Best Project Management Software for Lab Teams

Website: https://www.benchling.com

Best for: R and D labs that need sequence and experiment tools

Starting price: quote only

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Free academic plan with notebook and sequence tools; strong molecular biology support

Cons: Commercial plans are quote only; Inventory and Registry are not offered to academic labs

Benchling is the lab platform most research and development teams reach for first, because it combines an electronic lab notebook with sequence design, plasmid mapping, and sample tracking. The academic plan is free of charge, which makes it the default choice for university labs, while commercial teams buy a quote-only plan that adds Registry, Inventory, and workflow automation. Experiments, results, and samples link together, so a result can be traced back to the exact sample and protocol. The catch is the split between academic and commercial use. Inventory and Registry are built for industry and are not offered to academic labs, and commercial pricing is quote only, with no published rates. A lab that outgrows the academic plan must talk to sales before it knows the cost. Benchling suits research and development labs that live in sequences and experiments, and it is less useful for a quality control lab that needs a full LIMS.

Website: https://www.scinote.net

Best for: Electronic lab notebooks with compliance options

Starting price: quote only

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Free plan for small teams; Validated plan adds e-signatures and audit trails

Cons: No published prices for Essential, Validated, or Platinum; e-signatures need higher tiers

SciNote is an electronic lab notebook built for teams that need structured experiment records without an enterprise contract. The free plan covers small teams with projects, tasks, protocols, and inventory basics, and the vendor offers Essential, Validated, and Platinum tiers for teams that need more. The Validated plan adds e-signatures and audit trails, which suits labs working under good laboratory practice or similar rules. The drawback is transparency: the vendor publishes no prices for the priced tiers, so a team must ask for a quote once it outgrows the free plan. E-signatures sit only on the Validated and Platinum plans, which means a lab that needs signed records must move up. SciNote suits academic and small commercial labs that want a clean notebook with a compliance path, and it is lighter than a full LIMS.

Website: https://qbench.com

Best for: Modern LIMS with sample and inventory tracking

Starting price: $16,500 per year (Foundation, includes 5 users)

Free plan: No

Pros: Clear published pricing; sample, inventory, and request tracking in one system

Cons: Quality Management System needs Advanced at $25,500 per year; no free trial or free plan

QBench is the rare LIMS vendor that publishes its prices, which makes it easy to compare. Foundation at $16,500 per year includes 5 users and covers sample tracking, inventory, requests, and reporting. Growth at $19,500 per year adds more capacity, while Advanced at $25,500 per year adds the Quality Management System. Each tier includes 5 users, and Enterprise is custom for 50 or more users. The costs beyond the headline price matter: training runs $5,000 to $10,000, and integrations cost $1,500 per year extra, with no free trial or free plan listed. QBench suits small and mid-size labs that want a modern LIMS with honest pricing and a fast setup, and it is a strong fit for labs that need sample and inventory tracking without a long implementation.

Website: https://www.labware.com

Best for: Enterprise labs with deep compliance needs

Starting price: quote only

Free plan: No

Pros: Deep LIMS with wide instrument and ERP integration; long track record in regulated labs

Cons: No free trial; high service and installation charges for small companies

LabWare LIMS is the enterprise choice for labs that need a deep, configurable system with wide integration. It covers sample management, stability studies, environmental monitoring, and instrument integration, and it connects to enterprise resource planning systems, which suits large quality control and manufacturing labs. Its long track record in regulated industries means auditors know the system and its validation approach. Pricing is quote only, with no published rates and no free trial, and the vendor notes that service and installation charges run high for small companies. Implementation runs through the vendor services organisation, which adds time and cost before the system goes live. LabWare suits large, regulated labs with the budget and the team to run an enterprise LIMS, and it is more than a small lab needs.

Website: https://www.starlims.com

Best for: Regulated labs that need a full LIMS suite

Starting price: quote only

Free plan: No

Pros: Full LIMS suite with stability, environmental, and QC modules; strong in pharma

Cons: No public pricing and no trial; implementations run for months with professional services

STARLIMS is a full LIMS suite built for regulated labs, with modules for quality control, stability studies, environmental monitoring, and laboratory execution. It is strong in pharmaceutical and food and beverage labs, where audit trails, electronic signatures, and instrument integration are daily requirements. The suite approach means a lab can start with core LIMS and add modules as its needs grow. The trade-off is the buying experience: there is no public pricing and no trial, and quotes are custom with sales-led evaluations. Implementations run for months with professional services, so a lab needs a project team and a budget for the rollout. STARLIMS suits regulated labs that need a complete, validated LIMS and can fund a long implementation, and it is a poor fit for a small lab that needs something running this week.

