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LabArchives vs Valispace

LabArchives logo

LabArchives

Research

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

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Valispace logo

Valispace

Research

Requirements and systems engineering for hardware teams, with published per-seat pricing

From
$999/year
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.; Valispace the three-seat minimum means a solo consultant or a two-person startup pays for a seat nobody uses, roughly 3,000 US dollars a year before anyone logs in.
  • They diverge on capability: LabArchives covers Versioned entries, Valispace covers Live requirements.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which LabArchives and Valispace actually diverge.

Attributes where LabArchives and Valispace differ
AttributeLabArchivesValispace
Starting priceFree$999/year
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidWeb, On-premise, API

Identical on both: pricing model (Per user per year), 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 Valispace

  • Live requirements
  • Budgets and margins
  • Component tree
  • Verification and validation
  • Python API and Jupyter
  • ValiAssistant
  • SSO and MFA

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

Valispace

  • A small satellite team keeping mass and power budgets live across a design cycle instead of rebuilding spreadsheets before each reviewnot LabArchives
  • A drone manufacturer that needs requirement traceability for a certification authority but cannot justify an enterprise requirements databasenot LabArchives
  • A university engineering department teaching systems engineering with real traceability under the flat education ratenot LabArchives
  • An electronics-heavy hardware startup wanting requirements linked to the PCB design work happening in Altiumnot 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.

Valispace

  • The three-seat minimum means a solo consultant or a two-person startup pays for a seat nobody uses, roughly 3,000 US dollars a year before anyone logs in.
  • Ownership has changed twice in two years, from independent to Altium to Renesas by way of the Altium acquisition, and the technology has been repackaged as the Altium Requirements Portal, so the standalone roadmap is genuinely uncertain.
  • It is not a certified DO-178C or ARP4754 toolchain component in the way established requirements databases are, so highly regulated aerospace programmes may still need a recognised tool alongside it.
  • The parametric model rewards teams who structure their data properly at the start; teams that import a flat requirement list get a slower version of a document tool and none of the budget automation.
  • Integration depth outside the Altium and Jira world is limited, so linking to an existing PLM or a CAD-driven mass properties source usually means writing against the Python API yourself.

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

Valispace

$999/year
  • Valispace$999/year
    • Minimum three users
    • Requirements, components, V&V and analysis modules
    • ValiAssistant AI beta
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • On-premise deployment option
    • Staging servers with controlled update timing
    • Advanced support terms
  • Education$1000/year
    • Flat annual rate for an institution
    • Unlimited students and professors
    • Non-commercial projects only

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 Valispace if

  • You need live requirements.
  • You work on Web, On-premise, API.
  • You also want budgets and margins.
Valispace review

Questions people ask

Is LabArchives or Valispace better?
Neither clearly leads. LabArchives starts at Free and Valispace at $999/year, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, LabArchives or Valispace?
LabArchives has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for LabArchives and $999/year for Valispace.
Does LabArchives or Valispace run on more platforms?
LabArchives runs on Web, iOS, Android. Valispace runs on Web, On-premise, API.
Can I use LabArchives for free?
Yes. LabArchives has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Valispace starts at $999/year.
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 Valispace is typically brought in for.
What can LabArchives do that Valispace cannot?
LabArchives covers Versioned entries, Witnessing and signing, Inventory, Scheduler. Valispace covers Live requirements, Budgets and margins, Component tree, Verification and validation.

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.

Valispace: Who owns Valispace?

Altium acquired it in December 2023, and Renesas Electronics acquired Altium in 2024. It is therefore a Renesas-owned product, despite frequent reports elsewhere linking it to defence groups.

LabArchives: Who owns LabArchives?

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

Valispace: Is it the same thing as the Altium Requirements Portal?

They share a lineage. Requirements Portal is the Altium 365 packaging of Valispace technology. The standalone Valispace product is still sold with its own pricing.

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.

Valispace: What does it actually cost?

999 US dollars per user per year with a minimum of three users, billed annually. Enterprise with on-premise deployment is quoted separately.

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.

Valispace: Can it replace a requirements database like DOORS?

For small and mid-sized hardware programmes, often yes. For programmes with contractual tool mandates, no.

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