elabftw/elabftw
:notebook: eLabFTW is the most popular open source electronic lab notebook for research labs. observed · 2026-10-13
Health v2 · maintenance only
95/100
- Activity 99
- Release rhythm 86
- Longevity 100
How is this computed?
round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10) — computed 2026-10-21. Adoption (stars, forks) is never an input.
- gap_med: 4.0
- age_days: 5058
- days_rel: 16
- days_push: 8
- n_releases_24m: 69
Adoption not part of the score
1442 stars · 341 forks observed · 2026-10-13
What it is AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, 2026-08-30, confidence not recorded
eLabFTW is a free, open source electronic lab notebook (ELN) and laboratory inventory management system for research teams, accessed via the browser and self-hosted with Docker. It supports experiment tracking, resource databases, equipment booking, trusted timestamping, multi-team hosting, and a public REST API.
Use cases
- keep an electronic lab notebook for research experiments
- manage laboratory inventory of reagents, antibodies, and cell lines
- book and schedule shared lab equipment
- timestamp experiments for legal traceability
- self-host an ELN for multiple research teams
- export lab records as PDF or .eln archives
- feed instrument data into a lab notebook via API
When to choose
- a research lab or institute needs a free, self-hosted ELN with multi-team support
- you need integrated sample/reagent inventory alongside your notebook
- regulatory traceability like signing and trusted timestamping matters
- you want open formats, FAIR data, and a REST API for automation
When to avoid
- you need a lightweight personal note-taking app rather than a full ELN server
- you cannot run a PHP/MySQL/Docker server environment
- you need offline-first desktop note software
Facets
application · maturity stable
web-framework search-engine pdf api-framework auth authorization self-hosted documentation self-hosted healthcare education data-science web-development apis files pdf self-hosted php cross-platform electronic-lab-notebook eln lims laboratory-information-management research inventory-management timestamping fair-data open-science rest-api web-server docker linux
6 sources
- readme: https://github.com/elabftw/elabftw · fetched 2026-10-13 · f779924eabce
- homepage: https://www.elabftw.net · fetched 2026-08-29 · e160ff5f61b1
- site_page: https://doc.elabftw.net/docs/usage/user-guide/experiments · fetched 2026-08-29 · cc27fc69315a
- site_page: https://doc.elabftw.net/docs/usage/api · fetched 2026-08-29 · c99b50f5cffc
- site_page: https://doc.elabftw.net · fetched 2026-08-29 · 79f6be116dca
- site_page: https://doc.elabftw.net/ · fetched 2026-08-29 · 79f6be116dca
Member repositories
| Repository | Role | Health v2 |
|---|---|---|
| elabftw/elabftw | main | 95 |
For agents
Data as of 2026-10-19T08:05:51.212177+00:00 · Report a problem