Moving from SENAITE LIMS to LabFlow
An open-source LIMS under GPLv2 that you install yourself with Docker or from PyPI, or run with a service provider, with no licence fee. Last checked 7 November 2026. Check SENAITE LIMS yourself, because a page that says something newer than this one is right.
The side-by-side comparison, with LabFlow's own limits, is on the LabFlow site. This page is about making the move.
Before you move
- Choose SENAITE if you have someone to run a Linux server, want the source code in your own hands and no licence fee, and your laboratory is a testing laboratory rather than a patient-facing one.
- Choose LabFlow if you do not want to host anything, want patients to read their results and clinicians to order through the same record, and want the free plan to be hosted for you.
What you would give up, going by SENAITE LIMS's own pages:
- Open source.
The move, step by step
- Get your data out of SENAITE LIMS first. SENAITE LIMS is open source and you run it, so a copy of your database is already yours to take. Keep it: LabFlow reads none of it directly.
- Create an account. Sign-in is with Google, and there is no password to set.
- Set up the laboratory. Five steps, including its name, departments and time zone.
- Build the test catalogue, then panels and reference ranges. These are typed in. There is no bulk import.
- Invite your staff and give each person a role.
- Add patients as they arrive. There is no bulk import of patients or of past results, so your old system stays your archive for what came before.
- Take orders. A system that sends HL7 v2 order messages can hand them over one at a time as files, each becoming a draft order, as interoperability explains. There is no live feed.
- Enter and release a result on a real sample before you switch the bench over, and run both systems side by side until you trust it.
SENAITE LIMS's prices
As its own pages stated them on 7 November 2026, not converted between currencies. LabFlow's are on the pricing page.
| Plan | Price | What the page says | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| SENAITE LIMS | Free | No license fees; open source (GPLv2); hosting and support are your own cost | Source |
What each one says it does
"Not stated on the pages we checked" is not a no. Ask SENAITE LIMS. LabFlow's column lists only what has shipped.
| What we looked for | SENAITE LIMS | LabFlow |
|---|---|---|
| A price on the public page | Yes (source) | Yes |
| A free plan, or free for the person | Yes (source) | Yes |
| Patients read their own results online | Not stated on the pages we checked | Yes. For results from laboratories that run LabFlow. |
| The person decides who sees a record | Not stated on the pages we checked | Yes. One frozen report at a time, by a link the person can withdraw. |
| Share one section only (one test, one report) | Not stated on the pages we checked | No. A share opens one whole report. There is no grant for the ECG only or the X-ray only. |
| A laboratory asks for access by the person's ID and the person accepts | Not stated on the pages we checked | No. Not in the product today. There is no ID to give and no request to accept. |
| Access can be withdrawn later | Not stated on the pages we checked | Yes |
| Records kept for years, stated on the page | Not stated on the pages we checked | In part. Free keeps 12 months, then read-only. The paid plans set no cap. No number of years is promised. |
| Quality control (QC) built in | In part (source) | Yes |
| HL7 or FHIR interfaces | Not stated on the pages we checked | In part. As files, in and out. No live feed. |
| Several sites or branches under one account | Not stated on the pages we checked | Yes |
| An Android app | Not stated on the pages we checked | Yes |
| Works in a browser | Yes (source) | Yes |
| A desktop application | Not stated on the pages we checked | No. Not in the product today. Browser and Android only. |
| A backup commitment stated on the page | Not stated on the pages we checked | No. No backup or recovery commitment is made today. |
| Analytics for the laboratory | Not stated on the pages we checked | Yes |
| Collection work continues offline | Not stated on the pages we checked | Yes |
| Reports sent by SMS or WhatsApp from the system | Not stated on the pages we checked | No. An SMS link opens on the handset. Nothing is sent from the system. |
| Hosted by the vendor (cloud) | Not stated on the pages we checked | Yes. Hosted only. On-premise is not offered. |
| Open source | Yes (source) | No |
What LabFlow does not have
LabFlow has no ID a person can give a laboratory, no laboratory access requests and no sharing section by section. It has no desktop app, promises no retention period and makes no backup commitment. No laboratories run it in production. Status and limits has the full list.