Kexi

Kexi is a Microsoft Access killer of the first caliber. It has a minor limp: Under Windows there is a limit to the number of rows and tables you can create, at least until Kexi recoups its development costs. Meanwhile, if you can live with that, and without tech support, or a manual, go to town with Kexi or switch to the unlimited Linux and FreeBSD versions. Or pay 50 bucks to unleash the Windows limitations and get support. Access is $300 retail. The $50 for Kexi won’t buy you the cheapest seat at a Little Feat concert.

And Kexi’s well worth it, especially if you need to emphasize visuals in a database. Within minutes, literally, you can create a relational data base with all the flexibility and versatility of Access but with greater ease. As with Access, the database structure is created in a series of tables, but without the fussiness Access imposes on defining far more things than you want to define. My favorite feature is that everything from tables to queries, to forms, are stored in the database, letting you move or share data and design by moving a single file.

You can use Kexi as a stand-along or connected to relational SQL database servers. You’ll finally bump into limits, even with the full versions, if you keep pushing the complexity of your design, but Kexi is still a database that fills a deep hole.

–Ron White