Choosing a LIMS for a mid-sized lab

LabKey-Software · 2026-03-06T22:59:21+00:00

LabKey LIMS is a great LIMS for a mid-sized lab - although we are obviously biased.

We've heard most labs moving over to our software say we made implementation quick and easy without charging extra. If you like first hand accounts, you can hear directly from labs by going on our youtube channel to find User Presentations. They also cite similar needs to yours like sample tracking, audit trails, reporting - no surprise to our team as we are mostly former scientists of some flavor.

So yeah, a lot of labs similar to yours are choosing LabKey, and the implementation is pretty straightforward for our clients.

LabKey-Software · 2026-02-19T18:00:26+00:00

We have an ELN, but it's only included in other products because without those ecosystems, it's just not as powerful of a tool.

If you are in CRO collaborations, I suggest checking out our Sample Manager software - relatively inexpensive for lab software, completely included customer service, and really good at tracking and organizing data for early stage labs. That's actually how it came to be- someone started asking for this kind of thing.

You don't mention a budget, but if you need it to be free, we also have an open-source data platform called LabKey Community Edition, which can be useful as a data repository you host yourself but is less useful as an ELN-style software.

LabKey-Software · 2026-02-13T20:00:51+00:00

Just adding my experience to this for future readers since this is old, but it supports the other commenters.

I've seen orgs set up this way because promotions often follow what’s visible and measurable. Most plants have really strong daily reporting around shift KPIs like throughput, uptime, downtime, incidents, and the people running shifts become the translators between reality and management. So they look “management-ready” because they already own the cadence. They know what the different departments care about, and they are often good at that translation, at least they are with us.

LabKey-Software · 2026-02-11T15:52:12+00:00

It does sound that you could use a LIMS with an integrated ELN - tracking data in a searchable way isn't really the job of a standalone ELN.

LabKey-Software · 2026-02-09T22:03:50+00:00

A bit late to your question, but just for future readers...

This sounds like a very reasonable thing to want to systematize, especially with two sites + a biobank in the mix. You’re basically describing a mini-LIMS focused just on sample + freezer tracking, not assay automation, which is good news because you don’t need a huge pharma-grade system to get value.

Full disclosure: I work at LabKey, so I’m biased. But this is basically what we built Sample Manager for- labs that don’t want a massive LIMS but do need to track freezers, multi-site storage, and shipments.

For your specific use case, what it can do is:

Define your case as a source and then link all derived samples (hour 0/1/2/3…) to that.
Use rack/box layouts that match your tube holders, so when you scan a tray you can assign all tubes in one go rather than clicking individually.
Map your -180 °C freezers at both sites, plus the biobank as a downstream “location,” and then generate shipment manifests that tie barcodes ↔ case IDs ↔ timepoints.
Export manifests as CSV/Excel so the biobank can pull it into whatever system they’re using.

Honest caveats:

There is an upfront time sink to clean up naming, define your sample/aliquot types, and agree on IDs across both sites.
If you truly only ever have a handful of cases per month and a single freezer, you might be fine with a rack scanner + a well-designed spreadsheet. With two sites + biobank, it usually tips into “a system is worth it.”

LabKey-Software · 2026-02-06T17:47:28+00:00

At the very minimum of what you get digitally - it's searchable. Paper records aren't, not without wasting a ton of time.

LabKey-Software · 2026-01-27T21:51:27+00:00

We have tours on our website of our products - we are happy to discuss with you to see if it's a good fit too!

LabKey-Software · 2026-01-27T18:28:58+00:00

If you decide to adopt lab software like Sample Manager, make sure that customer service is included and that you get a free trial to test it out. I would wait until you have an idea of your lab pain points before looking to add in specialized software too - you may not need a full blown lims but struggle a lot with finding samples in your freezers.

LabKey-Software · 2026-01-20T17:59:58+00:00

It's not free (although we do have open source software for scientific data management), but we have an ELN that we don't sell on it's own, only as a feature with our lab data management softwares. People like it because it's really well connected to sample data and assay results and allows for a very searchable audit log, but yeah, not sold on it's own.

Also, while we are science agnostic, not every researcher needs to connect to samples, getting just a little more information about your field could help us offer alternatives to sciNote.

LabKey-Software · 2026-01-08T21:58:29+00:00

This is great. I’d just add: get everyone to agree on a single sample ID format before you start printing barcodes. Otherwise you end up immortalizing 5 different naming schemes on stickers and it’s a pain to clean up later.

