Skip to main content


A Manual Colony Counter is a fundamental tool in microbiology laboratories used to count and analyze bacterial or fungal colonies grown on agar plates. Unlike automatic colony counters, which utilize imaging technology and algorithms, manual colony counters require human intervention for the counting process. Typically, a manual colony counter consists of a transparent grid or magnifying lens that is placed over an agar plate. Laboratory personnel manually count each colony within the grid or under the lens using a marker or digital counter.