eLabFTW Alternative

An eLabFTW Alternative for Your Whole Workflow

Free for academic groups of up to five.
Lab Thread is an integrated project management, ELN, LIMS and molecular biology platform, designed to make scientists’ lives easier. It’s an eLabFTW alternative for labs who want molecular design, sample management and project plans alongside the notebook. A free plan covers academic groups of up to five users.
What your demo will cover:
Your current setup, and how your projects, samples and designs would map onto Lab Thread
A live look at how simple day-to-day recording is, with molecular design, ELN, inventory and project plans working as one record
What moving your existing data would involve, and what pricing looks like for a team your size

Book a Demo

In 30 minutes, we'll walk through your specific workflows and show you exactly how Lab Thread connects your research from bench to cloud.
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.

Trusted by Leading Laboratories

Why Consider Lab Thread as an eLabFTW Alternative

eLabFTW is a mature, free and open-source ELN, and a credible choice for labs with the IT capacity to run it. Lab Thread is a secure, cloud-hosted platform, built to be easy to adopt, easy to live with and designed to manage your lab’s entire workflow:
  • Managed for you: Lab Thread is cloud-hosted and managed by our team, with onboarding and support from the people who built it. For labs with their own infrastructure or specific data location requirements, Lab Thread can be run on your own server.
  • Molecular biology built in: Lab Thread includes a Molecular Biology Suite for plasmid design, primer design and cloning simulation.
  • A connected record: Lab Thread connects notebook, samples, inventory, molecular tools and project plans in a seamless digital record, with a single subscription.
Testimonials

What customers say

William L.
Principal Scientist
MatchBio

Intuitive ELN with Outstanding Developer Support and Rapid Updates

I've been really impressed with how intuitive Lab Thread is to use compared to the ELNs I have used in the past. The software is very logically constructed, with a simple and accessible user interface. I have largely been able to teach myself to use it, with occasional reference to the short, but informative training videos. The other area that stands out is the support from the developers and ease of reporting bugs/requesting news features. The support request tool allows for recording of a short video to demonstrate a bug, which makes it very easy for the user to report any issues. Fixes for bug reports have typically been rolled out with 24 hours, which is very impressive! The development team have also taken onboard feedback from our scientists and quickly implemented new features when requested. The quality of support has been markedly better than my experience with two of the large established ELN providers.The software is clearly still being refined and we have encountered bugs, or features that are a bit clunky in their first iteration. However, the developers have always taken onboard our feedback and quickly made revisions that fix bugs or improve functionality, and so there is very little I don't like about the software.

‍

Matthew Tridgett
Lead Scientist Vector Development
Akimbo Bio

We've been using Lab Thread as our electronic lab notebook, and it's been a great addition to our workflow. The ELN feature is intuitive, with a logical layout that makes using the platform straightforward. I like that we can make a digital version of the lab. Being able to manage and link reagents, samples, cell lines, and plasmids directly within ELN entries makes data recording and traceability simple and efficient. This integration helps keep records organised and reduces the admin required for documenting experiments. Overall, Lab Thread has made experimental documentation more streamlined for our team.

Darren Phung
Process Development Sr. Scientist
Vyriad

My experience with the ELN system has been very positive. It is easy to set up, straightforward to use, and has an intuitive interface that makes navigating the system simple. The platform helps streamline documentation and record management while requiring minimal training. Overall, it is a user-friendly and efficient tool that supports daily laboratory operations effectively.

Our Solution

What Lab Thread does differently

Take a look around

Lab Thread connects molecular design, notebook, samples and project plans into one record, so nothing needs be re-entered, nothing sits in a separate system, and there is only one place to look for everything.
Native plasmid map in Lab Thread

Molecular Biology Suite

Design a construct and the design stays attached to every sample, experiment and result that follows it. Design plasmids, run Golden Gate or Gibson assembly, align sequences, and simulate ligations, digests and PCR reactions.

DNA primer design in Lab Thread

Inventory & LIMS

Every vial carries its own history: what made it, who handled it, what it produced. Each sample is linked to the protocol that created it, the DNA design it came from and its place in the freezer, with full lineage and chain of custody.

Fragment isolation in Lab Thread

Smart ELN

Two-click capture at the bench; each entry already knows its sample, protocol and project. Write once, update everywhere: entries pull data from your molecular designs, protocols and sample logs into timestamped, searchable, audit-ready records.

Digital gel simulation in Lab Thread

Project Management

Work plans that update as the science does, and status updates that come directly from the lab. Teams can review data, give feedback and sign electronic records inside the project file, so progress keeps moving between meetings.

FAQ

What molecular biology tools does Lab Thread include?

Every plan includes a design viewer, design collaboration, alignment and gel simulations. Tools cover plasmid maps, fragment isolation, primer design, and ligation and assembly modelling, and Lab Thread imports GenBank, FASTA and SnapGene (.dna) files.

Who looks after the software?

Lab Thread is predominantly cloud-hosted and managed by Lab Thread's team, which also provides onboarding and support.

How much does Lab Thread cost?

Lab Thread is priced per seat, and every plan is published on its pricing page. Academic groups of up to five users can use a free plan that covers the ELN, project management, the Molecular Biology Suite, and sample and storage management. Industry teams choose from Core, Core+ and Pro.

How long does setup take, and do we need an IT team?

Setup takes two to four weeks, and no IT team is required. Scientists can largely learn Lab Thread on their own with short training videos, and the team that built it provides onboarding and support.

Can I move my data into Lab Thread, and take it out again?

You can import tabular data with downloadable import spreadsheets and archive data from most other platforms as PDFs. For complex migrations, Lab Thread's team can help, and offers this free to Pro plan customers with more than five seats on a minimum two-year contract. You can export your data whenever you wish, and if you cancel, you keep read-only access for 12 months to export your data.

Is Lab Thread 21 CFR Part 11 compliant, and where is data hosted?

All Lab Thread plans are 21 CFR Part 11 compliant, with every action timestamped and attributed. Supporting compliance documentation, version history and digital signatures are included on Pro plans. Lab Thread runs on Microsoft Azure, with AES-256 encryption at rest and 99.999% data availability.

Ready to learn more?
Book a demo and see it in action on your own workflows.