Clustermarket Review: Lab Equipment Booking Software Trusted by 1,800+ Labs

Lab chaos draining your research momentum?

If you’re hunting for ways to end booking headaches and get control of equipment in a crowded lab, you’re probably researching Clustermarket for real answers.

Let’s face it—wasted hours chasing equipment availability add up and seriously slow down your project timelines.

Clustermarket’s clean interface, powerful scheduling engine, and integrations with platforms like Benchling are designed to cut through daily booking chaos, enforce rules, and deliver streamlined lab management—no matter how complex your setup.

In this review, I’ll walk you through how Clustermarket unlocks stress-free resource access across scheduling, maintenance, user roles, reporting, and mobile-friendly QR-code bookings.

You’ll find out, in this Clustermarket review, exactly what the platform does well, where it stands out (and where it doesn’t), and how it compares on features, pricing, and alternatives.

By the end, you’ll know the features you need to make a confident decision.

Let’s dive into the analysis.

Clustermarket Overview

Clustermarket has been modernizing lab management since its 2015 founding. Based in London, their core mission is helping your research teams bring innovations to market faster by improving operational efficiency.

I see them concentrating on research labs, academic institutions, and biotech startups. Their key advantage is modernizing how labs manage their equipment, moving you away from confusing spreadsheets and scheduling conflicts that slow down critical work.

Their recent integration with the Benchling platform was a smart move. As you’ll discover through this Clustermarket review, this enhances workflow efficiency by embedding booking capabilities right where your researchers already spend their time.

Unlike broader platforms that can be overwhelming, Clustermarket is not an all-in-one system. Their true strength is a dedicated focus on equipment scheduling and utilization, which I find to be refreshingly practical and user-friendly.

They work with a broad spectrum of organizations, from university labs and growing biotechs to large enterprise R&D departments managing complex instrument inventories across multiple global locations, showing their scalability.

From my analysis, their strategy centers on delivering deep resource analytics and powerful integrations. This directly addresses your need for concrete data to justify financial decisions about the entire equipment lifecycle.

Now let’s examine their core capabilities.

Clustermarket Features

Struggling with chaotic lab equipment scheduling?

Clustermarket features offer a complete suite for optimizing lab operations, from booking to maintenance. These are the five core Clustermarket features that solve real lab management problems.

1. Equipment Scheduling and Booking

Is your lab plagued by equipment booking conflicts?

Manual scheduling or fragmented systems often lead to frustrating double-bookings and wasted time. This can cause significant delays in critical research.

Clustermarket’s intuitive calendar lets you easily find and book equipment, avoiding those frustrating conflicts. What I love is the drag-and-drop interface for quick reservations, alongside robust rules for minimum/maximum booking times. This feature ensures everyone knows availability and can reserve efficiently.

This means you can maximize equipment utilization and keep your research on schedule without constant back-and-forth.

2. Maintenance Management

Are unexpected equipment breakdowns derailing your experiments?

Poorly tracked maintenance can lead to critical downtime and instrument failures. This directly impacts research progress and project timelines.

Clustermarket helps you plan and track all maintenance activities, proactively preventing those costly interruptions. Here’s what I found: the audit trail provides clear records, ensuring everything is serviced properly and on schedule. This feature helps you maintain a secure, organized, and operational lab.

So, you get a more reliable lab environment, reducing unexpected downtime and improving equipment longevity.

3. Asset Monitoring (IoT Integrations)

Can’t keep an eye on critical lab conditions 24/7?

Manual checks for temperature or humidity are time-consuming and prone to human error. This can put sensitive experiments or valuable assets at risk.

With paid add-ons, Clustermarket integrates with IoT sensors for real-time monitoring of crucial conditions. From my testing, this proactive monitoring capability is a game-changer for critical assets, providing immediate alerts for deviations. This feature gives you valuable data for informed decision-making.

This means you gain peace of mind knowing your valuable experiments and equipment are continuously protected.

4. Reports & Analytics

Struggling to understand how your lab equipment is actually used?

Without clear data, it’s tough to make smart decisions about equipment purchases or lab efficiency. This can lead to underutilized assets or unnecessary expenditures.

Clustermarket generates detailed usage reports, giving you deep insights into who used what, when, and why. This is where Clustermarket shines: segmenting data helps you identify inefficiencies and make informed purchasing decisions. This feature empowers you to optimize your lab’s resources.

You can finally make data-driven decisions that improve resource allocation and demonstrate your lab’s productivity effectively.

5. User and Access Management

Is untrained personnel using complex lab instruments?

Lack of proper access control can lead to equipment damage or unsafe lab practices. This creates risks for both your team and your valuable instruments.