Website: https://www.smartsheet.com

Best for: Lab schedules, trackers, and equipment lists

Starting price: $9 per user/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Free trial (30 days)

Pros: Spreadsheet-style grids that lab teams already understand; strong automation

Cons: Pro is capped at 10 members and 250 automation runs a month; no permanent free plan

Smartsheet works for lab teams because lab work already lives in grids: sample lists, run schedules, equipment logs, and reagent inventories all fit a spreadsheet view. Pro at $9 per user per month on annual billing covers grids, Gantt charts, dashboards, and automation, while Business at $19 adds proofing, resource management, and more automation capacity. A lab manager can build a run tracker in an afternoon without a developer. The limits matter for a growing lab. Pro is capped at 10 members, 250 automation runs a month, and 20 GB of storage, and there is no permanent free plan, only a 30-day trial. Smartsheet is not a LIMS, so it suits scheduling, tracking, and coordination around the bench, not sample chain of custody or regulated data. It fits teams that need a flexible tracker for the operational side of lab work.

Website: https://asana.com

Best for: Cross-team lab projects and study timelines

Starting price: $10.99 per user/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Clear task ownership across lab, QA, and operations teams; strong timeline views

Cons: No LIMS or sample tracking; reporting depth waits for higher tiers

Asana is the coordination layer for a lab, keeping the bench team, quality assurance, and operations aligned on who does what and by when. Starter at $10.99 per user per month on annual billing covers timelines, project templates, forms, and rules, while Advanced at $24.99 adds portfolios, workload, and goals, which helps a lab lead watch several projects at once. Tasks carry owners, dates, and dependencies, so an experiment plan ripples into a visible schedule. Asana has no LIMS capability and no sample tracking, so it cannot hold chain of custody or regulated lab data, and its reporting depth waits for the higher tiers. The free plan covers up to 10 teammates, which fits a small lab team. It suits the operational side of lab work: method validation, equipment qualification, and study timelines, all tracked in one place.

Website: https://clickup.com

Best for: Low-cost task and document tracking for labs

Starting price: $9 per user/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Yes

Pros: Free plan covers unlimited tasks and members; docs, goals, and time tracking included

Cons: No LIMS or sample tracking; the feature depth can overwhelm a small lab team

ClickUp is the low-cost way to give a lab team one place for tasks, documents, and goals. The free plan covers unlimited tasks and members, with docs, whiteboards, and basic views, and Core at $9 per user per month on annual billing adds unlimited storage, guests, and advanced views. Business at $17 adds workload, goals, and time tracking, which helps a lab lead balance analysts across runs. The trade-off is depth: ClickUp has so many features that a small lab team can spend more time configuring than tracking, and it is not a LIMS. It suits coordination, SOP libraries, and document control around lab work, not sample tracking or regulated data. For a small lab on a tight budget, the free plan is often enough to run the operational side of the bench.

Website: https://monday.com

Best for: Visual boards for samples, runs, and requests

Starting price: $9 per user/month (billed annually)

Free plan: Free trial (14 days)

Pros: Visual boards that show sample and run status at a glance; easy automations for reminders

Cons: No LIMS capability; dashboards and advanced reporting need Standard at $12 per user

monday.com turns lab tracking into a visual board, which helps a team see sample status, run progress, and open requests at a glance. Basic at $9 per user per month on annual billing covers boards, timelines, and 200 plus automations a month, while Standard at $12 adds dashboards, timeline views, and integrations. A team can build a sample intake board, a run schedule, and a request log without a developer. There is no permanent free plan, only a 14-day trial, and monday.com is not a LIMS, so sample chain of custody still needs a separate system. Dashboards and advanced reporting wait for the Standard tier, which adds cost for a team that wants a single lab overview. It suits lab teams that want a visual, flexible tracker for bench operations.