LabWare is a long-established enterprise LIMS used across many industries. FreshLIMS is a cloud LIMS built for independent diagnostic labs and the clinics that refer to them. This page compares the two fairly, using what LabWare publishes about itself, and says plainly where LabWare is the stronger choice.
LabWare is built for enterprise laboratories "of all sizes" across many industries and locations, and is configured to each customer's workflows. It offers four deployment options, from LabWare-hosted SaaS to fully self-hosted. It does not publish pricing on its product page.
FreshLIMS is narrower by design: a UK-hosted cloud platform for diagnostic labs, with a clinic ordering portal, live Westgard QC and a validation pack, at published prices that start at £495 a month.
If you need breadth across industries, multi-site scale or a self-hosted deployment, LabWare is built for that. If you're an independent diagnostic lab that wants to be running quickly at a known price, FreshLIMS is.
| LabWare LIMS | FreshLIMS | |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Enterprise labs across many industries, including clinical diagnostics and public health | Independent UK diagnostic labs and the clinics that refer to them |
| Deployment | Four options: SaaS, Hosted, Your Cloud, Self-Hosted (availability varies by region) | Cloud, UK-hosted |
| Pricing | Not published on the product page; request pricing | Published tiers, from £495/month; first month free |
| Setup | Configured to your workflows; implementation, testing and validation are listed services | Same day; work on real samples immediately |
| Customisation | Highly configurable and customisable | Opinionated, built around diagnostic-lab workflows |
| Notable capabilities (as published) | Lot release and CoA, stability studies, environmental monitoring, instrument interfacing, inventory, ELN and mobile add-ons | Chemistry, microbiology with AST, molecular/PCR, serology, genetics and sequencing; live Westgard QC; clinic ordering portal |
| Compliance referenced | 21 CFR Part 11, ISO/IEC 17025, EU Annex 11, GLP, GMP, CLIA | Built around ISO 15189 / UKAS workflows; validation pack included |
| Track record (as stated) | Over 30 years; LabWare states more than 30,000 labs | Newer; a London independent lab passed a UKAS ISO 15189 assessment and a CQC inspection running it |
LabWare information is taken from LabWare's public website as at 11 October 2026 and may have changed; confirm details with LabWare. LabWare is a trademark of its owner. FreshLIMS is not affiliated with or endorsed by LabWare. If anything here is out of date or wrong, tell us and we'll correct it.
See also: FreshLIMS vs an enterprise LIMS, the LIMS pricing guide and cloud LIMS explained.
LabWare states that it serves enterprise labs of all sizes and lists clinical diagnostics among its industries. Whether it fits a small lab depends on your budget, timeline and how much configuration you want to take on. Ask LabWare for pricing and an implementation estimate.
Not on its LIMS product page, which directs visitors to request pricing. FreshLIMS publishes its tiers on the pricing page.
No, and it isn't trying to. FreshLIMS is focused on diagnostic labs and their referring clinics rather than every laboratory industry.
Yes. The first month is free with no card, so you can run it in parallel and compare on your own work. See switching your LIMS without downtime.