped entriesnot TetraScience
  • A teaching department running undergraduate laboratory courses where instructors need to see and grade notebook worknot TetraScience

TetraScience

  • A pharmaceutical company trying to make twenty years of chromatography data usable for modelling rather than trapped on instrument workstationsnot LabArchives
  • A biotech building machine learning models on assay data that currently requires manual export from every instrumentnot LabArchives
  • A quality control laboratory needing instrument data captured with provenance and audit trail for regulated usenot LabArchives
  • A company consolidating data from acquired sites where each site runs a different instrument vendor and informatics stacknot 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.

TetraScience

  • Pricing is scoped on connected instruments and data engineering effort rather than a published unit, so the cost of adding a new laboratory or an acquired site is impossible to forecast without going back to the vendor.
  • Value depends entirely on connector coverage for your actual instrument estate; an instrument type without an existing productised connector becomes a services engagement with its own timeline and cost.
  • The GxP package is a separate annual subscription rather than an included capability, so a company that starts in research and later needs regulated use faces an additional commercial line and a validation exercise.
  • It is infrastructure with no end-user application of its own, so the business case rests on downstream analytics and AI work that has to be resourced and delivered separately before anyone sees a benefit.
  • Deployment is a multi-year programme touching instruments, networks, validated systems and site IT, and organisations consistently underestimate the internal effort required from people who also have day jobs running the laboratory.

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

TetraScience

On request
  • Tetra Scientific Data Cloud$undefined/year
    • Priced on number of instruments connected and scope of data engineering
    • Contract entitles a specified quantity of use for its duration
    • Multi-year enterprise agreements are the norm
  • Tetra GxP package$undefined/year
    • Separate annual subscription executed within the licence agreement
    • Audit trail, data provenance, control matrices and software hazard analysis
    • Disaster recovery provisions

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 TetraScience if

  • You need instrument connectors.
  • You work on Web, Cloud, API.
  • You also want tetra data harmonisation.
TetraScience review

Questions people ask

Is LabArchives or TetraScience better?
Neither clearly leads. LabArchives starts at Free and TetraScience at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, LabArchives or TetraScience?
LabArchives has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for LabArchives and On request for TetraScience.
Does LabArchives or TetraScience run on more platforms?
LabArchives runs on Web, iOS, Android. TetraScience runs on Web, Cloud, API.
Can I use LabArchives for free?
Yes. LabArchives has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. TetraScience 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 TetraScience is typically brought in for.
What can LabArchives do that TetraScience cannot?
LabArchives covers Versioned entries, Witnessing and signing, Inventory, Scheduler. TetraScience covers Instrument connectors, Tetra Data harmonisation, Cloud-native data platform, GxP package.

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.

TetraScience: What is the pricing unit?

Connected instruments and the scope of data engineering, over a fixed contract term. There is no published per-seat or per-gigabyte rate.

LabArchives: Who owns LabArchives?

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

TetraScience: Does it replace my ELN or LIMS?

No. It sits underneath them, harmonising instrument data and making it available to whatever applications you already run.

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.

TetraScience: Is it usable in a GxP environment?

Yes, with the separately subscribed Tetra GxP package. It reduces validation effort substantially but does not eliminate your validation obligation.

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.

TetraScience: Can I get the harmonised data out?

Yes. Tetra Data is designed to be accessible to your own analytics tools rather than confined to the platform.

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