How many users can an Access database handle?

Microsoft's specification allows up to 255 concurrent users and a database file of 2 GB. Network sharing is where most trouble starts. Microsoft recommends splitting a shared database into front end and back end, and warns that a split database used over a WAN or Azure file shares can be slow and may become corrupt. Moving the tables to SQL Server or Azure SQL removes both ceilings.

Can I move my Access data to SQL Server and keep the Access forms?

Yes. Microsoft's SQL Server Migration Assistant for Access moves the tables to SQL Server or Azure SQL, and the Access front end then links to them. SSMA converts tables and select queries without parameters. Action queries, parameter queries, forms, reports, macros and VBA stay in Access and may need changes, especially queries that call VBA functions, because SQL Server cannot run those.

Is Power Apps a good replacement for Microsoft Access?

It can be, for internal forms-over-data apps in a business that already runs on Microsoft 365. Microsoft pointed Access web app users to Power Apps when it retired them. Dataverse needs Power Apps Premium, listed at £15.40 per user per month paid yearly, so price the licences over five years. Heavy VBA logic and complex reports are harder to carry across than simple forms.

How long does it take to replace an Access database?

The AI Consultancy publishes 6 to 10 weeks for a simple Access replacement and 10 to 16 weeks for a multi-user web application with integrations and reporting. Red Eagle lists 3 to 6 months to replatform a business-critical system. Moving only the tables to SQL Server is usually quicker because the screens stay the same. Data cleansing and user testing tend to set the pace.

Replacing a Microsoft Access Database: Options and Costs

Q: Is Microsoft Access being discontinued?

Desktop Access is still included in Microsoft 365 Apps for business, Business Standard, Business Premium and the E3 and E5 plans, and it runs on Windows only. Microsoft retired Access web apps in SharePoint Online by April 2018 and ended Publisher in October 2026, but I have found no retirement notice for desktop Access. The practical risks are the file limits, corruption on shared drives and old Office versions out of support.

If your business now runs on an Access database, there are four realistic ways out: move the data into SQL Server or Azure SQL and keep the Access screens, rebuild the app in Power Apps on Dataverse, replace it with a custom web application, or switch to an off-the-shelf SaaS product. Published UK price ranges put a simple Access replacement at £8,000 to £20,000 and a multi-user web application at £20,000 to £50,000. The larger risk is losing the business rules buried in queries, macros and VBA, so find those before you choose.

The pattern is familiar. Someone capable built the database years ago to solve an urgent problem. It now holds orders, stock or client records, a handful of people use it every day, and nobody wants to touch it. This article sets out the options, what they cost, and how to move without breaking the business.

Is Microsoft Access being discontinued?

No. Desktop Access still ships with Microsoft 365 Apps for business, Business Standard, Business Premium and the enterprise E3 and E5 plans, according to Microsoft’s Office applications service description. It runs on Windows only and is not part of Business Basic. Microsoft ended Publisher in October 2026. I could find no equivalent notice for Access.

Two things around it have been retired. Microsoft stopped the creation of Access web apps in Microsoft 365 and SharePoint Online in June 2017, shut the remaining ones down by April 2018 and pointed customers to Power Apps. Desktop .accdb files were not affected. Separately, Office 2016 and Office 2019 left support on 14 October 2025, so a database still opened in Access 2016 now runs on software that gets no security fixes. The Microsoft end-of-support calendar lists the other dates that tend to sit under these databases.

The pressure usually comes from the file itself. Microsoft documents a 2 GB limit for an Access database and a ceiling of 255 concurrent users. Its deployment guidance warns that a split database used over a WAN or Azure file shares can be slow and may become corrupt. Once staff work from home over a VPN, that is exactly how the database gets used.

Demand for replacements is rising. GAPVelocity, a US migration vendor, reports that inquiries about modernising Access grew 6.3 times year on year, from 8 to 50, in the twelve months to August 2026, while all identified workloads grew 3.3 times. That is the vendor’s own inbound data from a small base, and the report itself notes that its marketing affects volumes. Read it as a directional signal from one company.

What are the options for replacing an Access database?

Each option keeps a different part of what you have. The cost column uses Microsoft list prices and price ranges published by two UK consultancies, attributed to each. They are published ranges, not quotes.

