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QBench runs testing and QC labs around the order. Seal runs the lab and the batch its results support.

Seal, the GxP execution system, is your eBR, your QMS and more. Neil, your AI agent, does the paperwork across your systems. You sign. Bioventix cut document admin time by 80%. Start with one process beside QBench.

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Where QBench falls short.

From QBench’s own pages and its reviewers on G2.

  • The lab
    QBench
    Batch records
    Not on its product list
    In Seal
    One set of records

    It stops at the laboratory.

    QBench’s product list runs from sample management to billing; manufacturing execution and batch records are not on it. In Seal, the lab, the batch and quality are one set of records.

    QBench, Cloud-based LIMS
  • Built around
    Orders
    Then
    Samples, tests, worksheets
    In Seal
    The batch it informs

    Built around the order.

    QBench says it is “built around orders, samples, tests, worksheets, results, reports, and configurable automations”. In Seal, a QC sample belongs to the batch it informs.

    QBench, October 2026
  • Foundation
    No QMS
    Growth
    No QMS
    Advanced
    QMS, from $25,500 a year

    Quality costs a higher plan.

    QBench’s quality module, with CAPA and document control, comes only from Advanced, the third of its four plans, starting at $25,500 a year. In Seal, quality records are linked to the batch and the result.

    QBench, Pricing
  • Configuring workflows
    One-time services
    Integrations
    From $1,500 a year
    Seal
    Neil, then your approval

    Help to configure it costs extra.

    QBench sells one-time services to help configure your workflows, and integrations it builds and manages from $1,500 a year. In Seal, Neil configures the first process from your procedure, and your team approves it.

    QBench, Pricing
  • Slow performance
    26 mentions
    Steep learning curve
    13 mentions
    A G2 reviewer
    “it becomes very slow”

    Slow and hard to learn, reviewers say.

    G2’s summary of QBench reviews in January 2025 counted 26 mentions of slow performance and 13 of a steep learning curve. One reviewer says its no-code worksheets “still command a steep learning curve”.

    G2, January 2025

See it in Seal.

Real Seal screens with fictional test data: one result outside its limit, from the sample to the investigation, then Neil’s overnight release review.

  1. 1

    Each result with its method and source.

    Release test S-041-12: every result carries its method version, instrument file and limit, and the batch it came from.

    Sample S-041-12, release testing, in Seal: linked to batch B-041 and a potency preparation, a table of results for potency, impurity A and water content with unit, limit, status, method and source, and water content outside its limit with the investigation open.
    1. The batch it came fromB-041, linked to the sample.
    2. Method and source on every rowEach result keeps its method version, instrument file and limit.
    3. The exception, at the resultWater content 0.72% against ≤ 0.50%, with the investigation open.
  2. 2

    The investigation starts with its evidence.

    INV-041 opens on the result outside its limit, with the instrument file, the method, qualification and wider impact to assess.

    Investigation INV-041, laboratory review, in Seal: water content 0.72% against a limit of 0.50% or less, linked to sample S-041-12, a table of evidence to assess for source acquisition, method execution, qualification and wider impact, and the conclusion still open.
    1. The result in questionWater content: 0.72% against a limit of ≤ 0.50%.
    2. From the sampleS-041-12, linked to the investigation.
    3. What to assessThe instrument file, the method, qualification and wider impact.
  3. 3

    Neil checks every lot. People decide.

    Overnight, Neil checked each lot against its release plan and said what its record leaves out.

    The release board in Seal: 111 lots in release across three sites, $123M waiting, 86 with nothing open, and a table of the lots with findings, each with Neil’s summary, its value and a predicted certification date.
    1. The morning, in two lines111 lots and $123M waiting. 86 need only a decision.
    2. Neil’s summary of each lotWhat is open, and where Neil found it.
    3. A predicted certification dateFrom how long this site’s lots have taken.

What Seal’s customers measured.

Each figure links to the customer’s story.