Clustermarket offers robust user role management, ensuring only authorized personnel access specific equipment. What I love about this is the granular control over permissions, which maintains a secure and compliant lab environment. This feature streamlines the training and authorization process.

This means you can ensure proper equipment usage, enhance lab safety, and maintain regulatory compliance with ease.

You’ll appreciate how these Clustermarket features work together to create a cohesive lab management ecosystem that simplifies operations.

Clustermarket Pricing

Curious about lab management software costs?

Clustermarket pricing is structured with both published academic tiers and custom enterprise options, ensuring you find a plan that fits your lab’s specific needs.

Plan	Price & Features
Core (Academia)	$150.00 per year (flat fee) • Unlimited user seats • Equipment booking & inventory • Document management • User role management
Premium (Academia)	$25 per user per year (min. 10 users) • All Core features • Training & maintenance management • Usage reports & data export • REST API access & priority email support
Premium (Industry)	Contact sales for pricing • All Core features • Unlimited users & equipment • Full onboarding & live-chat support • Maintenance management & custom reporting
Enterprise	Contact sales for pricing • All Core & Premium features • SSO & third-party integrations • Tailored feature development • White-labeled solution & data transfer

1. Value Assessment

Great pricing transparency for academia.

What I found regarding Clustermarket pricing is that academic labs benefit from clear, predictable costs with their Core and Premium tiers. The per-user model for Premium scales effectively with your team’s growth, ensuring you only pay for what you use without hidden surprises.

This means your budget gets a clear understanding of annual costs, making it easier to plan for lab operations.

2. Trial/Demo Options

Smart evaluation approach available.

Clustermarket offers a 14-day free trial, allowing you to thoroughly explore the platform’s core features and user experience. What impressed me is how this trial period helps you assess functionality before committing to any paid Clustermarket pricing.

This lets you test the software’s fit for your lab’s specific needs, reducing the risk of a misaligned investment.

3. Plan Comparison

Choosing the right tier matters.

For academic institutions, the Core plan is a budget-friendly entry, while Premium offers robust management features essential for larger labs. From my cost analysis, the Industry and Enterprise plans require custom quotes because they address more complex organizational requirements like SSO and tailored integrations.

This tiered approach helps you match Clustermarket pricing to actual usage requirements, whether you’re a small lab or a large enterprise.

My Take: Clustermarket’s pricing strategy offers transparent, scalable options for academia and custom solutions for industry, perfectly suiting diverse lab management needs.

The overall Clustermarket pricing reflects excellent value for modernizing lab operations.

Clustermarket Reviews

What do real customers actually think?

To help you understand real-world experiences, I’ve analyzed numerous Clustermarket reviews from various sources, focusing on common themes and overall sentiment.

1. Overall User Satisfaction

Users seem genuinely pleased here.

From my review analysis, Clustermarket generally receives positive feedback, with users often praising its ability to streamline lab operations. What impressed me most is how many highlight its user-friendly interface and quick implementation, which are critical for busy lab environments.

This suggests you can expect a smooth transition and rapid adoption within your team.

2. Common Praise Points

Users consistently love the booking system.

Customers frequently mention the simplified equipment booking and improved data collection for usage patterns. From my analysis, the digital transformation of lab management is highly valued, bringing outdated processes into the modern age and providing better oversight.

This means your lab can expect increased efficiency and clearer insights into equipment utilization.

3. Frequent Complaints

Pricing changes cause user frustration.

A notable complaint in Clustermarket reviews, especially from academic users, concerns the shift from a free to a paid model. What stands out in user feedback is how this change impacts large university labs, making the service significantly more expensive than before.

Consider how these potential costs align with your budget and organizational structure.

Overall, Clustermarket reviews show strong satisfaction for functionality but significant concerns about pricing changes.

Best Clustermarket Alternatives

Navigating lab software options can be tricky.

The best Clustermarket alternatives offer diverse strengths, making your decision depend on specific lab needs, budget, and operational priorities. I’ll guide you through the top options.

1. Quartzy

Need integrated supply chain management?

Quartzy excels as a comprehensive solution for labs prioritizing supply requests, inventory, and purchasing alongside equipment booking. What I found comparing options is that Quartzy provides a fully-integrated lab supply distributor experience, though it recently removed its free booking feature.

Choose Quartzy if your lab requires a single platform to manage both supplies and equipment booking efficiently.

2. SciNote

Looking for a robust ELN with integrated tools?

SciNote stands out as a leading electronic lab notebook (ELN) that seamlessly incorporates inventory, compliance, and team management. From my competitive analysis, SciNote offers a strong ELN foundation with integrated inventory, making it ideal for government, industry, and academic research.

Consider this alternative if a powerful ELN is your primary requirement, especially with robust inventory and compliance features.

3. Labguru ELN LIMS

Prioritizing a mature ELN with LIMS features?

