Microsoft Access vs. Notion

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Microsoft Access
Score 7.5 out of 10
N/A
Microsoft Access is a database management system from Microsoft that combines the relational Microsoft Jet Database Engine with a graphical user interface and software-development tools.
$139.99
per PC
Notion
Score 8.7 out of 10
N/A
Notion aims to present users with an all-in-one workspace — for notes, tasks, wikis, and databases, from Notion Labs in San Francisco.
$5
per month per user
Pricing
Microsoft AccessNotion
Editions & Modules
Microsoft Access
$139.99
per PC
Free
$0
Plus
$12
per month per user
Business
$24
per month per user
Enterprise
Custom Pricing
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Microsoft AccessNotion
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsA discount is offered for annual billing.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Microsoft AccessNotion
Considered Both Products
Microsoft Access

No answer on this topic

Notion
Chose Notion
The beauty of Notion is on how to best use databases, I populate all I need in one place and then I have the flexibility to adjust views as I need in a matter of seconds, I can save meeting notes, documents, project status, websites, all in one place. I can have a nice Gantt …
Features
Microsoft AccessNotion
Project Management
Comparison of Project Management features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Access
-
Ratings
Notion
7.4
79 Ratings
4% below category average
Task Management00 Ratings8.174 Ratings
Gantt Charts00 Ratings6.846 Ratings
Scheduling00 Ratings7.057 Ratings
Workflow Automation00 Ratings6.455 Ratings
Mobile Access00 Ratings7.372 Ratings
Search00 Ratings8.075 Ratings
Visual planning tools00 Ratings7.968 Ratings
Communication
Comparison of Communication features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Access
-
Ratings
Notion
7.8
76 Ratings
2% below category average
Chat00 Ratings6.429 Ratings
Notifications00 Ratings7.568 Ratings
Discussions00 Ratings7.349 Ratings
Surveys00 Ratings6.820 Ratings
Internal knowledgebase00 Ratings8.869 Ratings
Integrates with Gmail and Google Hangouts00 Ratings8.98 Ratings
Integrates with Outlook00 Ratings9.02 Ratings
File Sharing & Management
Comparison of File Sharing & Management features of Product A and Product B
Microsoft Access
-
Ratings
Notion
8.1
76 Ratings
2% above category average
Versioning00 Ratings7.657 Ratings
Video files00 Ratings7.649 Ratings
Audio files00 Ratings7.443 Ratings
Document collaboration00 Ratings8.571 Ratings
Access control00 Ratings8.271 Ratings
Advanced security features00 Ratings7.351 Ratings
Integrates with Google Drive00 Ratings9.213 Ratings
Device sync00 Ratings9.253 Ratings
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Microsoft AccessNotion
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Score 9.0 out of 10
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Score 7.8 out of 10
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Enterprises
SAP IQ
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Score 9.0 out of 10
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User Ratings
Microsoft AccessNotion
Likelihood to Recommend
5.0
(99 ratings)
8.6
(85 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
10.0
(15 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Usability
7.0
(5 ratings)
8.4
(55 ratings)
Availability
8.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
6.4
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
8.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
5.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Microsoft AccessNotion
Likelihood to Recommend
Microsoft
Microsoft Access can be easily implemented with training. It doesn't require expert level skill for basic reporting functions - but can be scaled to a complex database with sophisticated users. Its appropriate to consider if excel needs to be used to create reports, or if there are data entry needs - with corresponding reports.
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Notion Labs, Inc
If you want a customizable solution that can be adapted for just about any scenario, I recommend using Notion. If you need a solution that's easy to share with people outside your organization, Notion is great and allows individual or team permission-setting. If you want a turnkey solution, Notion might not be the best since it requires a fair bit of set-up. There are templates that can be purchased to handle this, but I haven't found them very helpful.
Read full review
Pros
Microsoft
  • Very easy to create entity-relationship diagrams for various tables and designing mock layouts.
  • Really easy to navigate as it hold[s] the classic Microsoft UI. Another good thing is that it comes with the complete MS Office Suite.
  • It is really fast when joining multiple tables no matter what type of join.
  • Works on pretty much same SQL scripts so no need to learn a new language!
Read full review
Notion Labs, Inc
  • I love that you can create nested pages, allowing for separate sections to organize information as needed.
  • I appreciate the convenience of effortlessly uploading images to any section.
  • I appreciate that when adding links, you can embed them so the website displays directly on the page.
Read full review
Cons
Microsoft
  • Microsoft Access has not really changed at all for several years. It might be nice to see some upgrades and changes.