Option	Typical cost	Timeline	Main risks	Fits when
Upsize the back end to SQL Server or Azure SQL, keep the Access front end	SQL Server 2025 Express is free for databases up to 50 GB, so the cost is mostly effort. I found no published UK range.	The shortest of the four, because the screens do not change.	SSMA converts tables and simple select queries only. Queries that call VBA functions cannot run on SQL Server. The front end stays a Windows-only Access file.	Users like the screens and the rules work. The problems are size, corruption, backups or security.
Power Apps on Dataverse	Power Apps Premium lists at £15.40 per user per month, paid yearly, plus the build. Microsoft 365 licences alone cover standard connectors only.	Quick for simple forms. Slower when VBA logic has to be rewritten in Power Fx.	A per-user fee for as long as the app runs. Licensing changes: the per-app plan stopped being sold to new customers through some channels in January 2026.	A Microsoft 365 business, mostly forms over data, internal staff only.
Custom web app on .NET with SQL Server or Azure SQL	£8,000–£20,000 for a simple Access replacement and £20,000–£50,000 for a multi-user web app (The AI Consultancy). £40,000–£150,000 to replatform a business-critical system (Red Eagle).	6–10 weeks simple, 10–16 weeks medium (The AI Consultancy). 3–6 months for a replatform (Red Eagle).	Someone has to own the code. Scope grows if every old wish joins the rebuild. Hidden rules get missed.	The database runs a core process, needs browser or external access, or must integrate with other systems.
Off-the-shelf SaaS	A per-user subscription, plus data migration and process change. Prices vary too widely to quote.	Set mostly by data migration and how far your process has to change.	Your process bends to the product. Custom rules may have no home. Getting your data out later.	The database does something generic, such as CRM, job tracking or stock control.

What does it cost to replace an Access database?

For a custom replacement, the published UK ranges cluster between £8,000 and £50,000 for SME-sized databases, with business-critical replatforms reaching six figures. Your own number depends on how many forms, reports and rules the database holds, and on the state of the data.

Licences change the comparison over five years. Take a hypothetical team of 25 people on Power Apps Premium. At £15.40 per user per month, that is £4,620 a year before any build or support cost, and it continues for as long as the app runs. A custom app on SQL Server Express has no database licence up to 50 GB, though you pay for hosting and maintenance. An upsized Access front end still needs Access on every PC, which most Microsoft 365 business plans already include.

Discovery is the cheapest insurance. Red Eagle lists £5,000 to £15,000 and two to four weeks for discovery and a plan. The AI Consultancy charges a fixed £3,500 for its discovery sprint. My Modernisation Blueprint is a fixed-price two-week package that includes one migrated screen with passing tests, so the plan rests on working evidence from your own database.

Where do Access databases hide their business rules?

An Access database rarely keeps its rules in one place. Before you choose an option, list where they live.

Queries. Update, append and delete queries change data in bulk, often from a button. Microsoft notes that parameter queries and queries calling VBA functions do not convert to SQL Server automatically.
VBA modules and form events. A BeforeUpdate event that blocks a save, or a module that calculates a discount, is a business rule written as code.
Macros. An AutoExec macro runs at start-up and may relink tables or import files. Data macros fire when a table changes.
Table design. Validation rules, default values and lookup fields sit in the table definitions.
Reports. A total or grouping in a report is often the only place a calculation exists, and finance usually reconciles against it.
Linked files. Excel sheets and CSV imports on a shared drive are part of the system, even if nobody has written them down.

Microsoft’s own migration guide says SSMA moves tables and select queries without parameters, and does not convert forms, reports, macros or VBA. What the tool leaves behind is the real scope of the project.

To prove the replacement keeps those rules, record what the old database does. Feed the same inputs to Access and to the new system, then compare the outputs: invoice totals, report figures, the rows an update query changes. That is the job of characterisation tests, and it is how I set the acceptance criteria for each milestone.

How do you migrate Access data without losing any?

Profile the data first. Count rows per table and look for duplicates, child records whose parent no longer exists, dates stored as text and free-text fields holding several values.
Decide the awkward types. By default SSMA turns Yes/No into a bit column, a multivalued field into a single column of delimited values, and a hyperlink into nvarchar(max). Multivalued fields usually deserve a proper child table.
Clean with the business owner. Merging two “duplicate” customers is a business decision. Write each cleansing rule down and get it signed off.
Rehearse. Run the full migration at least twice on a copy. Reconcile row counts and financial totals against the original every time.
Cut over in a short freeze. Keep the old file read-only afterwards so anyone can check a historical record.

How do you get staff to adopt the replacement?

The person who built the Access database is often the most capable user in the building and the one with the most to lose. Bring them in early as the expert on what the system does. They will know which “bug” is a feature that month-end depends on.

Keep reports looking familiar at first, because finance reconciles against them. Change the system first and the process second. Doing both at once doubles the number of things users can blame. Where the data allows it, run old and new side by side for a short period, and give people a named person to ask in the first weeks.

Which Access replacement should you choose?

Work through these questions in order.

Is the problem the data or the application? If users like the screens and the trouble is size, corruption or backups, upsize the back end to SQL Server and stop there.
Is the process generic? If a SaaS product already does most of it and your differences are habits rather than advantages, buy the product.
Is it mostly forms over data for internal staff on Microsoft 365? Prototype it in Power Apps and price the licences over five years.
Does it carry rules that set you apart, or need external users and integrations? Build a custom web app in slices, with tests that prove each slice behaves like the original.

The platform is the smaller decision. Finding every rule the old database enforces, and proving the replacement keeps them, decides whether the project works.

If you would like a second opinion before committing, the Modernisation Blueprint shows which route fits your database and what it will cost, as a fixed price.

Replacing a Microsoft Access Database: Options, Costs and Risks