Microsoft Access is Microsoft's desktop database, sold in Microsoft 365 and as perpetual versions with fixed end dates. Pages here cover replacing it with Baserow, Grist or PostgreSQL with Mathesar.
Comparing an Access database with self-hosted Baserow: tables and relationships, forms and the application builder in place of Access forms and reports, browser access for many users, SSO on paid plans, and what VBA logic needs instead.
Comparing Access with Grist for teams whose databases are mostly calculations: Python formulas against Access expressions and VBA, SQLite-based documents, access rules, self-hosting with Docker and when Grist suits better than Baserow.
For Access databases that have become line-of-business systems: moving the data into PostgreSQL and using Mathesar's spreadsheet-like interface and PostgreSQL roles for everyday editing, compared with keeping Access as a front end.
Moving an Access database to Baserow: exporting each table, handling attachments, multivalued and lookup fields, recreating relationships, rebuilding forms and reports in the application builder, and replacing macros with automations.
Moving Access tables into PostgreSQL: mapping data types and keys, exporting and importing as CSV, rebuilding queries as views, setting PostgreSQL roles, and giving users Mathesar for editing and forms.
Cost of ownership by component: Microsoft 365 or perpetual Access licenses per user and the shared-file setup they rely on, against Baserow's free open-source edition or paid self-hosted plans, a server with PostgreSQL, migration and support.
What Access lets you export and what it drops: one object per export, attachments and OLE objects left out, multivalued fields flattened, lookups exported as IDs, and how to plan the export so nothing is lost before moving.
Access 2021 retires in October 2026 and Access 2019 support has already ended. This page compares moving to Access in Microsoft 365 or LTSC 2024 with replacing the database by Baserow or PostgreSQL with Mathesar, and sets out a timeline.
For Access files nearing the 2 GB limit or shared by many users over a network drive: what the limits mean in practice, why a server-based database fixes them, and how Baserow or PostgreSQL with Mathesar handle concurrency and growth.
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