Overview ·
Lab sample tracking software in plain terms.
Lab sample tracking software records what each sample is, where it is, and everything that has happened to it — who did what, and when. That log is the difference between tracking and inventory. tinysamples does it for small research labs: register a sample, log each action from a phone at the bench, search the whole history. Free for 100 samples, $12 a month after that.
What is sample tracking software?
It is a record with a memory. Inventory software answers “what do we have?” — a count on a shelf. Tracking software answers “what happened to this?” — a dated line for every action, attached to one sample, for as long as the sample exists.
That distinction is why labs outgrow a spreadsheet without noticing. A sheet holds the current state perfectly well. It cannot hold the history, because the history is what gets overwritten every time someone edits a cell.
What should you record for every sample?
Six fields carry almost all of the value. If your current system holds these, it is working, whatever it is built on.
| Why it exists | |
|---|---|
| A permanent ID | Short, unique, never reused, never edited. It is the thing you search. |
| What it is | A human name — the cell line, the isolate, the patient-free label. |
| An owner | Who is responsible now. Turnover is the most common cause of lost samples. |
| A location | Freezer, shelf, rack, box, position. Precise enough to find it once. |
| A status | Where it is in your process, so you can see what is waiting on you. |
| A log of actions | Every step, with who and when. This is the part a spreadsheet loses. |
Do you need software, or will a spreadsheet do?
A spreadsheet is genuinely fine until one of three things happens: two people edit it at once and the last save wins, somebody leaves and takes the conventions with them, or you need to prove what happened to a sample six months ago and the cell has been overwritten four times since.
If none of those have bitten yet, keep the sheet. Take our template — it is free, ungated, and it will hold the six fields above. We also wrote the honest version of where spreadsheets break, including the case for keeping yours.
What does it cost?
Most vendors in this category do not publish a price. Ours is on the page, with the limits that matter printed next to it.
Free
1 workspace · 100 samples · 1 user
$0
Pro
Unlimited samples · custom fields · batches · CSV export
$12/mo
Team
Up to 20 users · shared workspace · audit export
$29/mo
Team is $29 a month flat for up to 20 people, not per seat — a lab that turns over every year should not be billed for it.
Free for 100 samples. No card.
When tinysamples is the wrong tool
If you run regulated or clinical work, you need a validated system and we are not one: no 21 CFR Part 11 package, no CLIA or CAP module, no instrument integration. See specimen tracking for who to buy instead. There is also no barcode scanning, no label printing, no API and no ordering — if any of those is the job, this is not the tool.