# Microsoft Access Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/microsoft-access/ 34 people recommended Microsoft Access in Hacker News comments, 23 had mixed feelings and 36 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 12 of 12 months, in 27 threads. It does not meet the Hacker Approved badge rule. **Verdict:** Slightly more people criticize it than recommend it. Lets non-developers build working database apps with forms and VBA quickly. Common caveat: it does not scale well and its apps become hard to maintain. Summary written by Claude from the comments below. ## What people warn about - Shadow IT that is hard to maintain (2 comments in the sample): "overabusing Access for management (or worse, to handle Covid cases in a shitty XLS table) it's a nightmare." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46343667)) "This "shadow IT DBA" issue has always been a classic problem with Access databases, too." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48050865)) - Poor scaling with many connections (2 comments in the sample): "The problem with access was that it tried to support network applications as a backend but supported a punishingly low number of connections." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46192614)) "MS Access was a great product with some scalability ceilings that took engineering to work past." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46898585)) - Dated desktop app with unclear future (2 comments in the sample): "you can get a bit more done a bit more easily with Notes over MS Access…" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47442787)) "Access is a desktop app, and in 2026 it is pretty unusual to use a desktop app for business applications" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49809189)) - Technically messy and poorly understood (2 comments in the sample): "Users don't seem to know about Normal Forms when they begin to create tables in Access." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47515471)) "I blame it on Microsoft making such a mess of access that people didn't understand it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46163228)) ## Why people recommend it - Easy drag-and-drop building for non-developers (6 comments in the sample): "you can create table, get a navigable (and perhaps other features), and a CRUD detail screen in just a few minutes of drag and drop" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49063093)) "it was a simple drag-and-drop editor that almost anyone could use to build simple apps that could power decent-sized businesses" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46151496)) "designing a table, form and report in Microsoft Access in 30 minutes without requiring 5 engineers" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46608732)) - Fast prototypes with business logic (5 comments in the sample): "If you can spin up a working prototype with Microsoft Access and VBA then you can get investors and others to help build your market…" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46571273)) "with Access he could model a business with tables, and wire it together with VBA business logic, as easily as you and I breathe" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46666091)) "Ever since I've marvelled at how easy it was to build something highly functional that could incorporate complex business logic" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46883098)) - Nothing has filled its niche (4 comments in the sample): "it's disgraceful that we still don't have anything with the ease of use / accessibility of Access and Visual Basic" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48544079)) "Access / FileMaker / 4D were all great solutions for low-contention, low-user count low / no code CRUD apps." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46062324)) "MS Access, FileMaker and HyperCard were more advanced in some ways than anything today" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46621089)) - Ran real business systems cheaply (3 comments in the sample): "abominations from a technical point of view - but they got the job done without having to spend a load of money" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48132771)) "I single-handedly produced more actual tangible business value with Microsoft Access than anything else since." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48266850)) "It ran a 50 seat ERP system that managed over 1000 suppliers and 500 customers" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46777964)) ## Other databases people recommend - [PostgreSQL](https://hackerapproved.com/p/postgresql/): 597 recommend, 155 mixed, 180 criticize - [MySQL](https://hackerapproved.com/p/mysql/): 82 recommend, 36 mixed, 91 criticize - [Microsoft SQL Server](https://hackerapproved.com/p/microsoft-sql-server/): 41 recommend, 26 mixed, 53 criticize - [Turso](https://hackerapproved.com/p/turso/): 38 recommend, 14 mixed, 50 criticize ## Where to get it - [Visit the official site](https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/access) ## The badge A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged. ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Microsoft Access", https://hackerapproved.com/p/microsoft-access/ (34 recommend, 23 mixed, 36 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026). Counts updated 2 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.