Colony.care vs SoftMouse.NET: A SoftMouse Alternative Compared (2026)
Summary
SoftMouse.NET is web-based mouse colony database software, built around mice and rats, with a free plan and a Premium plan. Colony.care is also web-based. It covers 25 species, prints QR code cage cards that a phone camera scans, and adds per-diem billing, CCAC and IACUC reporting, and a bilingual English and French interface. Both products can manage a mouse colony, and both offer a free plan. Which one fits depends on your species, your billing and reporting needs, and the language your team works in.
At a Glance
| Feature | Colony.care | SoftMouse.NET |
|---|---|---|
| Deployment | Cloud, in the browser | Web-based, in the cloud |
| Free plan | Yes, 1 project and up to 100 animals | Yes, the Forever Free plan |
| Paid plan | Lab, CA$549.99/mo, published | Premium, with pricing pages by customer type (academic and non-profit, enterprise) |
| Species supported | 25 (mammal, avian, aquatic and social insect) | Mice and rats |
| Phones and tablets | Runs in the mobile browser | Data access and updates on iPad, Android tablet or smartphone |
| Cage cards | QR code cards printed from the browser, scanned with a phone camera | Customizable printed cage cards |
| Audit trail | Every change logged with user and timestamp, kept indefinitely by default | User activity recorded with a date and time stamp for each change |
| Data import | CSV import wizard with column mapping, dry run and rollback | Data import tool |
Pricing and Plans
Colony.care publishes its pricing: a free Starter tier (1 project, 100 animals) and a Lab tier at CA$549.99/mo (10 projects, unlimited animals, all features). Additional projects are CA$34.99/mo each. Organization plans are custom-quoted for multi-site deployments.
SoftMouse.NET offers a Forever Free plan, a Premium plan and a 30-day trial, with separate pricing pages for academic and non-profit customers and for enterprise customers.
Mobile & Field Access
Colony.care runs in the browser on a computer, tablet or phone. Staff scan QR code cage cards with a phone camera to open the cage record. Barcode scanners and RFID readers that act as a keyboard (HID) work in scan mode. The app needs an internet connection.
SoftMouse.NET works on an iPad, an Android tablet or a smartphone, and prints customizable cage cards.
Compliance & Audit Readiness
Colony.care maintains an indefinite audit trail, every change to every record is logged with timestamp, user, and before/after values. The audit log is queryable, exportable, and never expires by default. IACUC protocols can be linked to individual animals, and annual report exports are built in.
SoftMouse.NET's audit trail time-stamps each change. Colony.care also generates CCAC and IACUC annual reports from the same records, and automates per-diem billing from cage-days.
What You Get with Colony.care
- 25 species across four reproduction models (litters, single-offspring gestation, avian clutches, fish and amphibian clutches), plus social-insect colonies.
- Automated per-diem billing with grant-ready chargeback reports.
- CCAC and IACUC annual report exports, with animals linked to their protocols.
- SSO/SAML and SCIM provisioning, included in the Lab tier.
- Procurement, pharmacy inventory and surgery tracking in the same platform.
- A REST API (v1) with API keys.
- A full English and French interface.
SoftMouse.NET details are taken from softmouse.net (October 2026).
When to Choose Colony.care
- Your facility houses more than mice and rats: zebrafish, non-human primates, birds or other species.
- You want QR code cage cards that staff scan with a phone camera.
- You need automated per-diem billing, procurement, or pharmacy inventory.
- You report to the CCAC or to an IACUC and want annual reports generated from your records.
- You require SSO/SAML and SCIM for institutional deployment.
- Your team works in both English and French.
- You want prices published in Canadian dollars.
When SoftMouse.NET May Still Fit
- Your facility has built its workflows around SoftMouse over many years and prefers to stay with a familiar system.
- Your colonies are mice and rats only, and its feature set covers what you need.
- Its free plan is enough for your colony.
FAQ
Can I migrate my data from SoftMouse to Colony.care?
Yes, through CSV. Export your data from SoftMouse.NET to CSV, or to a spreadsheet you save as CSV, then load the file into Colony.care's import wizard. The wizard detects your column headers, suggests a mapping you can adjust by hand, and shows a dry-run preview. Nothing is written until you commit, and a committed import can be rolled back. Plan to check the mapping, because custom fields may need to be mapped manually.
Does Colony.care support the same species as SoftMouse?
Colony.care supports 25 species including mice, rats, zebrafish, rabbits, guinea pigs, NHP (non-human primates), dogs, pigs, avian (chicken, turkey), amphibians, and more. SoftMouse.NET is built around mice and rats.
Is Colony.care cheaper than SoftMouse?
Both have a free plan. Colony.care's free Starter plan covers 1 project and 100 animals. Its Lab plan is a flat CA$549.99/month (CA$439.99/month billed yearly), with unlimited animals and members. SoftMouse.NET has a Forever Free plan and a Premium plan, with separate pricing pages for academic and non-profit customers and for enterprise customers.
Does Colony.care work offline?
No. Colony.care is a cloud platform and requires an internet connection. Scans captured while the connection is down are queued and sent when it returns. Everything else needs connectivity.