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Tulip gives your engineers apps to build. Seal runs the batch, its tests and its deviations.

Seal, the GxP execution system, is your eBR, your QMS and more. Neil, your AI agent, does the paperwork across your systems. You sign. Skye Biologics increased throughput by 35%. Start with one process beside Tulip.

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Where Tulip falls short.

From Tulip’s own pages, pricing and documentation.

  • Initial use cases
    Weeks
    NextPharma, a full MES
    Nine months
    Seal, a first process
    48 hours

    Months to go live.

    NextPharma’s move from paper to a digital MES on Tulip took nine months. Seal has a first process working for you to evaluate within 48 hours, once the scope is agreed and the inputs received.

    Tulip, Electronic Batch Record Software
  • Who builds the apps
    Your team
    Who validates them
    Your team, app by app
    Seal
    Neil, then your approval

    You build each app, then validate it.

    Tulip says “Customers validate their apps to their intended use”, and suggests building one application, validating it, then expanding. In Seal, Neil configures the first process from your procedure, and your team approves it.

    Tulip, Pharmaceutical Manufacturing
  • Document control, CAPA
    Your QMS
    Lab data
    Your LIMS
    Materials and orders
    Your ERP
    In Seal
    One set of records

    The lab and quality stay elsewhere.

    Tulip says your ERP stays the system of record for materials, your QMS for document control and CAPA, and LIMS for lab data. In Seal, the lab, the batch and quality are one set of records.

    Tulip, Pharmaceutical Manufacturing
  • Essentials, $100
    No Part 11 e-signatures
    Professional, $250
    No Part 11 e-signatures
    Regulated Industries
    Price on request
    Seal
    Built in

    GxP is a tier.

    Tulip lists Part 11 e-signatures and its validation pack for its Regulated Industries plan or an Enterprise add-on, not for Essentials or Professional. In Seal, signatures, audit trails and test evidence are built in.

    Tulip, Pricing and Plans
  • AI Composer
    A PDF to an app
    Its app logic
    “limited capabilities”
    Neil
    Drafts the change

    Its AI drafts simple apps. Neil does the paperwork.

    Tulip’s AI Composer turns PDFs into apps, with “limited capabilities for generating triggers and more complex application logic”. Neil prepares the change itself and the paperwork around it, for your team to approve.

    Tulip Knowledge Base, AI Composer

See it in Seal.

Real Seal screens with fictional test data: one late transfer, from the batch record to the fix, then Neil’s overnight release review.

  1. 1

    Each value at the step it belongs to.

    Batch B-041’s readings are recorded as the work happens, with its sample and its deviation linked to the record.

    Batch record B-041, post-mix hold and transfer, in Seal: the instruction to transfer within 45 minutes of completing the mix, process readings at 10:12, 10:42 and 11:04 with temperature and pH, and the linked lab sample IPC-041 and investigation DEV-018.
    1. The step’s limitTransfer within 45 minutes of completing the mix.
    2. Recorded as it happensMix complete at 10:12, transfer at 11:04: 52 minutes.
    3. The deviation, linkedDEV-018 sits on the batch record it concerns.
  2. 2

    The deviation starts with its evidence.

    DEV-018 has the batch, its readings and the sample linked, so the investigation starts from the facts.

    Deviation DEV-018, extended post-mix hold, in Seal: the affected batch B-041, the transfer 52 minutes after mixing against a permitted 45, and a table of evidence from the process readings, temperature readings and sample IPC-041.
    1. The batchB-041, the batch the deviation concerns.
    2. What happened52 minutes, against a permitted 45.
    3. The evidenceReadings and the sample, from the same records.
  3. 3

    The fix is a change to the workflow.

    CC-019 makes the record calculate the hold and route anything over 45 minutes. It is verified before release, and the next batch runs the new version.

    Change CC-019, elapsed-time check, in Seal: DEV-018 as the reason, the affected procedure MBR-014, a table of current and proposed workflow behaviour, a verification plan at 44, 45 and 46 minutes and a missing start time, and a release review for authorised people.
    1. From the deviationDEV-018 is the reason for the change.
    2. The workflow itselfThe hold is calculated from both timestamps, and anything over the limit is routed for assessment.
    3. Verified before releaseAt 44, 45 and 46 minutes, and with a start time missing.
  4. 4

    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

Tulip and Seal, side by side.

Every source is listed under References.

