SciNote

SciNote is a cloud-based electronic lab notebook with tools for lab inventory, compliance, and team management. Users can organize research as projects, experiments, and tasks, attaching notes, files, protocols, and results. Global search covers research data, and a report generator creates reports from project data. SciNote supports protocol and SOP management, including imports from protocols.io, and provides a RESTful API with integrations such as Ganymede, Quartzy, Gilson Connect, ChemAxon Marvin, Microsoft Office, and Zebra label printers. Its Android and iOS apps support viewing and completing protocol steps, commenting, uploading files, and posting results. For regulated labs, SciNote says it supports 21 CFR Part 11 workflows through electronic signatures, audit trails, timestamps, and user roles and permissions. The Free Plan costs nothing and is limited to one user, with no guaranteed support. A Premium trial lasts 14 days and has no uptime guarantee. Local-server installation is available, but customers need internal staff for deployment, maintenance, and updates.

SciNote combines notebook organization with mobile access, reporting, and compliance-related tools. Consider its single-user free tier and the staffing needed for local deployment.

SciNote may suit research teams organizing experiments and protocols, including regulated labs needing electronic signatures and audit trails. Local deployment requires internal staff to manage installation and upkeep.

Overview

SciNote is an electronic lab notebook for recording and organizing research, with inventory, compliance, and team-management tools alongside it. It is best suited to labs that need structured, searchable records and protocol oversight; solo researchers can start free, but collaboration and larger storage require a Premium plan.

Projects, experiments, and tasks give notes, files, protocols, and results a shared structure. Global search across research data and project reporting make that structure useful beyond recordkeeping: teams can locate information across their work and generate reports. The free tier, however, is limited to one user, so it is not a shared-lab solution.

Key features

Research records and protocols

Full-text and metadata search helps users find records by their contents or descriptive fields. Protocol and SOP management keeps procedural guidance connected to lab work, and protocols can be imported from protocols.io. Spreadsheet exports and human-readable exports with attachments give teams two practical ways to take records out of SciNote.

Mobile access and integrations

The Android and iOS apps support viewing and completing protocol steps, commenting, uploading files, and posting results. That makes the mobile apps useful for updating work away from a desktop, though the supported actions are centered on protocols and record updates. A RESTful API and integrations including Ganymede, Quartzy, protocols.io, Gilson Connect, ChemAxon Marvin, Microsoft Office, and Zebra label printers offer routes to connect lab processes and tools.

Compliance and deployment

SciNote supports 21 CFR Part 11 workflows with electronic signatures, audit trails, timestamps, and user roles and permissions; approval workflows are also supported. Its Trust Center lists ISO/IEC 27001:2022, SOC 2 Type 1, and SOC 2 Type 2 among its compliance materials. These capabilities make SciNote relevant to regulated labs, but the presence of workflow tools does not by itself establish that a particular lab's processes meet its obligations.

Labs can install SciNote on a local server, but they must provide internal staff for deployment, maintenance, and updates. That option may suit organizations that want local installation and can own its ongoing operation; teams without that capacity should weigh the cloud option instead.

Pricing

The Free Plan avoids a subscription but its one-user limit rules it out for shared work, and free customers have no guaranteed support. Premium removes that collaboration ceiling and includes 1 TB of storage and Premium support, but requires a quote rather than a published price. An offered Premium free trial lasts 14 days and has no uptime guarantee, so it is a short evaluation window rather than a basis for assuming service availability.

Platforms

SciNote is available on the web, Android, and iOS, and offers an API. Self-hosted installation is also an option, with the customer responsible for deployment, maintenance, and updates through internal staff.

Who it's for

SciNote fits research labs that want to connect experiments, protocols, files, and results in a searchable notebook, especially when mobile updates, reporting, integrations, or compliance-related workflows matter. Its Free Plan can suit one researcher, while teams needing multiple users must consider custom-priced Premium. Labs that cannot assign staff to operate a local server should avoid the self-hosted route.

Pros and cons

Pros

• Structured, searchable records: Projects, experiments, and tasks organize research materials, while full-text and metadata search helps retrieve them.
• Protocol and reporting tools: SOP management, protocol import, project reports, and exports support work beyond basic note storage.
• Mobile record updates: Android and iOS apps support protocol steps, comments, uploads, and posting results.
• Regulated-workflow features: Electronic signatures, audit trails, timestamps, roles, permissions, and approval workflows support compliance-oriented lab processes.

Cons

• Free means one user: The dedicated workspace is not a collaboration tier, and support is not guaranteed for free customers.
• Premium has custom pricing: Teams cannot compare it against a published plan price, despite the 1 TB storage and multiple-team offering.
• Local hosting takes internal capacity: The customer must handle deployment, maintenance, and updates.
• Trial uptime is not guaranteed: The 14-day Premium trial carries no uptime guarantee.

Alternatives

For a broader survey of the category, see Electronic Lab Notebook Software or Research Project Management Software.

Choose SiteVault CTMS instead if a free plan with 20 concurrent active studies, no stated count limit for archived studies, documents, and users, plus free support and onboarding, better fits a clinical-trial operation. Trial Interactive CTMS is a paid alternative available on Android, iOS, and web.

eLabNext is another paid option with a free trial and cloud, private-cloud, or on-premises subscriptions; its cloud plan includes 20 GB per user, while SciNote's Premium plan offers 1 TB. SureCTMS may suit buyers comparing a published example configuration: it is billed at $1,500 a month for Continuous Compliance and Platform Core, with a 36-month subscription term.

CROMS is an enterprise-oriented paid option whose tailored pricing applies above 100 users. Oracle Siebel Clinical Trial Management System is another paid option for Android, iOS, and web.

Lab Thread may be a better fit for an academic group seeking a published free allowance of five seats and 10 GB per seat, with Core at €30 a month billed per seat/month or €300 billed annually. Sapio Sciences offers a free Sapio Academic Bronze plan for users with an academic-institution email; non-academic users must request more details.

Verdict

SciNote is a strong fit for labs that want searchable experiment records, protocol management, mobile updates, and compliance-oriented tools in one notebook. Its main advantage is the breadth of that research workflow; its chief drawback is that a solo-only free tier and custom-priced Premium leave growing teams without a clear published team price. Choose it if those capabilities match your lab's workflow and budget; look elsewhere if you need free multi-user collaboration or a plainly priced team plan.