Build it like Access.
Share it like a website.

Web Access Builder gives you the tables, queries, forms, reports and VBA you already know, in a web browser. Design your database the Access way, then send your team a link. No installs, no split databases, no shared drive.

Request a hosted instance See what it does

A continuous form listing highway schemes, with status colours and data bars on the estimates — Screen: Screen number of 19 Continuous form with conditional formatting and data bars

If you've built in Access, you already know it

Web Access Builder isn't a new way of working that looks a bit like Access. It's the Access way of working, kept on purpose, down to the names of things.

	In Access	In Web Access Builder
	Navigation Pane	The same pane down the left: Tables, Queries, Forms, Reports and Modules, with a search box
	Table Design view	AutoNumber, Short Text, Long Text, Number, Currency, Date/Time and Yes/No, with indexes, captions and defaults such as `Date()`
	Query Design grid	Drag to join, Σ Totals, Sort, Show and Criteria rows. `Between #01/01/2026# And #31/03/2026#` works as you'd type it
	SQL view	Access SQL, including `IIf`, `Nz`, `DateAdd` and `&`. Dates read day/month/year
	Action queries	Make Table, Append, Update and Delete, with the same “You are about to update 3 row(s)” warnings
	Forms	Single, Continuous and Datasheet views; subforms, tab controls, combo boxes and option groups; Form Header, Detail and Form Footer
	Conditional formatting	The Access 2010 Rules Manager, data bars included
	Reports	Report and Page Headers, group headers and footers, the Group, Sort, and Total pane, and Print Preview
	PivotTable and PivotChart	Back as form views, after Access 2013 took them away
	VBA editor	Form events, `DoCmd`, `DLookup` and DAO recordsets, with breakpoints, F8 stepping and the Immediate window

Tables and queries

Design tables with Access's field types, then query them in the grid you've always used. Criteria are written the Access way, and SQL view speaks Access SQL.

Number sizes from Byte to Double, Currency to four places, UK dates throughout
Join by dragging between field lists; click a join line to make it an outer join
Parameters in [brackets] are asked for when the query runs
Import from .accdb, .mdb, Excel and CSV; export to Excel and CSV

A table of highway schemes in Datasheet view

Forms

The form designer works the way Access's does: a field list to drag from, a gallery of controls, Form Header, Detail and Form Footer sections, and a property sheet for every control.

Single, Continuous and Datasheet views, with subforms nested three deep
Text and combo boxes, list boxes, option groups, tab controls, buttons, images and hyperlinks
Calculated controls such as =[LengthM]*[WidthM] and =Sum([Estimate])
Pop-up and modal forms, anchoring, and forms that hide the ribbon to run your application

A single form for one highway scheme, with a defects subform on a tab control

Reports

Lay out a report in Access's sections, group and total it in the Group, Sort, and Total pane, then check the pages in Print Preview before printing.

Report Header and Footer, Page Header and Footer, and a header and footer for each group
Group by value, first letters, ranges, or dates by week, month, quarter or year
Sum, Average, Count, Max and Min in every group footer, plus Running Sum and Hide Duplicates
A4, A3, A5, Letter or Legal, portrait or landscape; print, or save as PDF

A report of highway schemes grouped by type, with a subtotal for each type

PivotTable and PivotChart, back again

Access 2013 removed them. In Web Access Builder they're form views again: drag fields to rows, columns and totals, group dates by year, quarter or month, then switch to a chart of the same layout.

Sum, Count, Average, Min, Max, StDev and Var, with subtotals and grand totals
Show As a percentage of the row, column or grand total
Column, bar, line, area, pie, doughnut and scatter charts, stacked or 100%
Totals are worked out by the database, so large tables stay quick

A PivotTable of estimates by scheme type, with columns grouped by year and quarter

VBA, with the debugger you're used to

Open the code window and it's the VBA editor: a module behind each form, standard and class modules, IntelliSense as you type, and breakpoints, stepping, Locals, Watches and the Immediate window.