  • The help info is often not helpful. Need more tutorials for Microsoft Access to show how to do specific things.
  • Be careful naming objects such as tables, forms, etc. Names that are too long can get cut off in dialog boxes to choose a table, form, report, etc. So, I wish they would have resizable dialog boxes to allow you to see objects with long names.
  • I wish it could show me objects that are not in use in the database for current queries, tables, reports, forms, and macros. That way unused objects can be deleted without worrying about losing a report or query because you deleted the underlying object.
Read full review
Notion Labs, Inc
  • I use Notion on my personal tablet, and unlike on the computer, I have a lot of difficulty editing backgrounds, GIFs, and page dividers. It's not as user-friendly, and often the elements end up cut off or misaligned, which is frustrating.
  • While the current calendar feature is helpful, I'd love to see more customization options. The Google Calendar style isn't always ideal, especially for tasks without specific times or for ongoing projects that require daily maintenance.
  • It would be fantastic to have more flexibility in customizing Notion pages. For example, I'd love to create planners with the freedom to add illustration boxes, stickers, or GIFs without being restricted to a fixed layout.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
Microsoft
I and the rest of my team will renew our Microsoft Access in the future because we use and maintain many different applications and databases created using Microsoft Access so we will need to maintain them in the future. Additionally, it is a standard at our place of work so it is at $0 cost to us to use. Another reason for renewing Microsoft Access is that we just don' t have the resources needed to extend into a network of users so we need to remain a single-desktop application at this time.
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Notion Labs, Inc
We're too settled in the ecosystem and we have no major complaints with it. No reason to move unless you have a burning pain point
Read full review
Usability
Microsoft
Microsoft Access is easy to use. It is compatible with spreadsheets. It is a very good data management tool. There is scope to save a large amount of data in one place. For using this database, one does not need much training, can be shared among multiple users. This database has to sort and filtering features which seem to be very useful.
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Notion Labs, Inc
Very easy to use (I learned how to use everything on my own) and I was able to set up an entire ecosystem without any courses or other tools. I often say that Notion is like Lego for adults, because there we can use all the available tools to create a multitude of things, from funnels to projects with calculated deadlines and tags.
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Reliability and Availability
Microsoft
I don't think the program has ever failed me. It is one of those programs where there is always a solution if you know where to look.
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Notion Labs, Inc
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Microsoft
While I have never contacted Microsoft directly for product support, for some reason there's a real prejudice against MS Access among most IT support professionals. They are usually discouraging when it comes to using MS Access. Most of this is due to their lack of understanding of MS Access and how it can improve one's productivity. If Microsoft invested more resources towards enhancing and promoting the use of MS Access then maybe things would be different.
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Notion Labs, Inc
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Microsoft
there is no key idea, since it is easy to implement Microsoft Access
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Notion Labs, Inc
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Microsoft
Crystal is easier for report writing, but isn't a database solution. Salesforce is lovely, but much more expensive than an old copy of Microsoft Office. For a small budget, [Microsoft] Access was really the only viable option. I only wish it was easier to write complex reports.
Read full review
Notion Labs, Inc
The company uses both Notion and Trello within the company. Notion is more for North America employees while Trello is used between Operation team overseas and in North America. Sometimes it's a preference of how the tools look like for project management. I would say both Notion and Trello are nice tools and serves our needs.
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Return on Investment
Microsoft
  • Not having to recreate queries or reports every time you want to use them.
  • Once an item is created and saved as part of the database, you save manpower by not having to recreate them.
  • ROI from a usability standpoint is great. Solid product with great functionality that requires low maintenance usually.
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Notion Labs, Inc
  • It has streamlined our processes across various teams to all work from a signle source of truth
  • Maintaining this source of truth is a full time job
  • It has reduced our overall tool set by completely eliminating two other softwares we were paying for
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ScreenShots