eLabFTW vs CDD Vault Electronic Lab Notebook

eLabFTW9.0Visit CDD Vault Electronic Lab Notebook8.6Visit

Higher score eLabFTW #3 in Electronic Lab Notebook Software 9.0/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 5 of 5 features Visit eLabFTW

vs

CDD Vault Electronic Lab Notebook #5 in Electronic Lab Notebook Software 8.6/10 Pricing on request ✓ 4 of 5 features Visit CDD Vault

• eLabFTW fits best

  Open-source teams needing compliance features

• CDD Vault Electronic Lab Notebook fits best

  Chemistry teams needing structured ELN workflows

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Side by side

Feature	eLabFTW 9.0/10 Visit ↗	CDD Vault Electronic Lab Notebook 8.6/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.0	8.6
Ranking	#3 in Electronic Lab Notebook Software	#5 in Electronic Lab Notebook Software
Best for	Open-source teams needing compliance features	Chemistry teams needing structured ELN workflows
Pricing model	Free plan + paid	Paid
Starting price	—	Pricing on request
Free plan	✓ (best)	—
Free trial	—	—
Deployment	Cloud, Self-hosted, Desktop	Cloud
Platforms	Web, Windows, macOS, Linux	Web
Support	Email, Community, Docs	Email, Phone, Docs
Compliance	SSO/SAML, 2FA	SOC 2, SSO/SAML
Built for	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features eLabFTW 5/5 · CDD Vault Electronic Lab Notebook 4/5
Audit trail	✓	✓
Electronic signatures	✓	✓
Approval workflows	✓	✓
Offline access	✓ (best)	—
API access	✓	✓
Specs
Search scope	Full_text_and_metadata	Full_text_and_metadata
Export formats	PDF, ZIP, CSV, JSON, ELN	ZIP, PDF, CSV, JSON, SDF, XLS, XLSX
Our review
Pros	Experiment records, inventory, templates, signatures, and audit logs Offline synchronization, REST API access, and broad export formats Self-hosting plus managed hosting and support options	Chemical structures, reactions, stoichiometry, and compound registration Audit trails, witnessing, approvals, rejection, and finalization workflows Full-text search, Microsoft Office integration, exports, and REST API access
Cons	Managed hosting and support add separate costs Self-hosting requires GNU/Linux containers The feature set may exceed narrow documentation needs	Pricing requires contacting sales There is no free plan Offline access is not supported
Our verdict	eLabFTW is an open-source electronic laboratory notebook for academic, industrial, and research laboratories. It combines experiment and protocol records with laboratory inventory, compound management, templates, workflow steps,… Read the review →	CDD Vault Electronic Lab Notebook is a web-based electronic lab notebook for biotechnology, pharmaceutical, academic, and other scientific research teams. It is particularly suited to chemistry groups that need structured experiment… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• eLabFTW — where it wins

  • Experiment records, inventory, templates, signatures, and audit logs
  • Offline synchronization, REST API access, and broad export formats
  • Self-hosting plus managed hosting and support options

  Where it doesn't

  • Managed hosting and support add separate costs
  • Self-hosting requires GNU/Linux containers
  • The feature set may exceed narrow documentation needs

• CDD Vault Electronic Lab Notebook — where it wins

  • Chemical structures, reactions, stoichiometry, and compound registration
  • Audit trails, witnessing, approvals, rejection, and finalization workflows
  • Full-text search, Microsoft Office integration, exports, and REST API access

  Where it doesn't

  • Pricing requires contacting sales
  • There is no free plan
  • Offline access is not supported

• eLabFTW9.0/10 · Free plan

  A compliance-ready, open-source ELN with flexible hosting and broad exports.

  Visit eLabFTWFull verdict →
• CDD Vault Electronic Lab Notebook8.6/10 · Pricing on request

  A chemistry-focused ELN with strong documentation, compliance workflows, search, and integrations.

  Visit CDD VaultFull verdict →