Microsoft Access Alternative in 2026: Web, Mac, and Multi-User

Microsoft Access has run small businesses for thirty years, and plenty of those databases still work. People start looking for an alternative when the database has to leave the building: a colleague on a Mac, a team working from home, a customer who should submit a form, or a second office that keeps corrupting the shared file.

This page compares the realistic replacements and shows how Access concepts (tables, queries, forms, reports, macros, VBA) map to a web database. InfoLobby publishes it, so the case for InfoLobby is stated plainly, along with when you should keep Access.

Start a free trial or compare pricing.

Short answer

Choose InfoLobby over Access when the database needs to work in a browser, on any computer, for people in different places, with web forms, file attachments, and an audit trail. It stores your data in standard MySQL, which will feel familiar if you have ever written an Access query.

Keep Access when everyone sits in one office on Windows, the database is heavily built in VBA that still works, and the person who maintains it is staying.

InfoLobby vs. Microsoft Access

Why teams look for an Access alternative

The database usually still works. What changed is the business around it:

• Someone uses a Mac. Access has never shipped for macOS, so Mac users run Windows in Parallels or remote into a PC.
• People work from home. A shared Access file over a VPN is slow at best and corrupts at worst.
• The file keeps growing. Attachments and history push it toward the 2 GB ceiling, and Compact and Repair becomes a weekly ritual.
• Outsiders need to submit data. Customers, contractors, or field staff cannot fill in an Access form from a browser.
• The old version lost support. Support for Access 2016 and Access 2019 ended on October 14, 2025, with no further security updates.
• One person understands it. The VBA was written years ago by someone who has moved on or is about to.

How Access concepts map to InfoLobby

If you built your Access database yourself, the concepts carry over. The work is rebuilding them, not relearning them.

The one thing that does not carry over automatically is code. VBA has to be rewritten, and in practice that is where most of the dead logic gets left behind.

Other Microsoft Access alternatives

LibreOffice Base is the honest answer to "free Microsoft Access alternative": it is the closest like-for-like desktop replacement and costs nothing. It shares Access's limits, though. It is single-machine, has no web access, and multi-user use needs a separate database server. The per-user tools above get expensive as more people need edit access. At ten editors, FileMaker Cloud Starter is $220 a month and Airtable Team $200, against InfoLobby's flat plan price.

When Access is still the better choice

Keep Access when:

• Everyone who uses it works in one office, on Windows
• The database is deeply built in VBA that still works and is maintained
• It integrates tightly with Excel or Word automation on the desktop
• Microsoft 365 is already paid for and nobody outside needs to submit data
• Rebuilding would cost more than the problems it solves

If those all apply, stay. If the only problem is file size or a few remote users, moving the tables to a SQL Server backend and keeping Access as the frontend can extend its life.

How to move from Access

1. List what the database actually does. Tables, the queries people really run, the forms they really use, and every report someone would miss.
2. Export each table to Excel or CSV from Access (External Data, then Export).
3. Create the tables in InfoLobby with the right field types, then add relationships.
4. Import the rows. The table Import menu reads .xlsx, .xls, and .csv files.
5. Rebuild the queries as views and the calculated columns as calculation fields.
6. Rebuild forms and logic. Staff forms become record pages, external forms become web forms, and macros and VBA become automations.
7. Run both in parallel for a week, then make the Access file read-only.

If you would rather not do it yourself, send us an export and we will rebuild it as a working InfoLobby workspace.

Microsoft Access alternative FAQ

What is the best free alternative to Microsoft Access?

LibreOffice Base is the closest free replacement. It is a desktop database that runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux. It has the same single-machine limits as Access. If you need browser access or several editors, a hosted tool is the better fit. InfoLobby has a 14-day free trial with no credit card.

Is there a Microsoft Access for Mac?

No. Microsoft has never released Access for macOS, and it is not included in Microsoft 365 for Mac. Mac users run the Windows version in a virtual machine or over remote desktop, or move to a browser-based database that runs on any computer.

Is Microsoft Access being discontinued?

Not as a product. Microsoft still includes Access in Microsoft 365 desktop plans on Windows. Support for the standalone Access 2016 and Access 2019 versions ended on October 14, 2025, so databases on those versions no longer get security updates.

Will my VBA code work in InfoLobby?

No. VBA is specific to Microsoft Office. Logic gets rebuilt as visual automations or in PHPScript, a PHP-like scripting language that runs inside InfoLobby. Most Access databases have far less live logic than their code suggests, so the rewrite is usually smaller than feared.

How many people can use it at once?

Access allows up to 255 concurrent users in theory, but shared-file databases slow down and risk corruption well before that. InfoLobby runs on a database server and every plan includes unlimited users.

Can I still query the data with SQL?

Yes. Calculation fields take SQL expressions, data is stored in standard MySQL, and you can connect your own MySQL server if you want direct access to the tables.

Bottom line

Access is a good desktop database that was never designed for remote teams, Macs, or the web. If your database has to leave the office, move it to a web database that keeps it relational and keeps it in SQL.

Start a free trial. Weighing whether to build something new instead? See custom database software.

Sources checked

Checked October 7, 2026, except where noted. Vendors change pricing often and several show prices by region, so confirm on the vendor's own page before deciding.

• Access specifications
• End of support for Office 2016 and Office 2019
• Microsoft 365 Business Standard (July 1, 2026 price change reported by UC Today)
• Parallels: running Microsoft Access on Mac
• Claris FileMaker pricing
• Airtable plans overview (checked July 29, 2026)
• Zoho Creator pricing and Knack pricing (checked August 20, 2026)
• LibreOffice Base
• InfoLobby pricing and features

This page was last updated on 2026-10-07. Competitor pricing and limits change often and vary by region, so check the vendor's own pricing page before deciding. Where a specific figure was verified, the date it was checked is noted beside it.