QualityAcclinate and Skye Biologics

−50%
quality cycle times at Acclinate, from a procedure change to everyone trained.Acclinate
−40%
non-conformances at Skye Biologics, with training checked before execution.Skye Biologics

RecordsMiAlgae and Bioventix

−75%
documentation time at MiAlgae, from the lab to commercial production.MiAlgae
−80%
document admin time at Bioventix, after two decades on paper.Bioventix

QBench and Seal, side by side.

Every source is listed under References.

QBenchSeal
What it isCloud LIMS¹The GxP execution system, with LIMS built in
Built forTesting and QC labs across industries¹²Process development, the lab, manufacturing, batch release and quality
Data modelOrders, samples, tests, worksheets, reports²Primitives your team composes: record types, their relationships, steps and checks
Company size88 of 112 G2 reviews from teams of 50 or fewer, January 2025³Starts with one process; sites are added as you need them
ManufacturingNot on its product list¹Batch records on the same records as the lab
Quality recordsQMS in its Advanced plan and above⁴Linked to the batch and the result
Changing a workflowNo-code, by authorised users⁵²A tested change, approved before release
ComplianceThe lab’s configuration, as it says of any LIMS⁶Selected tests run when a change is prepared for review; release needs them passing

Summary

The story
QBench is good for testing and QC laboratories that run on orders. It was started by lab owners and built from scratch,⁷ and its model is the order, the sample, the test and the report, with billing and invoicing in the same product.²⁴ QBench calls it “the operating system for the modern lab” and says it adapts to your workflows,⁷⁸ yet it also sells one-time services to help configure workflows, and integrations built and managed by QBench from $1,500 a year,⁴ and G2 reviewers report a steep learning curve and slow screens.³ If you run a commercial testing laboratory, it can work well. A GxP manufacturer needs the test, the batch and the deviation on the same records.

1What QBench offers.

QBench Inc. describes QBench as a cloud-based LIMS that tracks orders, samples and tests from sample receiving to reporting and billing.⁹ Worksheets run calculations with Excel formulas, a product catalogue holds specifications, and a template editor builds reports and certificates of analysis.⁹ A no-code automations engine sets status checkpoints and re-runs failed tests,⁵ and instruments connect through file parsers or the QBench API.¹⁰ It is sold in four plans, and its quality module, with CAPA and document control, comes only from the third, Advanced, upwards.⁴

2Running Seal alongside QBench.

Teams move to Seal one workflow at a time, with QBench connected until the move is complete. Seal has no dedicated QBench connector; where a system is not on Seal’s integrations list, Seal’s REST API and Scripts can connect it, and Seal can review its interfaces with you. On its side, QBench offers an open REST API and lets external applications register as event listeners.¹¹

Agree the records, the direction of transfer, the credentials and the failure handling before setting up the connection. Scripts are versioned Python in Seal that can call an external service after an event or on a schedule; they are changed, tested and published like other Seal records. Start with read access, for example bringing QBench results for a batch into a Seal review. Keep the QBench sample identifier on the linked Seal record rather than creating a second sample identity, keep units, qualifiers and result revisions with each value, and reconcile what arrives against QBench. Treat any write-back as a separate decision with its own controls. The LIMS integration guide and the regulatory guide set out these checks.

3Moving from QBench to Seal.

Start with one workflow and expand from there.

  1. Choose one release test, incoming-inspection workflow or stability study, or one client order for a contract laboratory.
  2. Bring the method, a redacted specification, a representative result and an instrument export. Start with sample material, or arrange an NDA before sharing confidential records.
  3. Neil proposes the workflow, and your team checks it against the source. Once the scope is agreed and the inputs received, Seal prepares the first working process and its validation pack to evaluate within 48 hours. Production timing then depends on scope, interfaces, migration and your release requirements.
  4. Exercise the failure cases before release: an outside-limit result, missing evidence, a method-version conflict and a report correction.
  5. Agree which system owns each record during the transition, how identifiers map and what must reconcile. Evaluate historical records, original files, versions and review status before deciding what to migrate; work outside the scope stays in QBench.

The LIMS blueprint describes the QC workflows in detail.

