No. PacBio does not charge for using SMRT Link Cloud. All core features, including run design, instrument monitoring, and run setup, are completely free with no usage limits. You are only responsible for any storage or analysis costs from your chosen third-party providers.
Support FAQs
You can find answers to general product support questions at your convenience. Select filters on the right or use search to find topics. If you need additional assistance, you can reach our support team Monday–Friday, 7:00 AM–5:00 PM PST at 1.877.920.PACB (7222), option 1, or open and manage your support cases in the PacBio Customer hub.
SMRT Link Cloud includes the same core features for instrument management, run setup, and monitoring as the local version of SMRT Link. However, SMRT Link Cloud does not include SMRT Analysis. Instead, it connects directly to your chosen storage so you can use external or third-party analysis tools.
SMRT Link Cloud does not store your sequencing data. All data generated by your PacBio instruments is transferred to a storage location that you choose, such as your own cloud account (AWS, Google Cloud, or Azure) or on-premises storage. You control how long your data is retained in that location.
Your data stays yours. PacBio does not collect or store your sequencing data, and SMRT Link Cloud connects directly to your own secure storage. PacBio staff can only access your workspace with your permission during support or training sessions. This approach protects your privacy while allowing our team to provide expert assistance when needed.
Yes. You can use SMRT Link Cloud as a separate environment for testing or training without impacting your main SMRT Link server. Each SMRT Link Cloud workspace (tenant) operates independently, so any runs you create or monitor there stay isolated from your on-premises system. It can connect to any Revio or Vega instrument, making it useful for onboarding new users or testing workflows. Labs may also use SMRT Link Cloud as a backup option to minimize downtime if their local server is offline.
SMRT Link Cloud is a free online version of PacBio’s SMRT Link software that lets you set up and monitor sequencing runs for your Revio and Vega instruments without installing or maintaining servers. It connects to your own cloud storage for data transfer and works with external or third-party analysis tools instead of running SMRT Analysis directly. SMRT Link Cloud updates automatically and offers the same run setup and monitoring features as on-premises SMRT Link, but with no hardware requirements. View SMRT Link Cloud brochure.
SMRT Link Cloud is designed with strong data security and privacy protections. While it is not currently certified as GDPR or HIPAA compliant, PacBio does not collect or store biological data. All data stays within the user’s chosen storage environment. To follow industry best practices, avoid including any PII or PHI in metadata such as run names, sample IDs, or project descriptions.
PacBio provides flexible options for integrating with your Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS). Both SMRT Link and SMRT Link Cloud offer robust APIs that enable programmatic access, making automated LIMS integration possible. See the API documentation here. For users preferring a manual approach, you can also download run designs, summary results, and PDF reports from completed runs, and upload them directly into your LIMS.
Our support team is ready to help. Contact Tech Support or log in to create a case in the Customer Hub for quick assistance.
You can transfer new run designs between SMRT Link Cloud and a local SMRT Link server using run design CSV files. Historical records of sequencing runs, however, cannot be synced or shared between instances. Run designs and run details from past sequencing experiments remain specific to the SMRT Link instance where they were generated.
For more details, refer to the SMRT Link user guide.
Each SMRT Link Cloud user and connected instrument is assigned to a single workspace to ensure secure and consistent data management. Workspace assignments can be updated if your access needs change.
Yes, users can use both SMRT Link Cloud and a local SMRT Link server simultaneously to manage their fleet of instruments. However, please note that each sequencing instrument can only be configured to connect to one SMRT Link server at any given time.
Currently, SMRT Link Cloud does not include capabilities for running the skera data utilitiy for read segmentation of Kinnex libraries. SMRT Link Cloud users who need to run this utility will need to install skera on a Linux operating system hosted either locally or in the cloud. skera can be installed using the SMRT Link installer with the –smrttools-only flag enabled.
(Similar to what is available for SMRT Link On-Prem (i.e. demultiplexing, HiFi mapping, etc?)
A Bring Your Own Cloud Compute (BYOC) option for SMRT Link Cloud is planned for release in late 2026, enabling cloud-based secondary analysis. In the meantime, you can perform secondary analysis by:
- Installing the on-premises version of SMRT Link, which includes the SMRT Analysis module
- Using a PacBio Compatible partner solution
- Running publicly available command-line tools or to get started
Download SMRT Link or find a partner solution to get started.
SMRT Link Cloud is designed so that sequencing data remains entirely under the user’s control. Because PacBio does not handle or store sequencing data, we do not sign Business Associate Agreements (BAAs) for SMRT Link Cloud. Users who work with protected health information (PHI) can ensure HIPAA compliance by obtaining a BAA directly from their chosen cloud storage provider if needed.