I got an email this morning from someone who saw my How to Get Excel Free video on YouTube. They wanted to know if there is a free version of Access that works like this. 

Unfortunately, no, there isn't. You can only get free versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and some other apps on Office.com.

However, if you want to use Access in your business, you only need to purchase ONE copy for the person who is going to build (develop) the database. You can create standalone versions for everyone else’s computers using Microsoft’s Access Runtime Edition. That way if you have 20 people who need to use the database, you only have to purchase 1 copy of Access. The other people can’t edit the database structure. They can still work with data (add, edit, delete records) but they can’t change the design of the tables, forms, and reports. But… you usually don’t WANT them too! LOL

And yes, I'll be making a lesson on how to use that Runtime Edition very soon. It's been on my short list for years!