From raw file to glycan report in five minutes. No command line.
Arka Glycan turns released-glycan LC-MS/MS data — Thermo .raw, Bruker timsTOF .d or mzML — into a table of glycan compositions with confidence tiers, annotated spectra and a ready-to-paste Methods paragraph. It runs on your own Mac or Windows PC, offline.
A2G2S2F, the most common serum N-glycan, above its MS/MS spectrum. Drag to turn it.
The problem
Annotation by hand is slow
Matching hundreds of MS/MS spectra to glycan compositions in a vendor viewer takes days per batch, and the result depends on who did it.
Pipelines need a programmer
Open-source tools are powerful but expect a command line, converted files and scripting that most glycobiology labs do not have time for.
Calls without evidence
A composition list alone does not say how sure you can be. Reviewers ask for spectra, settings and a reproducible method.
Data that cannot leave the lab
Patient-derived and unpublished data often may not be uploaded to a web service, and many instrument PCs are offline.
How it works
Install
One installer for macOS (Apple Silicon) or Windows 10/11. No Python, no command line.
Open your file
Thermo .raw, a zipped Bruker timsTOF .d folder, or mzML/mzXML. Or try the bundled example.
Check the settings
Validated defaults for permethylated N-glycans, and plain-language settings for RapiFluor, 2-AB, procainamide and O-glycans, positive or negative mode.
Get the report
Glycans with confidence tiers, annotated spectra, CSV and Excel downloads, and a Methods paragraph with the exact settings.
See it in action
A two-minute walkthrough of the bundled example: confidence tiers, the results table, annotated MS/MS spectra, exports and the Methods text.
Validated on public data
We ran Arka Glycan on four public datasets and compared its calls with the glycans the authors themselves reported.
| Public dataset | Sample and chemistry | Instrument | Compared with | Agreement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GlycoPOST GPST000536 run 13_05162017 | Reduced, permethylated cell-surface N-glycans | LTQ Orbitrap Velos, ion-trap CID | The authors' 400-composition search list | 86% of 873 spectra |
| PRIDE PXD036704 serum, patient MCI1 | Reduced, permethylated serum N-glycans | LTQ Orbitrap Velos, CID | The 45 compositions the authors quantified in this sample | 41% of 9,809 spectra (64–66% against the 400-composition list) |
| GlycoPOST GPST000542 healthy control C17 | RapiFluor-MS-labelled serum N-glycans, HILIC | Orbitrap Elite, ion-trap CID | The 50 compositions the authors report | 85% of 367 spectra; 46 of 50 compositions found |
| PRIDE PXD050530 porcine gastric mucin | Reduced O-glycans, negative mode, direct infusion | Bruker timsTOF Pro | The authors' published composition table | 21 of 22 compositions agree |
Agreement is the share of spectra that Arka Glycan assigned to a composition also found by the dataset's authors, measured by us with the default settings. The references differ in strictness: a search list (first row) is more lenient than the glycans quantified in one sample (second row), so the numbers are not directly comparable between rows. The other compositions were not necessarily wrong: they were not in the authors' list.
How it compares
| Arka Glycan | Manual annotation | Open-source command-line pipelines | Commercial MS software suites | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No command line or scripting | Yes | Yes | No | Usually |
| Thermo .raw, Bruker timsTOF .d and mzML in one tool | Yes | Per vendor viewer | Usually needs conversion first | Varies by product |
| Runs offline; data never leave your computer | Yes | Yes | Yes | Varies by product |
| Confidence tier and reason for every glycan | Yes | Your judgement | Varies | Varies by product |
| Annotated spectrum for every call | Yes | Yes, by hand | Varies | Usually |
| Methods paragraph with the exact settings | Yes | No | No | Rarely |
| Time for one run | Minutes | Hours to days | Minutes, after setup | Minutes |
| Cost | From ₹45,000 a year for Indian academic labs | Analyst time | Free | Typically higher; often instrument-specific |
Pricing
Academic, India
Universities and public research institutes in India
Academic, worldwide
Universities and non-profit research institutes
Industry
Companies and contract labs, per site
- Perpetual licences include one year of updates; after that, maintenance (updates and support) is about 20% of the licence price a year, and the software keeps working without it.
- Beta labs: three months free, then 50% off the first year.
- Every installation starts with a 30-day free trial. When a subscription ends, Arka Glycan stays usable in read-only mode: you can open and export every past analysis.
Join the beta
The beta is open to research labs working with released glycans. Beta labs use Arka Glycan free for three months, then get 50% off the first year. Tell us about your data and we will send an invitation.