Labguru is a secure, web-based platform combining ELN, LIMS, and informatics, perfect for small labs seeking to streamline and scale operations. Alternative-wise, I found that Labguru delivers a mature ELN with strong inventory management, without the complexity often found in full-scale LIMS.

Choose Labguru if you need a reliable ELN with integrated inventory and reporting, but without extensive LIMS functionality.

4. Benchling

Your biotech R&D requires a comprehensive cloud platform?

Benchling is an R&D Cloud platform, ideal for biotech labs needing a central source of truth for experiments, data, and collaboration, especially with molecular/DNA research. What I found comparing options is that Benchling provides robust ELN/LIMS capabilities for complex biotech R&D, complementing Clustermarket’s equipment focus.

Choose Benchling if your primary need is a powerful, integrated platform for managing intricate biotech research workflows and data.

The best Clustermarket alternatives depend on your lab’s specific operational focus and feature priorities.

Clustermarket Setup

What are Clustermarket’s real implementation demands?

Clustermarket implementation is generally straightforward, designed for fast adoption, but a full Clustermarket review needs to set realistic expectations for your team. Here’s what you’re looking at for deployment.

1. Setup Complexity & Timeline

Expect a surprisingly smooth start.

Clustermarket is built for ease of setup, allowing you to add equipment individually or via bulk CSV uploads. What I found about deployment is that most labs find the initial setup quick and intuitive, with enterprise clients getting dedicated resource upload and account setup support for more complex needs.

You’ll want to plan for data collection and formatting upfront, but don’t expect a lengthy, disruptive project.

2. Technical Requirements & Integration

Minimal technical hurdles for your IT team.

Being a cloud-based solution, Clustermarket requires no server installations and is accessible on any device. From my implementation analysis, integrations via REST API are available, including popular systems like Benchling and Outlook Calendar, with SAML 2.0 SSO for enterprise.

Your team will need to prepare for data transfer and consider integration points, but heavy infrastructure changes aren’t typical.

3. Training & Change Management

User adoption is a key to success.

Clustermarket offers online guides and tutorials, with live-chat and full onboarding for Premium and Enterprise users. What I found about deployment is that the user-friendly interface minimizes the learning curve, often leading to quick user acceptance if properly introduced to your team.

You’ll need to champion the new system and provide initial guidance to help users transition smoothly.

4. Support & Success Factors

Vendor support can accelerate your journey.

Clustermarket offers multi-channel support from email to live-chat for higher tiers, alongside comprehensive online resources. From my implementation analysis, vendor support is crucial for optimizing your setup and addressing any initial challenges promptly, ensuring a solid foundation.

You should leverage their onboarding and support channels to maximize system utilization and address specific lab needs.

Overall, Clustermarket setup is designed to be user-friendly, providing a clear path to quick adoption with proper preparation and support.

Bottom Line

Is Clustermarket the right fit for your lab?

This Clustermarket review provides a decisive final assessment, combining who benefits most with an honest look at its strengths and limitations.

1. Who This Works Best For

Labs struggling with equipment scheduling and utilization.

Clustermarket is ideal for life science research labs, academic institutions, and startups managing shared equipment. From my user analysis, organizations prioritizing efficient resource booking and operational oversight will find immense value. It streamlines operations for lab managers, researchers, and technicians.

You’ll succeed if your primary pain points are scheduling conflicts and inefficient use of expensive research instruments.

2. Overall Strengths

Unmatched efficiency in lab equipment management.

The software excels at robust equipment scheduling, maintenance tracking, and utilization analytics, all wrapped in a user-friendly interface. From my comprehensive analysis, its intuitive design simplifies complex lab operations, freeing up valuable researcher time. The Benchling integration further enhances workflow connectivity.

These strengths mean your lab can achieve higher productivity and make data-driven decisions about resource allocation and future purchases.

3. Key Limitations

Not a full-suite ELN or LIMS replacement.

While powerful for equipment, Clustermarket does not offer extensive experiment documentation or comprehensive sample tracking capabilities. Based on this review, you might need additional specialized software if your core needs extend to a full ELN or LIMS solution for your research.

I consider this a manageable trade-off; it simply means knowing its dedicated focus rather than a fundamental flaw in its core offering.

4. Final Recommendation

Clustermarket is highly recommended for equipment management.

You should choose this software if your lab heavily relies on shared instruments and needs to drastically improve operational efficiency and resource utilization. From my analysis, this solution delivers tangible benefits for labs focused on modernizing their equipment management and scheduling processes effectively. My confidence level is high for labs seeking its valuable addition to your research toolkit.

This Clustermarket review concludes that it offers significant value for equipment-focused labs, providing modern tools to enhance operational efficiency.