The Best LIMS of 2025: The Laboratory Information Management Systems Industry Winners

Last Updated: December 17, 2024

The way labs operate is evolving.

Gone are the days of relying on pen, paper, and spreadsheets as LIMS (Laboratory Information Management Systems) have become the gold standard for labs looking to scale. 

A LIMS is a valuable asset for any lab looking to grow. They help you organize inventory, digitize samples, automate processes, and more. The LIMS market is estimated to be worth $2.1 billion as of 2024, and the market is poised to reach $3.8 billion by 2029. The number of vendors continues to grow. Never fear! We'll help you sort through the noise and understand your options.

So which LIMS should you choose? Read a side-by-side comparison of the top LIMS on the market to help you make the right choice for your lab.

What is a LIMS?

New to LIMS? A Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) is software that helps labs:

• Manage and organize data
• Track samples
• Automate processes and workflows
• Manage inventory
• Handle invoicing and billing
• Create reports on the fly
• Integrate lab instruments

LIMS have evolved into sophisticated systems that support a wide range of laboratory activities, from sample management and quality control to data analysis and reporting. No two platforms are the same as some LIMS are engineered with certain industries in mind, which is why we call out the top industries served in our list.

What are the benefits of using a LIMS?

A LIMS can be extremely beneficial to a lab looking to get more done and scale. Here are the top benefits you will find in using a LIMS:

• Accessibility anytime, anywhere: With cloud-based LIMS, lab personnel can access data and workflows from anywhere, provided they have an internet connection. In the ever-increasing popularity of remote work, this ensures uninterrupted data access even when away from the lab.
• Scalability on demand: As your lab grows or needs change, cloud-based LIMS (like QBench) can easily scale up or down and adapt to support your processes. 
• Digitization and automation: A LIMS is invaluable when it comes to digitizing and automating your lab and its processes. A LIMS can help you digitize sample and test management while automating reports and workflows to streamline your operations.
• Improved compliance: Some LIMS (like QBench) offer features specifically geared towards compliance. While a LIMS is different from a QMS, it can help you meet certain regulatory requirements as well as maintain quality control.

How We Determined These Rankings

As you’ll see, not all LIMS are equal. The platforms we list below all cater to different industries and promote certain features over others on their websites. 

So what makes a LIMS the “best” and worth of top on our list? 

We ranked these LIMS vendors based on the following:

• Strength of LIMS features: Some of the platforms listed below lean more on their ELN integrations rather than selling themselves as a pure LIMS. We’re looking for the best LIMS, after all. 
• Configurable, not customizable: Many legacy LIMS offer a customizable platform that requires code and expensive development resources to maintain. To aid our rankings, we looked for configurable LIMS that anyone on your team can modify.
• Stability of product: We ranked platforms based on how mature they are and how frequently they are updated. With some legacy players that only release once or twice a year and numerous upstarts hitting the market (that often flame out or stop innovating), we did our best to balance stable products with ones that are still growing.‍
• Security and compliance: We ranked our top LIMS by how well they support regulatory compliance and how much they prioritize the security of their platform and customers.
• G2 Reviews & Awards: G2 reviews are a valuable source of authentic, peer-reviewed feedback from real users about software and services. G2 is the largest and most trusted software marketplace. More than 90 million people annually—including employees at all Fortune 500 companies—use G2 to make smarter software decisions. G2 requires all reviewers to validate themselves and prove their usage of the software before a review is published.

With these in mind, let’s review the best LIMS on the market this year.

What are the best LIMS of 2025?

1. QBench
2. Labguru
3. LabWare LIMS
4. LabVantage
5. Lockbox LIMS
6. Benchling
7. Thermo Scientific SampleManager
8. Genemod
9. Scispot
10. [Redacted]

QBench is the leading option for labs of all sizes and many industries looking to get more done and scale. QBench takes a unique approach to LIMS by creating a highly configurable and flexible LIMS. This puts the power to make changes into your hands. Since all labs operate and evolve differently, they need a flexible LIMS that adapts with them over time.

Boasting powerful automation features, the ability to configure your LIMS to adapt to your lab's needs, and a growing list of integrations, it’s no wonder that QBench was awarded numerous badges in 2024 from G2, currently ranks #1 on G2's Highest-Rated LIMS list, and has ranked #1 on G2’s Highest-Rated LIMS in North America list for the last year.

