eLabFTW

eLabFTW is a free, open-source electronic lab notebook and inventory system that a lab can self-host on its own hardware. In a market where the alternative is a per-seat subscription and your data on someone else’s infrastructure, that combination makes it the most important open option in the category.

What it does

Two halves: an experiments notebook and a database of resources. The notebook holds timestamped, versioned entries with attachments, links between experiments, and templates for repeated protocols. The database tracks samples, reagents, equipment, antibodies, cell lines and plasmids as structured items that experiments can reference, so an entry records which specific tube was used rather than the name of a reagent.

For regulated or contested work it supports cryptographic timestamping, producing entries whose date can be independently proven — genuinely useful for priority disputes and audit trails. There is a full REST API, LDAP and single sign-on support, granular team permissions, and export to PDF, CSV, JSON and ELN-standard formats.

Why it matters

Data-management and record-keeping requirements — the NIH Data Management and Sharing Policy, FAIR, 21 CFR Part 11, ICH E6(R3) — have pushed labs toward audit-ready electronic records. Commercial ELNs answer that with subscriptions that scale badly across a department and terms that put your notebook in a vendor’s cloud. eLabFTW answers it with software you install, control and can migrate away from.

Strengths

• Free and open source under a copyleft licence; no seat costs.
• Self-hostable, so sensitive or embargoed data never leaves your institution.
• Cryptographic timestamping for provable record dates.
• Integrated inventory tied directly to experiment entries.
• REST API, SSO and standards-compliant export — no lock-in.
• Actively maintained with a responsive developer and real institutional deployments.

Limitations

Self-hosting is the price of control: you need someone to run the server, apply updates and manage backups, which is a real obstacle for a lab without IT support. There is a paid cloud option if you would rather not. It has no molecular-biology design tooling — no cloning, sequence maps or registry — so it does not compete with Benchling on that ground. The interface is functional rather than polished, and onboarding a reluctant lab takes deliberate effort.

Verdict

The right ELN for any lab with server access and a preference for owning its records, and the obvious starting point when budget is the constraint. If you want molecular design built in, look at Benchling; if you want your notebook to still be yours in ten years, start here.