The complete guide to microplates
Every plate type, what it is for, and which labs reach for it.
Microplates look interchangeable from a distance and are not. This guide walks the six families a lab actually buys, what each does, and the applications it serves, then closes with the choice that cuts across all of them: the detection method. The specialist guides on the sister sites go deeper per family; this page is the map.
Assay plates: the reader workhorse
Flat bottomed polystyrene plates built for optical measurement, in clear, black, and white. If a plate's whole life is the trip from bench to reader, it is an assay plate.
Primary applications: colorimetric and enzyme assays read by absorbance; fluorescence intensity and polarization assays; luminescence reporter and cell viability assays; ELISA, which gets its own section below because its surfaces are specialized.
Who uses them: assay development and screening labs, core facilities, and any group whose endpoint is a plate reader number. The 96 well plate types page covers the color and bottom choices in detail.
Deep well plates: volume and storage
Same footprint, much deeper wells, holding 0.5 to 2.2 mL per well in polypropylene. Deep well plates are where samples live between steps: stored, mixed, extracted, and frozen.
Primary applications: compound and sample storage, including at -80 °C; DNA and RNA extraction and cleanup; serial dilutions across a full plate at once; protein crystallization screens; growth of bacterial cultures for plasmid prep.
Who uses them: compound management, genomics, and sample prep groups. The deep well plate guide picks plates by job, and its choosing page works through well shape and volume.
PCR plates: built for the thermal cycler
Thin walled polypropylene plates that transfer heat quickly and evenly through cycling, sold in 96 and 384 formats with full, half, or no skirts depending on the cycler and the handler. Optical (qPCR) versions add white wells or optical seals so fluorescence can be read through the top.
Primary applications: standard PCR for cloning, sequencing, and genotyping setup; real-time qPCR for gene expression and viral load work; next-generation sequencing library preparation.
Who uses them: molecular biology and molecular diagnostics labs. The deciding facts are skirt style and cycler fit, not well shape.
Filter plates: filtration at plate scale
Each well bottom is a membrane instead of solid plastic, so a plate of samples filters in one pass under vacuum or centrifugation. Membrane chemistries and pore sizes span fine sterilizing grades to coarse particle removal.
Primary applications: nucleic acid isolation and cleanup from lysates; protein purification and desalting at screening scale; removing cells and debris ahead of flow cytometry or analysis; general sample clarification before an instrument run.
Who uses them: sample preparation, proteomics, and cell biology groups. The plate, the membrane, and the collection plate underneath are chosen as a set.
ELISA plates: surfaces that bind on purpose
Polystyrene assay plates whose wells are treated to adsorb protein, in high and medium binding grades, as full plates or removable strips. The format is the standard 96 well one; the surface is the product.
Primary applications: sandwich and direct ELISAs in clinical and research settings; antibody and antigen quantification; serology screening.
Who uses them: immunology, clinical diagnostics, and QC labs. The ELISA plate guide covers binding grades, coating, and blocking; its coating page works through the protocol decisions.
Cell culture plates: surfaces cells can live on
Plates from 6 to 384 wells with plasma treated surfaces that adherent cells attach to, in clear polystyrene, with black or white clear-bottom variants for imaging and luminescence readouts.
Primary applications: routine culture and passaging at small scale; dose response and cytotoxicity testing; transfection; live-cell and high content imaging.
Who uses them: cell biology and pharmacology groups. The cell culture plate guide starts from the surface decision, and its formats page tabulates growth areas by well count.
Choosing by detection method
When the endpoint is a reader, the detection method picks the plate before the application does. Absorbance: clear, flat bottom. Fluorescence: black walls to hold background and cross-talk down, with a clear bottom if the reader reads from below or cells are imaged. Luminescence: white walls to return emitted light to the detector. Imaging and microscopy: black walls, clear thin bottoms, flatness the focal plane can live with. No optical endpoint (storage, PCR setup, filtration): choose by volume, material, and instrument fit instead. The knowledge base organizes these choices as questions, including a full treatment of cross-talk.
What every type shares
All six families sit on the same ANSI/SLAS footprint and the same well addressing, which is why one liquid handler and one reader serve them all. They also share the supporting decisions: sealing (films, mats, and heat seals matched to storage temperature and readout), sterility (supplied sterile for culture and molecular work, non-sterile for most storage and assay use), and verification against the actual instrument deck or cycler block before a bulk order. Get the family right first, then the surface and format inside it.
Microplate types at a glance
| Type | Typical formats | Primary use |
|---|---|---|
| Assay | 96, 384 | Optical assays read by absorbance, fluorescence, or luminescence |
| Deep well | 24, 48, 96, 384 | Storage, extraction, dilution, and sample preparation at volume |
| PCR | 96, 384 | Thermal cycling, qPCR, and sequencing library prep |
| Filter | 96, 384 | Filtration and purification of a plate of samples in one pass |
| ELISA | 96 (solid or strips) | Immunoassays on protein binding surfaces |
| Cell culture | 6 to 384 | Growing and testing cells on treated surfaces |
Formats are the common commercial ranges; the deciding specification is the surface, volume, or fit named in each section above.
Related guides
Common questions
What are the main types of microplates?
Six families cover most laboratory work: assay plates for optical reading, deep well plates for storage and preparation, PCR plates for thermal cycling, filter plates for purification, ELISA plates with protein binding surfaces, and cell culture plates with cell attachment surfaces. They share one footprint and differ in depth, material, and surface.
Which microplate do I need for a fluorescence assay?
A black plate. Black walls absorb stray light, which holds background down and cuts cross-talk between wells. Choose a clear bottom if the instrument reads from below or the cells are imaged first, and a solid black bottom for top-reading instruments.
What is the difference between an ELISA plate and a regular assay plate?
Physically, very little: both are usually 96 well polystyrene. The difference is the surface. An ELISA plate is treated and sold in binding grades (medium and high bind) so capture protein adsorbs evenly, and it is validated for immunoassay use. A general assay plate makes no binding promise.
Can one microplate type do everything?
No, because the requirements conflict. Reading wants shallow, clear, flat wells; storage wants deep polypropylene wells; culture wants a treated surface; filtration wants a membrane instead of a bottom. Labs standardize on a small set of plates, usually one per job, rather than one plate for all jobs.