Beyond just ranking well, QBench is on a trajectory. QBench is a Momentum Leader on G2's Grid for LIMS and has won the Momentum Leader badge in G2's Winter 2025 reports. What is a Momentum Leader? G2 states, "Our Momentum Grid shows the growth trajectory that products have had in their respective spaces over the last year. The Momentum Grid identifies products that are on a high-growth trajectory based on user satisfaction scores, employee growth, and digital presence." and "With a Momentum Grid, buyers can gain insight into products that are outpacing competitors by delivering innovative solutions that meet the evolving needs of their users. Buyers can also evaluate products on the Momentum Grid to keep apprised of products that are pushing the boundaries of their respective spaces."

QBench also ranks highly for Ease of Use, Ease of Setup, Ease of Doing Business With, Quality of Support, and Ease of Admin. G2 Fall 2024 LIMS category awards for QBench include Momentum Leader, Best Results, and Best Relationship, Best Usability Small Business.

Just take a look at the G2 Grid® for LIMS Software | Winter 2025 and the Small-Business G2 Grid® for LIMS Software | Winter 2025 and you can see how QBench outperforms every on the Customer Satisfaction dimension.

So many 2nd-time LIMS buyers choose QBench. They've felt the pain of legacy LIMS and how vendor-created, code-driven customizations lead to slow, costly updates. QBench is different. Our deep workflow configurability and flexible, easy-to-use tools allow for quick workflow adjustments, report modifications, and automation tweaks.

Over 95% of QBench's reviews are from customers in North America. QBench is privately owned by a group of families and software investors with over 30 years of lab experience and a long-term time horizon, meaning that they prioritize building the best culture, continuous innovation, and a business that drives value for customers for many years to come. This is a strong contrast to many of the LIMS owned by private equity firms, where there’s an explicit goal to cut costs, extract as much value from customers in a short time, and then resell the business in 3-4 years. QBench's employees are distributed globally to serve customers across the world, but the majority of critical-role employees (88%) are located in North America.

QBench offers multiple tiers, though their base tier packs a punch. QBench’s Starter tier includes access to workflow tools, reporting tools, no-code configurations, custom fields, user permissions, and more. With all this power you won’t have to sacrifice ease of use though, QBench is quick to implement and easy to use for your entire team. Here’s a sample of what customers are saying about QBench:

It’s no surprise that QBench leads several categories on G2 and has earned 4.5/5 stars overall.

Price: Starts at $249/user/month with a discount for 20+ users

Notable features:

• Configurable automations
• Reports and data visualizations
• Inventory management
• Sample management
• Robust API support
• Billing and invoicing support
• WYSIWYG report template editor
• Integrated QMS
• BI integrations

Industries served:

• Materials & Manufacturing
• Food & Beverage
• Biotech & Life Sciences
• Diagnostic
• Agriculture
• Cannabis
• Environmental

Labguru is a great option for small labs looking to streamline and scale their operations with a focus on simplicity, ease of use, and user-friendliness. Labguru comes with a built-in ELN (learn more about the difference between a LIMS and ELN) along with inventory and equipment management features. Previously, Labguru was owned by Holtzbrinck Publishing Group, a European publishing house. As of 2025, Labguru is now owned by Titian Software, a UK-based Sample Management business, which is itself owned by the private equity division of Battery Ventures. Roughly 43% of its staff are located in Europe & the Middle East, 30% in North America, 28% in Asia. Like QBench, Labguru is well-reviewed on G2 with a 4.5/5 star rating. It does have twice as many reviews for its ELN product than its LIMS product, though. 34% of their reviews are from customers in Europe, 32% from the Middle East, and 32% from North America (according to LinkedIn).

Price: Not available

Notable features:

• Built-in ELN
• Inventory management
• Reports and visualizations in premium tiers
• Automation in premium tiers
• API support in premium tiers

Industries served:

• Biotech
• Pharma
• Food and Beverage
• Molecular farming
• CRO/Service labs
• QC Labs

LabWare is a good option for labs looking to digitize their operations thanks to their built-in ELN and LIMS automation features. LabWare boasts many automation capabilities along with QA/QC features and instrument integrations. LabWare is customizable and even has its own programming language called LIMS Basic. LabWare is privately owned and has roughly 30% of its staff in the EMEA region (Europe, Middle East, & Africa), 29% in North America, and 23% in South America, and 17% in Asia (according to LinkedIn). LabWare's reviews come from 62% of customers in North America, 19% in Europe, and 11% in Asia (according to LinkedIn). LabWare is well-reviewed on G2 with 4.5/5 stars.

