Microsoft Access database to web app conversion
Move your Access database online.
We turn your Microsoft Access database into a secure web app your whole team can use from any browser, at the office, at home or on the road. Every user signs in with two-step verification, each person sees only the records their role allows, and your data is encrypted and backed up automatically every day. It is built around how your business actually works, it costs a fraction of the usual options to run, and you own every piece of it.
Sound familiar?
Signs your Access database has outgrown the shared drive
Remote staff need a VPN or a remote desktop session just to look up a customer.
Locked records, slow forms and a file that gets corrupted when two people save at once.
Mac, tablet and phone users are left out, and every PC needs Access installed.
The database was built years ago, and nobody wants to touch the macros.
Someone copies the .accdb file to a USB drive. Sometimes.
Invoices go into QuickBooks by hand, and shipping addresses get copied into Stamps.com one at a time.
The usual advice
What most guides tell you to do, and the catch
Search for "move Access database to the cloud" and you will find the same handful of answers. Each one works on paper. Here is what they tend to leave out.
Microsoft advises against it
Per-seat pricing
Not built for relational data
Two systems to maintain
Same file, new monthly fee
A spreadsheet in a tuxedo
Niche and per-seat
Record caps and lock-in
You maintain everything
You own it
A better approach
A web app that fits your business, not a template
Your Access database already describes how your business runs. We keep that knowledge and rebuild it on a modern foundation.
Works in any browser
Windows, Mac, Chromebook, iPad or phone. Nothing to install, no Access licenses, no VPN.
A real database, professionally managed
Your data moves to the same kind of database large companies rely on, hosted and maintained by specialists, with room for millions of records.
Built exactly to your needs
Your screens, your fields, your reports and your workflow. Only what you use, and nothing you have to work around.
Everyone at once
No more "file in use." Your whole team can enter and look up records at the same time, from anywhere.
Built with standard HTML
Your app is built in HTML, the same language every website uses. You will be amazed at what it can do today: live dashboards and charts, drag-and-drop schedules, signatures on a touchscreen, barcode scanning with a phone camera, maps, printable PDF invoices, and integrations that connect it to QuickBooks, Stamps.com, Outlook and other software you already use. And it all runs in any browser.
Room to grow
Add a customer portal, a dashboard or a new report later without starting over or moving up a pricing tier.
Why web instead of Access
Everyday headaches that disappear
A new report or fixed form is live for every user the next time they open the page. No copying a new front-end file to each PC, and no one stuck on an old version.
No 32-bit versus 64-bit conflicts, broken references after an Office update, or "it works on my computer but not hers."
When someone saves a record, everyone else sees the change right away, without closing and reopening forms.
An Access file has a size limit and slows down as it grows. A managed database has room for years of records and attachments.
Send a link and add their email address. No installs, mapped drives or extra Access licenses.
On a phone, tapping "Add photo" opens the camera. The picture is saved to the job, delivery or inspection record, with the time and, if you allow it, the location.
Reminder emails, overdue alerts and weekly reports go out on schedule, with no PC left on overnight to run them.
See who changed a record, what they changed and when, and put it back if it was a mistake.
Running cost
Low monthly cost, no per-user licensing
After the one-time build, the ongoing cost is mostly the database hosting plan: $25 a month total for your entire company, not $25 per user. Adding employees does not add to the bill. You pay the providers directly, so there is no markup.
What the $25 a month (total) database plan includes
- No cap on the number of user accounts, with 100,000 monthly active users included
- 8 GB of database space, which is a lot of records for most businesses
- 100 GB of file storage for scanned documents, photos and attachments
- Automatic daily backups
Other running costs
- Secure sign-in with two-step verification for every user, included
- Off-site backup copies: first 10 GB free each month, then about 1.5¢ per GB
- Your domain name: a small yearly registration fee
- Optional support plan, if you want us on call for changes
Compare monthly cost by team size
Published per-user list prices with annual billing, as of November 2026. Power Apps Premium at $22. FileMaker Cloud Starter at $22 for 5 to 10 users and Max at $45 above that, with a 5-user minimum. Quickbase Team at $35, before its platform minimum fee. Airtable Team at $20. Smartsheet Pro at $9 for up to 10 members and Business at $19 above that. Your custom app is the $25 database hosting plan, a flat monthly total that does not change with the number of users. All figures exclude domain, build and support fees.
Security
Secure by design, from login to every record
Your data lives in a professionally managed database with security built in at every layer: who can sign in, how they prove who they are, and which records they can touch once they are in.
Approved people only
No one can create their own account. You decide exactly who gets in, and you can cut off someone's access at any time with one click.
Strong sign-in options
Sign in with a password, a one-time code sent to a work email, or your existing Microsoft 365 or Google company login.
Two-step verification
Require a second step from an authenticator app on each person's phone, so a stolen password alone can't get anyone in. Passwords known to be leaked online are rejected.
Each person sees only what they should
Rules at the database level control who can view, add, change or delete each kind of record, for employees and outside users alike. See who sees what.
Encrypted everywhere
Every connection is encrypted, and no database file sits on a shared drive or a laptop that can be lost or copied.
Activity you can review
See who signed in and when. Changes to important records can be logged with the person and time.
No servers to patch
The hosting providers maintain and update the infrastructure, so there is no office server to keep running.
Who sees what
The right access for every person, inside and outside your company
In a shared Access file, anyone who can open it can usually see everything. In your web app, each person gets exactly the screens, records and actions their job needs, enforced by the database itself, not just hidden from view.
Your employees, by role
- Sales sees their own customers and quotes, but not pay rates or company financials.
- Bookkeeping sees invoices and payments, and can't change orders.
