eLabFTW

An electronic lab notebook for research teams to record experiments, manage lab resources and book equipment from the browser.

1.5k stars, 365 forks PHP On GitHub since December 2012

Visit website View on GitHub How to run it

eLabFTW at a glance

Open sourceYes, AGPL-3.0No paid parts in the repository
Health90 of 100Actively developed
Self-hostingDockerCompose file, 1 service
Interface22 languagesIncluding English, German and French
Issue repliesWithin ~2 hoursMedian first reply; 88% of recent issues answered

What is eLabFTW?

eLabFTW stores and organizes experiments in a browser-based lab notebook and keeps a database of resources such as reagents, antibodies, plasmids, cell lines, equipment and storage boxes. Entries can be signed with trusted or blockchain timestamps for traceability. It includes an equipment booking calendar, a molecule editor, LaTeX, scientific file formats, to-do lists, import and export and a public REST API. Several teams can share one installation, so institutes often host everyone centrally. The interface offers 22 languages.

Good fit if

  • Your lab wants to replace paper notebooks or a paid ELN with something you host.
  • Your institute needs one installation for many research groups with permissions.

Look elsewhere if

Before you adopt it

eLabFTW is AGPL-3.0 and has no paid parts in the repository; dedicated hosting is offered separately. Sixteen people committed recently, led by one main developer. It runs as a self-contained Docker service.

Drafted with AI from the project's README and repository data, then checked against that data on 31 October 2026. Report a correction

How to run eLabFTW yourself

Docker
Dockerfile or compose file in the repository
Setup effort
1 of 5, judged from the compose file
Kubernetes
No Helm chart in the repository
Desktop and mobile
No app builds in GitHub releases
Interface languages
22 languages, including English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Polish, Russian, Ukrainian and Japanese
Show all 22

Catalan, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Ukrainian, Uzbek

Install instructions: elabftw.net or the README on GitHub.

eLabFTW health: is it still maintained?

90 of 100, actively developed

Release rhythmEvery ~2 daysLatest: 5.6.15, 21 October 2026
Issue repliesWithin ~2 hoursMedian first reply; 88% of recent issues answered
Bus factorMedium riskThe most active of 15 authors wrote 74% of recent commits
  • Activity
    312 commits in the last 90 days, the latest on 6 November 2026.
    30 / 30
  • Contributors
    15 people wrote the latest 100 commits; the most active wrote 74% of them.
    16 / 20
  • Releases
    13+ releases in the last 12 months; the latest, 5.6.15, on 21 October 2026.
    19 / 20
  • Replies to issues
    Maintainers answered 88% of recent issues, with a median first reply after 2 hours.
    19 / 20
  • Security practices
    OpenSSF Scorecard 6.1 of 10.
    6 / 10

Read from GitHub on 7 November 2026. How the score works

eLabFTW security practices

OpenSSF Scorecard checks how a project is developed and released: reviews, protected branches, pinned dependencies, signed releases. It does not audit the code itself.

OpenSSF Scorecard6.1 of 10How the project is built and released
Security policyYesExplains how to report a vulnerability
Signed releasesNoDownloads cannot be checked against a signature

What each check found

  • Binary files10 / 10No compiled binaries checked into the repository
  • Dangerous workflows10 / 10No risky patterns in GitHub Actions
  • License file10 / 10A license file is present
  • Maintained10 / 10Steady commits and issue activity in the last 90 days
  • Packaging10 / 10Releases are published as packages from CI
  • Security policy10 / 10Explains how to report a vulnerability
  • Static analysis10 / 10Code is scanned for bugs on every change
  • Pinned dependencies8 / 10Some dependencies use fixed versions
  • Best-practices badge7 / 10Working towards the OpenSSF Best Practices badge
  • Branch protection5 / 10Rules on the main branch are partly enforced
  • Code review0 / 10Changes are merged without review
  • Fuzzing0 / 10No fuzz testing found
  • Signed releases0 / 10Releases are not signed
  • Token permissions0 / 10CI tokens have broad write rights

From the OpenSSF Scorecard of 2 November 2026. Checks that do not apply to eLabFTW are left out.

eLabFTW license: is it open source?

eLabFTW uses AGPL-3.0, an open-source license approved by the OSI.

  1. December 2012First published on GitHub.
  2. TodayAGPL-3.0.

eLabFTW for developers

Written in

  • PHP 57%
  • TypeScript 18%
  • HTML 12%
  • JavaScript 8%
  • SCSS 1%
  • Other 3%

Getting involved

Contributing guideYesCONTRIBUTING.mdOpen issues268On GitHub
Authors, 90 days15Of the latest 100 commits
Donations2 waysGitHub Sponsors, Liberapay

Language shares are GitHub’s count of the code in the repository.

Alternatives to eLabFTW

  • MemosMemos is an open-source, self-hosted note-taking app that brings your everyday thoughts together in a… 86 health · MIT · 64.3k stars
  • Trilium NotesBuild your personal knowledge base with Trilium Notes 82 health · AGPL-3.0 · 38.7k stars
  • OutlineThe fastest knowledge base for growing teams. Beautiful, realtime collaborative, feature packed, and… 79 health · Business Source License · 41.2k stars
  • QOwnNotesQOwnNotes is a plain-text file notepad and todo-list manager with Markdown support and Nextcloud / ownCloud… 78 health · GPL-2.0 · 5.9k stars
  • NotesnookA fully open source & end-to-end encrypted note taking alternative to Evernote. 74 health · GPL-3.0 · 14.9k stars

All 39 projects in Notes & knowledge bases

Questions about eLabFTW

Is eLabFTW open source?

Yes. eLabFTW is published under AGPL-3.0, an OSI-approved open-source license.

Is eLabFTW still maintained?

Its health score is 90 of 100 (actively developed). It had 312 commits in the last 90 days, the latest on 6 November 2026, and its latest release came out on 21 October 2026.

How do I run eLabFTW?

You can run it with Docker. The README on GitHub has the exact steps.

What is eLabFTW written in?

eLabFTW is written mainly in PHP (57% of the code), with TypeScript (18%) and HTML (12%), by GitHub’s count of the repository.

What languages is eLabFTW available in?

The repository has interface translations for 22 languages, including English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Polish and Russian.

What are the alternatives to eLabFTW?

Close alternatives in the Notes & knowledge bases category include Memos, Trilium Notes, Outline.