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Research · head to head

LabArchives vs Zappi

LabArchives logo

LabArchives

Research

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

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Zappi logo

Zappi

Research

Automated consumer insights platform for testing advertising, product concepts and brand health

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.; Zappi nothing is published: pricing is a platform subscription plus a prepaid credit bundle quoted per customer, so a buyer cannot benchmark the cost against agency research without going through sales.
  • They diverge on capability: LabArchives covers Versioned entries, Zappi covers Validated study templates.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which LabArchives and Zappi actually diverge.

Attributes where LabArchives and Zappi differ
AttributeLabArchivesZappi
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelPer user per yearquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidWeb

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 Zappi

  • Validated study templates
  • Respondent panel access
  • Normative benchmarks
  • Creative testing
  • Brand health tracking
  • AI analysis over history
  • Unlimited users
  • Exports and integrations

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

Zappi

  • A beverage brand screening thirty flavour concepts before committing to two for consumer testingnot LabArchives
  • A marketing team pre-testing three advertising edits in a day so a media booking deadline can be metnot LabArchives
  • An insights function replacing repeated ad-hoc agency studies with a comparable, accumulating body of test resultsnot LabArchives
  • A brand manager running continuous brand health tracking without negotiating a separate tracker contract each yearnot 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.

Zappi

  • Nothing is published: pricing is a platform subscription plus a prepaid credit bundle quoted per customer, so a buyer cannot benchmark the cost against agency research without going through sales.
  • Credits are prepaid against a forecast of the year ahead, which means a team that overestimates research volume ends the year having paid for studies it never ran.
  • The template model that makes studies fast also constrains them; a research question that does not fit a validated instrument either gets forced into one or goes to an agency anyway.
  • Normative benchmarks are strongest in fast-moving consumer goods categories where Zappi has depth, and thinner in business-to-business, financial services and niche categories, where the comparison numbers mean less.
  • Because respondents come from Zappi-sourced panels, sample composition is a vendor decision rather than yours, and any team that needs a bespoke recruitment specification or a low-incidence audience will find the automated route unsuitable.

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

Zappi

On request
  • Premium$undefined/year
    • Platform subscription with unlimited users
    • Access to all research solutions
    • Credit bundle scoped to annual research volume
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Platform subscription with unlimited users
    • Multi-market and global organisation controls
    • Connected insights across markets and brands

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 Zappi if

  • You need validated study templates.
  • You also want respondent panel access.
Zappi review

Questions people ask

Is LabArchives or Zappi better?
Neither clearly leads. LabArchives starts at Free and Zappi at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, LabArchives or Zappi?
LabArchives has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for LabArchives and On request for Zappi.
Does LabArchives or Zappi run on more platforms?
LabArchives runs on Web, iOS, Android. Zappi runs on Web.
Can I use LabArchives for free?
Yes. LabArchives has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Zappi 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 Zappi is typically brought in for.
What can LabArchives do that Zappi cannot?
LabArchives covers Versioned entries, Witnessing and signing, Inventory, Scheduler. Zappi covers Validated study templates, Respondent panel access, Normative benchmarks, Creative testing.

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.

Zappi: Does Zappi publish prices?

No. It publishes the structure, a platform subscription plus credits plus optional services, but not the numbers.

LabArchives: Who owns LabArchives?

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

Zappi: How fast do results come back?

Automated tests typically return within hours to a day, which is the main reason teams choose it over a commissioned study.

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.

Zappi: Do we still need an agency?

For standard concept, creative and brand tests, usually not. For bespoke methodologies and hard-to-reach audiences, yes.

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.

Zappi: Is there a per-seat charge?

No. Both published tiers include unlimited users; the variable cost is research credits.

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