- Technicians see only today's jobs on their phone, and can add notes and photos.
- Managers see everything for their team or location, and owners see it all.
- Limit by record, by field and by action: who can view, add, edit, delete or export.
Outside users, for limited purposes
- Customers check their own order status, submit requests and download their invoices or documents.
- Vendors see and confirm the purchase orders sent to them.
- Your accountant gets read-only access to the reports they need at tax time.
- Contractors get access to their assigned jobs only, ending automatically when the work is done.
- Each outside user sees only their own records, never another customer's, and never your internal screens.
Backups
Two independent backups, every day
A backup only counts if it lives somewhere else. Your data is protected in two separate places run by two separate companies.
- Automatic daily database backups from the database host, restorable from the dashboard.
- A nightly off-site copy of your full database and every uploaded file, saved to separate cloud storage with a different provider.
- Your uploaded files are covered too. Standard database backups do not include stored documents and photos, so the nightly copy picks them up.
- Need to undo a mistake from an hour ago? Minute-by-minute recovery is available as an add-on for businesses that need it.
Ownership
You own it, and you control it
Many platforms rent your own business system back to you. Here, the system, the code and the data are yours from the first day, and you control who uses it, what it costs and where it goes next.
Accounts in your company's name
The database, hosting and security accounts are opened by you and billed to your card. We are added as team members to do the work, and you can remove us at any time.
Complete source code
At handoff you receive all of the code, the database design and plain-English documentation. Any qualified developer can pick it up.
Your data, your way
Export your records whenever you want in standard formats that open in Excel or any other database. There are no export fees and no proprietary format.
Manage users yourself
Add a new hire, remove someone who left, or change who can see what from simple admin screens, without calling anyone.
See the bills directly
You see exactly what hosting costs, straight from the providers, with no markup and no surprise renewal from us.
Support only if you want it
Keep us on a monthly plan for changes and new features, or call us only when you need something.
Integrations
Integrations with the software you already use
Your new web app can connect directly to the other systems your business runs on, so data flows between them automatically instead of being retyped. Two of the most requested integrations:
QuickBooks integration
Send customers, invoices and payments from your app to QuickBooks Online automatically, or pull your accounting data back in for reports. No more double entry at the end of the month.
Stamps.com integration
Compare postage rates, buy and print shipping labels, check addresses before you ship, and track packages, all from the order screen in your own app.
Other popular integrations
Send emails and calendar invites from a record, and log customer emails automatically.
Send quotes, reminders and confirmations from your Gmail account without leaving the app.
Take card payments and send payment links on invoices, with records marked paid automatically.
If software you use connects to other systems, your app can most likely connect to it too.
Cut subscriptions
Replace expensive per-user software with one system built for you
Many businesses pay monthly, per person, for several separate tools, then use a fraction of each one and retype data between them. The same database that replaces Access can take over many of those jobs, built around how you actually work, with your data in one place.
Contacts, companies, follow-ups, notes and a sales pipeline, with only the fields and steps you use.
Customer requests, assignments, status, response times and history, tied to the customer's record.
Jobs, technicians, parts, photos and sign-offs from the field on a phone or tablet.
Stock levels, reorder points, purchase orders and order status in one view.
Build quotes from your own price lists, then turn an accepted quote into an order or invoice.
Appointments, staff schedules and hours worked, ready for payroll or billing.
Deadlines, assignments and progress across projects, without a separate project tool.
Let customers check order status, submit requests or download documents themselves.
Keep the specialists for what they do best. Accounting stays in QuickBooks and card payments stay with Stripe, connected through integrations. We will tell you honestly when an off-the-shelf product is the better choice.
How it works
From Access file to live web app
Free assessment
We review your Access tables, forms, queries and reports, and talk through what works and what frustrates your team.
Fixed-price plan
You get a written scope, milestones and a fixed price. You open the hosting accounts in your name and add us.
Build and test
We build on a test copy of your data. You try it with real records and tell us what to change before anything goes live.
Switch over
We move your final data, check it against the original, train your team and hand over the code and documentation.
FAQ
Questions about moving off Access
How many people can use the new system?
There is no cap on user accounts. The standard database hosting plan includes 100,000 monthly active users, far more than a typical small business needs.
Will I own the system?
Yes. The hosting accounts are opened in your company's name and billed to you directly. At handoff you receive the complete source code and documentation, and your data can be exported at any time.
Does it work on a Mac, tablet or phone?
Yes. It runs in any modern web browser, so it works on Windows, Mac, Chromebooks, tablets and phones. Nobody needs Microsoft Access installed.
What happens to my existing Access data?
Your tables and records are moved into the new database and checked against the original before you switch over. You can keep the old Access file as an archive.
How is my data backed up?
Your data is backed up automatically every day by the database host, and a second, independent copy of your data and files is saved nightly to separate cloud storage with a different provider.
What integrations are available?
Integrations include QuickBooks for customers, invoices and payments, Stamps.com for postage rates, labels, address checks and tracking, plus Microsoft Outlook, Gmail, Stripe and many others.
Why not just use Power Apps?
Power Apps is a good fit for some large Microsoft-centric organizations, but it is licensed per user every month. For a 10-person team that is $220 a month at list price, before any storage add-ons. A custom app on managed hosting typically runs about $25 to $30 a month in total for the same team, and that total stays the same as you add people.
What if you are not available in the future?
You hold every account and all the code, built on widely used, standard technology. Any web developer can maintain it, and the hosting keeps running whether or not we are involved.
Free assessment
Tell us about your Access database
We will review what you have and send a written estimate for the build and the expected monthly running cost. There is no obligation.
Prefer email? hello@accessdatabaseonline.com