References

  1. 1QBench: Cloud-based LIMS, QBench Inc. https://qbench.com/ (read 5 November 2026)
  2. 2LabWare vs. LabVantage vs. QBench: Which LIMS is Best?, QBench Inc., 30 October 2026. https://qbench.com/blog/labware-vs-labvantage-vs-qbench-which-lims-is-best (read 5 November 2026)
  3. 3QBench reviews, G2, as archived on 18 January 2025. https://web.archive.org/web/20250118070212/https://www.g2.com/products/qbench/reviews (read 5 November 2026)
  4. 4QBench LIMS Pricing, QBench Inc. https://qbench.com/pricing (read 5 November 2026)
  5. 5LIMS Workflows and Automation, QBench Inc. https://qbench.com/products/lims-automation-and-workflows (read 5 November 2026)
  6. 6FDA Title 21 CFR Part 11: A Practical Guide for Labs, QBench Inc. https://qbench.com/blog/title-21-part-11-what-is-it (read 5 November 2026)
  7. 7About, QBench Inc. https://qbench.com/about (read 5 November 2026)
  8. 8All Industries, QBench Inc. https://qbench.com/all-industries (read 5 November 2026)
  9. 9QBench Cloud-Based LIMS Overview, QBench Inc. https://qbench.com/qbench-lims (read 5 November 2026)
  10. 10LIMS Instrument Integration, QBench Inc. https://qbench.com/products/lims-instrument-integration-and-automation (read 5 November 2026)
  11. 11QBench LIMS API, QBench Inc. https://qbench.com/products/lims-developer-api (read 5 November 2026)

AQuestions and answers

Is Seal better than QBench?

Yes. QBench is good for testing and QC laboratories that run on orders. It was started by lab owners and built from scratch, and its model is the order, the sample, the test and the report, with billing and invoicing in the same product. QBench calls it “the operating system for the modern lab” and says it adapts to your workflows, yet it also sells one-time services to help configure workflows, and integrations built and managed by QBench from $1,500 a year, and G2 reviewers report a steep learning curve and slow screens. If you run a commercial testing laboratory, it can work well. A GxP manufacturer needs the test, the batch and the deviation on the same records. Seal has no fixed model of one kind of work. It is built from primitives: record types, the relationships between them, and the steps and checks that use them, which your own team composes into your process, with Neil able to prepare each change for approval. So one platform runs process development, the laboratory, manufacturing, batch release and the quality system, and each change becomes a new version, released once its selected tests pass, while earlier runs keep theirs. Moving from paper, Bioventix put its quality system and lab records on Seal and cut document admin time by 80%.

Is Seal a LIMS?

Yes. Seal covers sample management, specifications, analytical methods, stability, environmental monitoring, OOS and OOT investigations, certificates of analysis and contract testing, on the same records as batch records and the quality system.

Is Seal an alternative to QBench?

Yes. QBench is designed for the laboratory’s workflow. Seal covers the testing laboratory QBench runs, including client orders, a client portal and billing, and adds what QBench does not keep: batch records and batch release, on the same records as the quality system. Each QC result stays with its batch, method and specification version, and each workflow change is released with its acceptance tests.

Can Seal work alongside QBench?

Yes. Seal has no dedicated QBench connector, but Seal’s REST API and Scripts can connect it, and QBench offers an open REST API with event listeners. Start with read access and treat any write-back as a separate decision with its own controls.

Does Seal handle contract testing like QBench?

Yes. Seal runs each client order as one service record from quote to invoice, with a configured client portal and each sample inheriting the terms of its client’s quality agreement. Each client sees only what its agreement allows, and billing status never alters laboratory records.

Does QBench run manufacturing?

QBench is designed for the laboratory’s workflow, from sample receiving to reporting and billing, and manufacturing execution and batch records are not on its product list. In Seal, a QC sample belongs to the batch it informs, and the laboratory review contributes to batch disposition alongside manufacturing exceptions and quality events.

How long does it take to start with Seal?

Once the scope is agreed and the inputs received, Seal prepares a first working process and its validation pack to evaluate within 48 hours, configured from one of your methods or procedures. Production timing then depends on scope, interfaces, migration and your release requirements.

Start beside QBench.

Start with one release test or one client order. Seal’s REST API and Scripts can read QBench results, so nothing has to move on day one.

Book a demo