Price: Not available

Notable features:

• Automation capabilities
• QA/QC features
• Instrument integrations
• Sample management
• Reporting tools and data visualizations

Industries served:

• Biopharmaceutical
• Biotech
• Agriculture

LabVantage is a solid option for labs looking to get started with automation and streamlining their operations. LabVantage offers a cloud-based LIMS and ELN solution with sample management, inventory management, and reporting features among its broader feature set. LabVantage is owned by The Chatterjee Group. Roughly 62% of its staff are located in Asia, 19% in North America, and 18% in Europe (according to LinkedIn). LabVantage has a decent number of reviews and 4/5 stars on G2.

Price: Not available

Notable features:

• Integrated ELN
• Reporting features
• Sample management
• Data management
• Data privacy and security

Industries served:

• Biobanking
• Cancer Research
• Contract Testing
• Diagnostics
• Food and Beverage
• Forensics
• Oil and Gas
• Pharma
• Public Health

Lockbox LIMS (by Thirdwave Analytics) is a well-regarded player in the LIMS space. Lockbox LIMS boasts a series of features that help labs digitize and automate their operations. Lockbox LIMS is built as a Salesforce app and is available on the Salesforce AppExchange. Lockbox LIMS is privately owned. Roughly 95% of its employees are located in North America and 5% in Europe (according to LinkedIn). Lockbox LIMS is well-rated on G2 with 4.9/5 stars.

Price: Not available

Notable features:

• Sample management
• Inventory management
• Integrations
• Instrument management
• Freezer management
• Customer portal

Industries served:

• Biobanking
• Biotech
• NGS Labs
• QC Labs

Like QBench, Benchling is a comprehensive LIMS platform though it is one of the pricier options on our list and is much more of an ELN first. Benchling sports a robust set of features, especially those suited for biotech and R&D labs. Benchling is privately owned by 23 investors. Roughly 87% of its employees are in North America and 11% are in EMEA (according to LinkedIn). Benchling is well-reviewed on G2 with 4.5/5 stars.

Price: Starts around $15,000/year

Notable features:

• Centralize and standardize data
• Generate reports and visualizations
• Manage workflows
• Sample and inventory management

Industries served:

• Biopharmaceutical
• Biotech
• Agriculture

Thermo Scientific is a well-known name in lab equipment, so it’s no surprise that their LIMS would appear on any “best of” list. The Thermo Scientific SampleManager LIMS includes many of the features you’d see in any other LIMS such as automations, sample management, workflows, instrument integration, and reporting. Thermo Scientific is a large public company with over 65,000 employees. It is unclear how many of them work on the SampleManager product or where that employee group is located. Thermo Scientific has a fair amount of reviews on G2 and 4/5 stars.

Price: Not available

Notable features:

• Sample management
• Lab automation and workflows
• Instrument management
• Inventory management
• Collaboration
• Dashboards and data visualizations
• Compliance features

Industries served:

• Contract testing
• Chemical and petrochemical
• Clinical testing
• Clean energy
• Environmental
• Food and beverage
• Forensics
• Manufacturing
• Metals and mining
• Oil and gas
• Pharma and biopharma

Genemod is a newer LIMS + ELN platform focused more on inventory management, freezer management, and electronic lab notebooks. They are a relatively small venture-backed team based in Seattle, Washington, with a few global team members. 

Genemod offers a cloud-based solution and aims to be one of the simpler and more user-friendly options in the market. While they serve a number of industries, most of their marketing messaging is aimed at R&D and Biotech labs.

Price: Not available, but their plans are listed on their website.

Notable features:

• Inventory management
• ELN
• Alerts
• Security
• Numerous integrations 
• Reporting and visualizations
• AI-powered text generation for lab notebooks

Industries served:

• Biopharmaceutical
• Biotech
• Clinical research
• Gene therapy
• Genetics labs
• Academic Institutions

Scispot is another newer platform that bills itself as an alt-ELN, alt-LIMS, alt-LIS, and alt-SDMS. Founded by a small team spread across 15 countries, they are primarily based in Canada. Scispot offers a simple cloud-based solution and serves pharma, biotech, clinical, and diagnostic labs primarily. Like QBench, their primary focus lies in the ability to customize your lab workflows across their LIMS, LIS, and ELN through a customizable API as well as a no-code interface.

Price: Not available on their website, but the AWS Marketplace listing for Scipot shows a price of $9,000/year for Scispot's Essential plan and then $1/unit of Additional Usage on top of that. It is unclear what is in the Essential plan, how many users are included, or what comprises a unit of Additional Usage.

