When enterprise R&D teams evaluate digital lab platforms, Benchling vs Labguru is often the first comparison. Both solutions focus on managing scientific workflows and documentation, but neither was originally designed to solve the broader operational challenges of large pharma, biotech, and research organizations.
For IT Directors and Lab Operations Managers, the key issues are not just about storing experimental data. The real pain points include fragmented systems, underutilized equipment, inconsistent data pipelines, and inefficiencies in lab services across global R&D sites.
This article examines how Benchling and Labguru stack up, highlights their strengths and limitations, and shows how newLab® provides a scalable option for enterprise labs seeking full visibility, workflow automation, and seamless integration with ServiceNow.
Benchling Overview
Benchling is widely recognized as a modern ELN (Electronic Lab Notebook) platform with strong adoption in pharma and biotech. Its value is rooted in supporting biology workflows, assay design, and experiment documentation.
Strengths of Benchling:
- Cloud-based, accessible to distributed teams
- User-friendly ELN for scientists
- Strong collaboration features within project teams
Limitations in enterprise R&D labs:
- Equipment management gaps → Benchling doesn’t natively handle scheduling, calibration, or lifecycle tracking for high-value lab assets.
- Integration challenges → While it offers APIs, native alignment with enterprise IT platforms like ServiceNow or ERP is limited, creating friction for IT Directors.
Labguru Overview
Labguru, on the other hand, positions itself as a lightweight ELN combined with an inventory management tool. It appeals to academic research labs, smaller biotech companies, and CROs that need basic digital organization without heavy infrastructure requirements.
Strengths of Labguru:
- Simplifies inventory and reagent tracking
- Offers a straightforward ELN for project documentation
- Provides entry-level digitalization for labs with minimal infrastructure
Limitations in enterprise R&D labs:
- Not designed for enterprise scale → Large pharma teams managing thousands of assets will quickly outgrow Labguru.
- Basic integrations → API connectivity is limited compared to enterprise-ready platforms.
- Operational blind spots → Equipment downtime, predictive maintenance, and cross-lab scheduling are not core strengths.
In short, Labguru helps smaller labs transition away from spreadsheets – but lacks the enterprise functionality required for IT leaders managing global R&D operations.
Benchling vs Labguru – Key Differences
To clarify the positioning, here’s a side-by-side look at Benchling vs Labguru in the context of enterprise labs:
| Feature | Benchling | Labguru | Enterprise Considerations |
| Primary Focus | Biotech R&D workflows | ELN + Inventory | Neither fully addresses lab ops at scale |
| Equipment Scheduling | Limited | Basic | Enterprise labs require advanced scheduling across sites |
| Integrations | API-based | Limited APIs | Neither offers native ServiceNow integration |
This comparison shows why enterprise labs require more than what Benchling or Labguru can provide.
The Enterprise Lab Perspective
Enterprise R&D labs operate at a scale where inefficiencies quickly translate into millions in wasted budget and delayed product development. Consider the following scenarios:
- A biotech startup using Benchling might successfully document gene editing experiments but still rely on spreadsheets for equipment usage.
- An academic lab with Labguru may track reagents, but struggles to prevent costly downtime when critical equipment fails.
- A global pharma R&D team needs visibility into 10,000+ assets across multiple countries – something neither Benchling nor Labguru was designed to support.
For IT Directors, the lack of integration with enterprise platforms like ServiceNow means extra IT overhead and duplicated data. For Lab Operations Managers, fragmented systems make it harder to optimize scheduling, procurement, and cross-team workflows.
Where newLab® Stands Out
newLab® bridges the gap left by Benchling and Labguru. Built natively on the ServiceNow platform, it extends enterprise IT strategy into R&D labs while maintaining a scientist-centric user experience.
Key Differentiators:
- Native ServiceNow Integration → Unlike Benchling or Labguru, newLab® connects directly with enterprise IT, finance, and procurement systems, ensuring labs don’t operate in silos.
- Scientist-Centric Portal → A single interface where scientists can book equipment, request services, and track workflows without manual coordination.
- 360° Asset Visibility → Provides detailed insights into equipment usage, downtime, and costs – helping labs reduce unnecessary purchases and extend asset lifespan.
- Automated Workflows → Streamlines service requests, maintenance scheduling, and approvals across global R&D labs, reducing bottlenecks.
- Enterprise Scalability → Supports organizations ranging from a single R&D site to multinational lab networks, adapting to complex governance needs.
With newLab®, IT leaders eliminate data silos, and lab managers gain actionable insights to improve productivity and reduce operational costs.
Real-World Use Cases
Example 1: R&D Lab Operations
A global pharmaceutical group with multi-site R&D operations needed to streamline equipment scheduling and lifecycle management across thousands of lab assets. By implementing newLab®, they centralized lab management within ServiceNow, eliminating fragmented systems and manual processes. The result: 20% savings on equipment costs, faster procurement cycles, increased efficiency for lab operations, giving scientists more time for science.
Example 1: R&D Lab Services
A leading pharmaceutical group centralized lab services in charge of cell media preparation for research projects on a new R&D campus hosting 1,200+ scientists. They implemented newLab® to cover the entire workflow from the scientist’s request to product delivery, through control of media/buffer fabrication and inventory management. The result: streamlined workflows, improved delivery times and productivity.
Enterprise R&D organizations need more. IT Directors and Lab Operations Managers cannot afford fragmented systems, manual scheduling, or disconnected workflows.
newLab® goes beyond ELNs and inventory trackers. By integrating seamlessly with ServiceNow, it provides enterprise labs with asset visibility, automated workflows, and scalability to support global operations.
👉 Want to learn how newLab® helps enterprise labs improve asset visibility and workflow automation?
