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DNAnexus vs Velsera Seven Bridges

Both are managed cloud genomics platforms; DNAnexus leans on biobank compliance, Seven Bridges on CWL portability and public data commons.

Side by side

DNAnexus Velsera Seven Bridges
Vendor DNAnexus, Inc. Velsera
Pricing model Quote only Quote only
Free tier No No
Deployment Cloud Cloud
Open source No No
Best for Biobanks and enterprises running regulated, large-scale genomic pipelines in the cloud. Cancer and precision-medicine research teams running CWL pipelines against large public biomedical datasets.
Pricing

Usage-based cloud compute and storage plus platform fees, negotiated per organization; no public price list.

Pricing has not been verified yet — see the vendor's site.

Usage-based cloud compute and storage, negotiated per organization; no public price list.

Pricing has not been verified yet — see the vendor's site.

Features
  • Scalable cloud compute for genomic pipelines
  • Powers the UK Biobank Research Analysis Platform
  • WDL, CWL and Nextflow workflow support
  • HIPAA and GxP-oriented compliance controls
  • Full audit trails and data governance
  • Apps marketplace for reusable pipelines
  • Fine-grained project and data access control
  • CWL-based workflow execution engine
  • Curated access to TCGA, TOPMed and other public biomedical datasets
  • GA4GH interoperability standards support
  • Cancer Genomics Cloud heritage infrastructure
  • Collaborative task monitoring and pipeline sharing
  • Access to biomedical data commons

Verdict

DNAnexus and Velsera Seven Bridges are the two natural choices for an institution moving genomic pipelines off local HPC and onto managed, compliant cloud infrastructure, and the two are frequently shortlisted against each other for exactly that reason. Both run pipelines written in standard workflow languages (WDL, CWL, Nextflow for DNAnexus; CWL specifically for Seven Bridges), both are quote-priced with no public pricing, and both serve enterprise and institutional customers rather than individual labs.

DNAnexus's clearest reference point is the UK Biobank Research Analysis Platform, which it operates — a strong signal for population-scale biobank work where audit trails, HIPAA- and GxP-oriented controls and fine-grained access management are as important as the compute itself. Seven Bridges built its name running the NCI's Cancer Genomics Cloud and curating access to datasets like TCGA and TOPMed, and follows GA4GH interoperability standards so CWL pipelines built on it are more portable to other GA4GH-compliant platforms — a meaningful difference if pipeline portability matters more to you than platform-specific tooling.

Choose DNAnexus if

  • You're working with biobank-scale population data or need the specific compliance posture that underlies the UK Biobank platform.
  • You want support for multiple workflow languages (WDL, CWL, Nextflow) rather than being limited to one.
  • Fine-grained project- and data-level access control is a hard requirement, not a nice-to-have.

Choose Velsera Seven Bridges if

  • Your research already uses or needs curated access to public biomedical data commons like TCGA or TOPMed.
  • You've standardized on CWL and want to preserve portability to other GA4GH-compliant platforms.
  • Cancer or precision-medicine research is your primary use case — this is the heritage the platform, and now Velsera's wider suite, is built around.

The honest caveat

Both companies' pricing, exact compliance certifications and current dataset access change with negotiation and over time — the tool records behind this comparison found no published tiers for either, so treat any concrete number you're quoted as current for your negotiation only, and verify each platform's compliance posture and dataset access directly before committing. Neither is a fit for a small lab without dedicated bioinformatics and IT support; Galaxy or LatchBio are worth a look if that's your situation.

Last reviewed September 22, 2026

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