Notable features:

• No-code workflows
• Built-in ELN
• Sample management tools
• Reporting tools
• Collaboration tools
• AI chatbot

Industries served:

• Biology
• Genomics
• Pathology
• Biobanking
• Pharma 
• Clinical

[Redacted! This company hired a very expensive law firm to send us threatening letters, so we redacted them from this list] They mostly serve large enterprises and the vast majority of their reviews come from Chinese pharmaceutical companies. So if you're a pharmaceutical located in China, they are likely a great option to consider. Like many LIMS leaders, [Redacted] boasts many automation and workflow features along with numerous integrations. [Redacted] is owned by a large private equity firm. Roughly 53% of its employees are in North America, 29% are in the EMEA region, and the rest are distributed globally (according to LinkedIn). [Redacted] is rated 4.5/5 stars G2. [Redacted] has a large number of reviews on G2.

Price: Not available

Notable features:

• Automation capabilities
• Batch testing 
• Sample management
• Integrations
• Audit trails and electronic signatures for compliance

Industries served:

• Life Sciences
• Agrochemical
• Food and Beverage
• Contract Testing
• Chemical
• Clinical 
• Oil and Gas
• Public Health

‍

While many LIMS platforms boast similar features or lots of customizability, it's important to understand the difference between being customizable using custom code and having deep workflow configurability and flexibility. Custom code is brittle, requires paying expensive developers to maintain and change. Many LIMS promise the ability to add custom fields or change field names, but that is only scratching the surface of what labs truly need. Unlike legacy LIMS that solve for each lab's unique workflows with mounds of custom code, QBench offers simple, no-code tools that empower you to make changes to your system.

Only one LIMS platform focuses on putting the power into the hands of the lab staff. Only one LIMS provides top-tier support while also bringing together a flexible system, an extensible system, and easy-to-use, no-code tools that allow you to:

• Quickly and easily make changes to your workflows and reports.
• Configure automations without code and update them as needed.
• Streamline and automate sample and inventory management.
• Build and easily modify report templates using a simple, WYSIWYG report builder.
• Connect other systems and automate data movement using a robust API.
• Tie all your quality management practices and LIMS activities together to make compliance vastly more efficient.
• Provide a simple experience for your customers to submit orders and get reports via a customer portal.

And that is QBench.

Choose QBench. Shift your energy from battling an inflexible system to driving innovation and scientific progress.

Why Labs Love QBench LIMS

There’s a reason that QBench is a consistent leader across categories on G2; labs can get more done with QBench LIMS. Here are the top reasons why labs of all sizes love QBench LIMS.

Configurable automations

As you can see from the list above, automation is key for any scaling lab. With QBench, you can:

• Trigger processes for your lab.
• Easily update a process or roll out new processes.
• Save time by automating inventory stock.
• Run calculations, generate reports, and notify customers when results are ready.
• Set up workflows between tools such as a client portal, billing, Quickbooks, inventory management, and quality management systems.

What’s more, QBench is configurable, meaning that you can easily adjust automations on the fly. There is no need for complex development work or custom code -  if you can dream it, you can build it.

Robust API support

The more connected your lab software and instruments are, the smoother things will go as you scale. That’s why QBench offers a RESTful API that allows you to:

• Connect laboratory instruments with the LIMS for automatic integration and a comprehensive view of your data. 
• Import or export data from external systems or to other systems. You can even use AI to make better decisions about it.
• Generate custom reports from LIMS data by integrating with external reporting systems.
• Integrate LIMS data with a dashboard or visualization tool. This enables real-time monitoring of laboratory processes and provides insights into lab performance.

QBench’s API support adds to the flexibility of its LIMS, helping you get more done. 

Ease of use

All of these powerful features are great, but if your LIMS isn’t easy to implement and use, they are for naught. Fortunately, QBench consistently earns high marks for ease of use thanks to its:

• Modern, fast, user-friendly interface.
• Configurable and flexible workflows - if you can dream it, you can build it with QBench. More importantly, you can easily modify it over time yourself.
• Simple and automated data entry.

QBench consistently earns high marks for its responsive and helpful support on top of its powerful software platform.

Choose the Best LIMS of 2025: Schedule a Demo of QBench LIMS Today

The LIMS market is growing, but don’t get overwhelmed by the options when looking for the best LIMS of 2025.

 If you are looking for a LIMS that provides:

• Robust integrations and API access
• Automation
• Reporting
• No-code configuration
• Ease of use
• Excellent support

Then look no further than QBench.

A LIMS should help your lab work smarter and with unparalleled flexibility to drive whatever the future brings. It’s one of the reasons we’re so proud that this commitment continually gets recognized by G2 and why QBench ranks among the best LIMS of 2025. Click the button below to schedule a demo and see for yourself.