Give your tissue culture work a record built around the culture. xPlant Pro connects source plants and explants with transfers, media recipes, SOPs, and observations, so your team can revisit the methods behind its results.
Both platforms help labs manage their records. See how xPlant Pro connects culture history with the methods behind your results.
| What matters to your lab | ProtoLab | xPlant Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Getting started | ProtoLabA free Community plan with three private protocols and access to public protocols. | xPlant ProStart with one plant and one linked explant on Free, then choose a paid plan for more cultures and lab workflows. |
| Record structure | ProtoLabProtocol versions and forks, with trials recorded against protocols. | xPlant ProFollow a culture from source plant to explant, then review its recorded stages, transfers, and observations. |
| Methods and observations | ProtoLabProtocol documentation, trial photographs, and comparisons across protocol versions. | xPlant ProKeep stages, transfers, methods, observations, and lab tasks connected in your culture workflow. |
| Deployment | ProtoLabA hosted platform accessed through a browser. | xPlant ProUse a hosted workspace in your browser, with no local server to install. |
| Pricing | ProtoLabFree Community, paid Research, and custom-priced Commercial plans. | xPlant ProA Free starting account and published paid plans for individuals and lab teams. |
| Bringing in records | ProtoLabResearch lists CSV exports; Commercial lists API access. | xPlant ProMap spreadsheet columns to supported plant, explant, and plant-stage fields. LIMS import tools are available on eligible paid plans. |
ProtoLab descriptions checked October 3, 2026 against its home, About, and pricing pages. Plan terms and features can change; check each product's current pages.
Start with the work your team needs to see more clearly.
Your team spends its day moving cultures through stages and wants to see how a result connects to its source plant, transfers, media, SOPs, and observations. xPlant Pro gives that work its own vocabulary and connected records, with a Free account to try the first plant and explant and published plans for larger workflows.
Your priority is documenting protocol versions, comparing trials, and selectively sharing or forking protocols. ProtoLab organizes its research workflow around those methods and their experimental outcomes.
In xPlant Pro, each step adds context you can return to when it is time to review the work.
Source plant
Know where the culture began.
Linked parent plant
Explant
Follow the culture on its own record.
Stage and status
Transfer
Review transfers alongside the media and methods used.
Transfer history
Media recipe and linked SOP
Review
Read observations in context and decide what to test next.
Contamination observations
One connected history to revisit when your lab reviews its work.
The value of a culture record shows up when your team needs to revisit the work.
Open an explant's record and follow it back to its source plant, then review the stages and transfers your team recorded.
Keep the media recipe and linked SOP close to the culture history. Review what the team did before choosing what to test next.
Add a contamination photo or observation to the affected culture, then return to that context when your team follows up.
When a culture's result prompts a question, your team needs the history that gives it context. xPlant Pro connects source plants and explants with recorded stages, transfers, media recipes, SOPs, and observations, helping you revisit the work behind the result.
ProtoLab emphasizes protocol development and trial comparison. In xPlant Pro, your team can bring methods into the daily culture workflow: follow an explant's history, review the linked media and SOP, and return to observations when deciding what to try next.
Start with a plant and explant in a Free account. As your work grows, choose a published plan to bring more cultures and lab workflows into the same workspace.
Is xPlant Pro a ProtoLab alternative?
Yes, for tissue culture teams that want culture history and methods connected in their day-to-day work. xPlant Pro brings source plants, explants, stages, transfers, media recipes, SOPs, and observations into one workflow. That gives your team a place to follow a culture and revisit how the work was done.
What does ProtoLab cost?
ProtoLab lists a free Community plan, Research at $299 per month billed monthly, and custom Commercial pricing. xPlant Pro also publishes its plans, with a Free account you can start without a credit card and paid options for larger culture workflows.
Can I move records from ProtoLab to xPlant Pro?
xPlant Pro's LIMS import tools can map spreadsheet columns to supported plant, explant, and plant-stage fields on eligible paid plans. A ProtoLab export needs compatible data to use that path; protocol versions, forks, and trial relationships are not automatically recreated by this importer. Start with a small set of relevant records and review the results before bringing in more.
How does xPlant Pro connect methods with individual cultures?
An explant record can link back to its source plant and bring its stages, transfers, media recipes, and observations into context. Linked SOPs keep the method close to the work. On eligible paid plans, QR labels for supported plant and explant records give your team a way to reopen the related record at the bench.
Longer thinking on the same problem, from the xPlant Pro company page.
Small changes that are each easy to explain, and the harder question of telling a meaningful change from normal variation across many cultures.
How variability that experience quietly absorbed at a small scale shows up once there are more cultivars, more batches and more people.
Link an explant to its source plant and start recording the details your team will want to revisit. When you are ready to bring more cultures, methods, and people into the work, choose the plan that fits your lab.
ProtoLab information checked against its public features and pricing pages on October 3, 2026. ProtoLab does not endorse this comparison.
Every row about ProtoLab was read from protolab.gravityfarms.ai on 27 September 2026. Plans and prices move; if a row is out of date, it is our mistake and we would like to know. Check any row yourself at protolab.gravityfarms.ai. ProtoLab is their name, not ours, and they do not endorse this page.