Comparison between Speadsheet (MS Excel), Microsoft Access, SQL and MySQL

When should I use Microsoft Access?

We've put together the following comparison table to help you decide whether Microsoft Access may be the right solution for you.

Use	Spreadsheet (Excel)	Desktop Database (MS Access)	SQL Server or MySQL with Access as the user interface
Validate basic user input (e.g., for a single field/cell	Yes	Yes	Yes
Complex user input validation or events (if field X = Y, and field Z is empty, perform some action)	Challenging to accomplish	Yes	Yes
Data arranged in a few columns without much repetition	Yes	Yes	Yes
Rows/records supported	Excel 2000 and Excel 2003: 65,535 rows Excel 2007 and Excel 2010: 1,048,576 rows	Unlimited (up to 2GB/table)	Unlimited
Simple cross-references	Yes (vlookup and hlookup)	Yes	Yes
Complex data analysis/queries	Limited	Yes	Yes
Events based on user actions (when user exits a field/cell do X, when they mouse over a field/cell do Y)	No	Yes	Yes
Multiple users, but generally accessing data at different times	No	Yes	Yes
Multiple users, accessing data at the same time	No	Yes (but can be slow depending on network speed)	Yes
Frequent mass-update operations	Challenging to accomplish, time intensive	Yes	Yes
Multiple data entry forms	No	Yes	Yes
Mail Merge with Word	Yes	Yes	Yes
Reporting	Challenging to accomplish	Yes	Yes
Automated backups	Challenging to accomplish	Possible with VB coding, backup software,or UI Builder for Microsoft Access	Yes
Record-level auditing	No	Possible with VB coding or UI Builder for Microsoft Access	Yes
Ability to hide the inner workings of your project from the user	Challenging to accomplish	Yes (MDE files and ACCDE files)	Yes
Expertise Required	Low	For simple databases:  Low/Moderate For complex requirements: Moderate-to-High	High
Attaching files/links to fields	No	Yes (MS Access 2007 and Access 2010)	Yes
Sharing information on the Web	Yes (Excel 2007 and Excel 2010)	Yes (Microsoft Access 2010)	Yes (with a web front-end like PHP or ASP.NET)