TulipSeal
What it isFrontline operations app platform, founded 2014¹The GxP execution system: your eBR, your QMS and more
Built forPharma, devices, aerospace, discrete¹Process development, the lab, manufacturing, batch release and quality
Data modelTables you design, written to by apps²³Primitives your team composes: record types, their relationships, steps and checks
AIAI Composer: PDF to guidance app. Authoring Agent: drafts apps, in customer testing⁴⁵Neil, Seal’s AI agent, prepares changes to the process; your team approves them
Who sets it upYour engineers, app by app⁶Your team, with Neil preparing it from your procedures
Batch recordsApps, built or adapted from a pharma suite⁷A versioned master batch record
Lab and qualityYour LIMS keeps lab data, your QMS CAPA⁸MES, LIMS and QMS on one platform
A changeNew app version, signed off⁶A new process version, released with its tests
ValidationEach app, by your team, by intended use⁸Your team approves the intended use; selected tests run on each change prepared for review
Part 11 e-signaturesRegulated Industries plan or Enterprise add-on⁹Built in, not an add-on

Summary

The story
Tulip is good for operator apps on the factory floor. It began in 2014 as an MIT Media Lab spinoff, on the view that factory workers lacked modern digital tools,¹ and the app is still what you build, version and validate, on tables you design.⁶² Tulip says initial use cases go live in weeks and a full MES at NextPharma took nine months,⁶ and customers validate their own apps.⁸ It also says it does not replace a LIMS, and leaves document control and CAPA to your QMS.¹⁰⁸ AI Composer, from 2025, turns PDFs into guidance apps with limited logic,⁴¹¹ and an Authoring Agent that drafts apps entered customer testing in October 2026.⁵ If you have engineers to build and validate each app, and keep lab results, document control and CAPA elsewhere, it can work well. Most teams need the batch, its tests and its deviations on the same records, changed as fast as the work changes.

1What Tulip offers.

Tulip Interfaces, Inc. was founded in 2014 as a spinoff of the MIT Media Lab. It describes itself as a frontline operations platform and composable MES for pharmaceutical, medical device, aerospace and defence and discrete manufacturers.¹ Teams build apps in an editor, store their data in tables and connect machines and other systems.¹²³ Since October 2024 it has offered a Composable MES for pharma: app suites for batch records, logbooks and batch production management on an extensible data model of tables, added within its Regulated Industries tier.⁷ For batch records, Tulip suggests starting with one application, such as weigh and dispense, validating it, then expanding.⁶

On AI, Tulip launched AI Composer in April 2025 to turn work instructions and other PDFs into apps, alongside Frontline Copilot, a chat inside apps that answers operators’ questions.⁴ Composable AI Agents are in open beta.¹³ In October 2026 it announced an Authoring Agent, a chat panel in the App Editor that drafts and changes apps once an engineer approves its plan, then entering customer testing.⁵

2Running Seal alongside Tulip.

You can start without replacing Tulip. Seal’s Tulip connection reads selected rows from one Tulip table so that Neil can use them in production and quality reviews while the process moves to Seal.

Seal’s Tulip connector reads one table with an API token scoped to tables:read, and it does not write to Tulip. The connection is restricted to one workspace and table and captures each row’s record ID, sequence number, creation and update timestamps, and visible supported columns with their names and types. Hidden columns, images and files, user, machine and station details, and linked-table contents are not included. Set-up takes three steps: create a tables:read token in the intended Tulip workspace, enter the table URL and credentials in Seal’s integration settings, then search record IDs, select rows and choose the Seal groups that can see them.

Once connected, Neil can:

  • compare selected table rows with the quality event and batch records under review;
  • summarise the exceptions and open items in the selected rows for a shift handover;
  • compare quantities in the rows with a batch’s expected values.

Table snapshots exclude app completions, signatures and audit trails, so they should not stand in for an electronic batch record or a signed batch-release package. For anything wider, Seal’s REST API and Scripts can set up a scoped connection.

3Moving from Tulip to Seal.

Move one process first. Tulip keeps running the apps you have not moved.

  1. Choose a process where the batch record, laboratory results and quality events need to sit together, such as a release test or a batch with recurring deviations.
  2. Bring the procedure or master batch record, the Tulip apps and tables that run it today, a representative batch and the records it touches. Use sample material, or arrange an NDA before sharing confidential records.
  3. Neil proposes the steps, fields, calculations, material and equipment requirements and review gates. Your process experts check the mapping. Once the scope is agreed and the inputs received, Seal prepares the first working configuration and its validation pack to evaluate within 48 hours.
  4. Connect the Tulip tables the process still needs, read-only, and agree which system is the source of record for each.
  5. Agree which records move and which stay retrievable in Tulip, and reconcile representative records before you rely on the new workflow.

Production timing then depends on scope, interfaces, migration, operational readiness and your release requirements. The electronic batch records blueprint describes how Seal executes and reviews a batch.