Form and control events, Me, DoCmd, MsgBox and InputBox
DLookup, DCount and DAO recordsets: Edit, AddNew, Update, FindFirst
Compile errors as VBA shows them: “Compile error: Expected: Then or GoTo”
Explain Error and Fix Error: AI says what went wrong and offers a fix you can apply
References for statistics, UK bank holidays and British National Grid coordinates

Code paused at a breakpoint, with the current line highlighted and Locals listing the variables

What changes when it's on the web

You design the same way. What's different is everything after that: getting it to people, keeping them up to date, and keeping the data safe.

	With desktop Access	With Web Access Builder
	Install Access or the Runtime on every PC	Open a link in any modern browser, on Windows, Mac or a tablet
	Split the database, and keep the back end on a shared drive	One database on the server. There's nothing to split or copy round
	Send everyone a new front end after each change	Save a change and everyone has it next time they open the form
	VPN or remote desktop to work from home	Sign in from anywhere over HTTPS
	Anyone with the file can open Design view	Admins design. Users open what you've built and work with the data
	Locked or corrupted .accdb files	SQLite on the server, with Back Up Database and Compact and Repair

A user's view of a form: the same form, with no design tools in the ribbon

And a few things Access never had

On Render: An event that runs as each record's copy of a control is drawn, so code can colour rows in a continuous form.
JavaScript modules: In place of Windows DLLs: write a function, export it, and call it from VBA. It runs in a sealed sandbox with no network.
Built-in libraries: UK bank holidays and working days, British National Grid and OS grid references, chainage along a line, and statistics, ready to tick in References.

Bring your database across

Moving an existing Access application is mostly familiar work, done once.

Import the tables
Pick your .accdb or .mdb and tick the tables. Field types come with them, and AutoNumber values are kept so related records still match.
Rebuild queries, forms and reports
In the same Query Design grid, form designer and report designer. Most of it is drag, drop and set properties, as you did the first time.
Paste in your VBA
Compile tells you what needs changing, such as file access or a Declare that a web page can't do.
Add your users
Give each person a sign-in as an admin or a user, then send them the link.

The Import from Access dialog, with each table ticked and a name to import it as — Importing tables from an Access database

Why I built it

I've used Access since its earliest versions. I've built on features, only to see them withdrawn. I've waited for new ones, and been disappointed. And we've all been told that VBA on the web isn't possible.

So here is Access, reimagined for the web: the features we lost, brought back, and VBA with the Access object model running in the browser, improved along the way.

It's taken a while, and I hope you like it. Web Access Builder is still in active development, so if it's useful to you, please consider buying me a coffee.

Simon Wilson

Still to come

Importing forms, queries, reports and code from an .accdb
Subreports, Can Grow and Can Shrink, and report events
UNION and crosstab queries
Connections to SQL databases outside Web Access Builder
Scheduled backups to cloud storage

Get your own instance

We'll set up Web Access Builder for your team at its own web address, with its own database. Tell us a little about what you want to build and we'll reply by email.

Questions

Is this Microsoft Access?

No. Web Access Builder is an independent product that works the way Access does. It runs in a browser, doesn't need Access installed, and isn't made by or connected with Microsoft.

Can I open my .accdb file in it?

You import the tables from it, with their field types and AutoNumber values. For now, queries, forms, reports and code are rebuilt in Web Access Builder's own designers, which work like Access's. Importing those from the .accdb is on the way.

Will my VBA run?

Much of it, as written: form and control events, Me, DoCmd, MsgBox, DLookup and DCount, DAO recordsets, error handling and class modules. Things a web page can't do, such as Shell, file access, Windows DLLs and automating Excel, are flagged when you compile. JavaScript modules stand in for DLLs.

Does it do reports?

Yes: grouping, totals, page numbers and Print Preview with page size, margins and orientation. Print them, or save them as PDF from the print dialog. Subreports and report events are next.

Where is our data kept?

In a SQLite database on the server that runs your instance. Admins can download a complete copy at any time with Back Up Database.

Who can change the design?

Only admins. They design tables, queries, forms and code, and manage who can sign in. Users open what's been built and work with the data, and can't open Design view.

Build it like Access.Share it like a website.