Is Microsoft Access going away?

No. Access is still part of the Microsoft 365 plans that include the Windows desktop apps, and Access 2024 and Access LTSC 2024 are supported until 9 October 2029. What ended is support for the standalone Access 2021 and Access LTSC 2021, on 13 October 2026. Microsoft is not adding major features, and it keeps retiring parts of the ecosystem, such as Access web apps in SharePoint Online and the Database Compare tool in June 2026.

What happens if I keep using Access 2021 after support ends?

It keeps opening and running. It no longer receives security updates, non-security fixes or Microsoft support, according to Microsoft's lifecycle page. The database file is not the main risk; an unpatched Office install on a machine that opens email attachments is.

What is the best alternative to Microsoft Access?

It depends on what the database does. If a few people use it and it works, staying on Access through Microsoft 365 is the cheapest option. If the data has outgrown the 2 GB file limit or needs more users, move the tables to SQL Server or PostgreSQL and keep the Access forms for now. If people outside the office, on phones or in other companies need it, a web application replaces it. Low-code tools fit simple tables and forms, less so heavy VBA logic.

How do I convert an Access database to a web application?

There is no converter that turns Access forms and VBA into a web app. The tables migrate to a server database such as PostgreSQL or SQL Server, then the screens and the business rules are rebuilt for the web, one process at a time, with the Access file running in parallel until each part is replaced. The real work is reading the VBA and the queries to recover the rules nobody wrote down.

How much does it cost to replace an Access database?

At Reflekt Lab, replacing one process of an Access database with a web application in production costs $5,000 to $18,000, and a complete application with several processes, data migration and integrations $18,000 to $45,000 or more. If the database is large or undocumented, a fixed $2,900 audit comes first. Hosting and maintenance start at about $470 per month.

Microsoft Access Alternative: Options After Access 2021 Ends

An old desktop tower with a database on top and an hourglass running out, connected by a dotted path to a modern cloud platform holding the same database, with laptops and tablets around it

Microsoft Access is not going away, but Access 2021 and Access LTSC 2021 stopped receiving security updates on 13 October 2026. Access stays available in Microsoft 365, and Access 2024 is supported until 9 October 2029. So the question for most businesses is not "what do we do before Access disappears" but "is the database we built on it still the right tool". This post covers the dates, the risk of staying, and the four realistic alternatives, with what each one costs.

The dates, from Microsoft's lifecycle pages

Version	End of support
Access 2021 (Modern Policy)	13 October 2026
Access LTSC 2021 (Fixed Policy)	13 October 2026
Access 2024 and Access LTSC 2024	9 October 2029
Access in Microsoft 365	Supported as long as the subscription is current

Source: Microsoft Lifecycle, ending support in 2026 and in 2029. After end of support, Microsoft says there are no more security updates, no non-security updates and no assisted support.

The same day took down the rest of Office 2021, Windows 11 24H2 Home and Pro, and the last Extended Security Updates year of Windows Server 2012. If your Access file lives on an old server, that server is probably on our Windows Server 2016 end of life list too.

Is Access being discontinued?

No, and the pages that say so are wrong. What is true:

Access is still sold and supported, inside Microsoft 365 plans with the desktop apps and as Access 2024. It runs on Windows only.
Microsoft keeps shrinking around it. Access web apps in SharePoint Online were retired years ago, and Microsoft announced the retirement of the Database Compare tool in June 2026.
The limits have not moved. A database file tops out at 2 GB, the multi-user model is a shared file on a network drive, and there is no supported way to use it from a phone or a browser.

So staying on Access is a legitimate choice. The reason to leave is rarely the support date itself. It is that the database has become something Access was never built to be.

Signs your Access database has outgrown Access

One person understands it, and the VBA has no comments, no tests and no copy outside the production file.
People outside the office need it: field staff, a second site, a customer or a supplier.
The file corrupts or slows down when more than a handful of people open it.
It is the system of record for orders, prices, stock or invoices, with no audit trail of who changed what.
It sits next to a spreadsheet that holds the rest of the process, and someone copies data between the two every week.

If none of these apply, keep it, move to a supported version, and back it up properly.

The four realistic alternatives

Option	Fits when	Watch out for
Stay on Access via Microsoft 365	A few users, one site, it works	Same limits, same single point of failure
Move the tables to SQL Server or PostgreSQL, keep Access as the front end	The data outgrew the 2 GB file or the network share	Forms and VBA stay as they are; you have fixed storage, not the application
Low-code platform (Power Apps, Caspio, Airtable and similar)	Simple tables and forms, few rules	Per-user pricing, heavy VBA logic is hard to port, you rent the platform
Custom web application	Many users, remote access, real business rules, integrations	Costs more upfront; it is worth it only for a process the business depends on

We wrote a longer comparison of the last two in low-code, no-code or custom.

How a replacement actually works

There is no tool that converts Access forms and VBA into a web application. Anyone who sells you one is selling a lookalike of your screens, not your business rules. A replacement that works goes like this:

Read the file, not the brief. The tables, the queries and the VBA are the real specification. The rules nobody wrote down (the discount that applies on Fridays, the status that only one form can set) live in the code.
Move the data first. Tables go to a server database, with the duplicates, mixed formats and orphan records cleaned on the way. This is usually a third of the work.
Replace one process at a time. The first one goes to production on the new database while the Access file keeps running the rest.
Retire the file once the last process is moved, and keep a read-only copy.

We have not published an Access migration case study yet. The closest one we have is the same job on Excel: a California industrial equipment company ran its shipping from one shared workbook, and we replaced it with a web platform that was in production the day after we received the file. The workbook was the specification, exactly as an Access file is.

What it costs with us

Our published prices, in US dollars:

What	Price
Audit of the Access file (tables, queries, VBA), if it is large or undocumented	$2,900, fixed
One process replaced by a web application, in production	$5,000 to $18,000
A complete application: several processes, data migration, integrations	$18,000 to $45,000+
Hosting and maintenance	from about $470 per month

We build on PostgreSQL and Go, and you own the code and the database. What we don't do: we don't maintain or extend Access and VBA applications, and we don't build on Power Apps. If staying on Access is the right answer for you, we will say so and point you to an Access specialist.

More on how we modernize old applications in stages on our legacy software modernization page, and on budgets for small companies in custom software for small business.

Microsoft Access Alternative: Access 2021 Support Has Ended, Here Are Your Options

Access is not disappearing, but the standalone 2021 version stopped getting security updates on 13 October 2026. What that means for the database your business runs on, the four realistic ways out, and what each one costs.