References

  1. 1About Tulip, Tulip Interfaces, Inc. https://tulip.co/about-us/ (read 5 November 2026)
  2. 2Tables, Tulip Knowledge Base. https://support.tulip.co/docs/tables (read 5 November 2026)
  3. 3Table API guide, Tulip Knowledge Base. https://support.tulip.co/docs/table-api-guide (read 5 November 2026)
  4. 4AI Composer announcement, Tulip, 2 April 2025. https://tulip.co/press/ai-composer-announcement/ (read 5 November 2026)
  5. 5Tulip Introduces New AI Authoring Features, Tulip, 9 October 2026. https://tulip.co/press/tulip-ai-authoring-manufacturing-apps/ (read 5 November 2026)
  6. 6Electronic Batch Record Software, Tulip. https://tulip.co/traceability-and-compliance/electronic-batch-records/ (read 5 November 2026)
  7. 7Tulip Unveils Composable MES and LTS 13, Tulip, 17 October 2024. https://tulip.co/press/tulip-introduces-composable-mes-to-accelerate-digital-transformation-for-manufacturers-in-life-sciences/ (read 5 November 2026)
  8. 8Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Software, Tulip. https://tulip.co/industries/pharma-manufacturing/ (read 5 November 2026)
  9. 9Pricing and Plans, Tulip. https://tulip.co/pricing/ (read 5 November 2026)
  10. 10Laboratory Execution System, Tulip. https://tulip.co/solutions/laboratory-execution-system/ (read 5 November 2026)
  11. 11Tulip AI Composer, Tulip Knowledge Base. https://support.tulip.co/docs/tulip-ai-composer (read 5 November 2026)
  12. 12Author Powerful Solutions for Your Operations, Tulip. https://tulip.co/platform/app-editor/ (read 5 November 2026)
  13. 13Tulip AI Agents, Tulip Knowledge Base. https://support.tulip.co/docs/tulip-ai-agents (read 5 November 2026)

AQuestions and answers

Is Seal better than Tulip?

Yes. Tulip is good for operator apps on the factory floor. It began in 2014 as an MIT Media Lab spinoff, on the view that factory workers lacked modern digital tools, and the app is still what you build, version and validate, on tables you design. Tulip says initial use cases go live in weeks and a full MES at NextPharma took nine months, and customers validate their own apps. It also says it does not replace a LIMS, and leaves document control and CAPA to your QMS. AI Composer, from 2025, turns PDFs into guidance apps with limited logic, and an Authoring Agent that drafts apps entered customer testing in October 2026. If you have engineers to build and validate each app, and keep lab results, document control and CAPA elsewhere, it can work well. Most teams need the batch, its tests and its deviations on the same records, changed as fast as the work changes. 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, Skye Biologics increased throughput by 35% and cut non-conformances by 40%.

Is Seal an alternative to Tulip?

Yes. Seal runs electronic batch and device history records with material, equipment and training checks at the step, on the same platform as laboratory testing, deviations, CAPA, change control and training. In Tulip your team builds or adapts those records as apps on tables, and validates each app; in Seal your team composes the process from primitives, with signatures and audit trails built in, and each change is released once its selected tests pass.

Is Seal an MES?

Yes. Seal executes GMP manufacturing from a versioned master batch record, with in-process results linked to their specifications and review by exception, and keeps device history records for each serial. Paradromics, Skye Biologics and MiAlgae run their manufacturing records on Seal.

Is Tulip an MES?

Tulip is designed for frontline operations. It describes itself as a frontline operations platform and composable MES, on which teams build batch records, logbooks and other workflows as apps on Tulip tables and connectors, often starting with one application and expanding. Seal is an MES with laboratory and quality management on the same records, configured rather than built.

How does Tulip’s AI compare with Neil?

Tulip’s AI Composer, launched in 2025, turns PDF work instructions into guidance apps, and Frontline Copilot is a chat inside apps for operators. Its Authoring Agent, announced in October 2026 and then entering customer testing, drafts and changes apps once an engineer approves the plan, and in Tulip’s words it starts with apps. Neil prepares changes to the process itself, with their tests, for your approval, and each change is released as a new version. Neil is not used in GMP execution.

Can Seal connect to Tulip?

Yes. Seal’s Tulip connector reads selected rows from one Tulip table with an API token scoped to tables:read, and it does not write to Tulip. It captures record IDs, sequence numbers, timestamps and visible supported columns, but not app completions, signatures or audit trails.

Can Tulip table rows stand in for a batch record in Seal?

No. Table snapshots exclude app completions, signatures and audit trails, so a status column is not evidence that a step was completed or signed. Use them as evidence in an investigation or review, not as a signed batch-release package.

How long does it take to start with Seal?

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

Start beside Tulip.

Start with one process. Seal’s Tulip connection reads selected rows from a Tulip table with a read-only token, so nothing has to move on day one.

Book a demo