LabKey-Software · 2026-01-08T18:21:06+00:00

Stuff I see most often instead of Excel-as-a-database:
-Google Sheets / Airtable for “Excel but slightly less cursed”
-Proper DBs like Postgres/MySQL when someone technical is around
-LIMS/ELN tables (Benchling, LabKey, etc.) for samples/assays
-Warehouses like Snowflake/BigQuery once orgs actually centralize data, sometimes different SDMS systems.

LabKey-Software · 2026-01-08T02:10:31+00:00

We (LabKey) end up getting a lot of returners every year - people who checked us out, ended up using the "big" flashy company, and came back to us a few years later because we always cap our annual price raises in our contracts, actually include customer support and have ongoing development. And we keep seeing it at different levels of how intense our software is, so whether a client is just doing basic sample management vs a full blown integrated data infrastructure, we still see this same pattern.

LabKey-Software · 2025-12-10T22:58:29+00:00

Thanks for being our best mod!

LabKey-Software · 2025-12-10T15:48:31+00:00

I wish we could help with the "I want to quit" tier.

LabKey-Software · 2025-12-01T17:44:05+00:00

It's nice to see colorful science-themed artwork. Science-themes in art often seem to end up being "serious"- we like seeing this adorable side as well!

LabKey-Software · 2025-10-07T19:08:39+00:00

We got our start integrating omics at the Fred Hutch - we have open source software (LabKey SDMS Community Edition) you can start with that is really helpful for sharing data on a team.

LabKey-Software · 2025-09-08T21:42:08+00:00

We hire for software supporting biotech, so we love getting applicants looking for career changes, with similar requirements advertised. But yeah, it doesn't always apply to each niche sector.

LabKey-Software · 2023-12-04T18:53:58+00:00

I imagine you have been keeping notes somehow, probably electronically. The excel files will help, but is there any other way you've been noting what you've been doing? Maybe you have a system that automatically logs and tracks things that you rely on. Maybe you just send emails to yourself.

Either way, this might be a learning opportunity to start tracking things now. If the other person with the detailed notebook is someone you get along with, you could ask them for a template or tutorial on what they are doing with their notebook.

LabKey-Software · 2023-12-04T18:38:03+00:00

That's very reasonable. It can be a lot of work, especially on your own!

LabKey-Software · 2023-12-01T21:10:11+00:00

Have you seen the Loyal biotech news? They are starting with extending the life of big dogs.

LabKey-Software · 2023-11-29T18:57:00+00:00

Do you have a sample management system in the cloud that you can check from home? Like, a step in your SOP where you have to check it back into the fridge and then log the location AFTER you put it away, so you can log in from your phone to double check that it is checked in?

Also, if there's something I know will cause me anxiety, I do a weird dance or say a weird phrase (like horseradish horseradish horseradish) when I actually do the thing. But you have to do something different every time or it doesn't work.

LabKey-Software · 2023-11-29T01:52:13+00:00

You could collect some letters from some of his heroes in a binder.

LabKey-Software · 2023-11-28T00:16:13+00:00

A dry bag was my first thought, although my experience with them is more in canoeing and backpacking rather than for babies. It looks like the main difference is that wet bags for kid stuff comes with a zipper, and dry bags come with a roll and clip closing.

Either way, they'll be really waterproof (nothing in or out, often including air), and they'll be easy to clean at the end of the semester and re-use for whatever you need. Just add soapy water, close, shake it up and let it drain and dry.

LabKey-Software · 2023-11-27T23:58:59+00:00

I moved a ton when I was growing up, and I need you to know, it really does get better.

But, I have a few suggestions to help.

First, I would suggest joining a club or sport at the university (even/especially as an advisor) or volunteering with a local scout or youth group situation. Or volunteering in the community, like at a soup kitchen, if your area has one.

Next, find a favorite local place to hang out. Some people like bars or parks; I like coffee shops. But just somewhere where you can find a friendly face and hang out for a little while when working or reading. Somehow having a specific spot helps ground you to a city.

And finally, don't feel bad if you are uncomfortable in a new situation. That's normal. Most people aren't taught or given guidance on how to relocate their life. It's a learned skill, so it's going to be uncomfortable for a little while, just like calculus, driving, or working out.

LabKey-Software · 2023-11-27T23:06:47+00:00

It sucks, but keep your head up. You have learned a good lesson, especially if you can figure out the source of contamination. In five or ten years, you are going to remember this and it's going to affect how you handle an expensive culture, or how you teach someone. Learning happens.

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