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Marketing · head to head

Customer.io vs Microsoft Forms

Customer.io logo

Customer.io

Marketing

Data-driven messaging for teams getting started, scaling and beyond

From
$15/month
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite
Microsoft Forms logo

Microsoft Forms

Surveys

Survey tool bundled into Microsoft 365 with no standalone price, where the real constraints are tenant policy, residency and admin visibility

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Microsoft Forms has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Customer.io essentials plan caps at 5,000 profiles (people and objects) and 1,000,000 monthly emails, with overages billed at $0.12 per 1,000 emails beyond that; Microsoft Forms the Advanced Data Residency add-on explicitly does not cover Microsoft Forms, so a tenant that has paid for regional residency still has its survey responses provisioned according to best-effort guidance rather than a contractual commitment.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Customer.io and Microsoft Forms actually diverge.

Attributes where Customer.io and Microsoft Forms differ
AttributeCustomer.ioMicrosoft Forms
Starting price$15/monthFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionIncluded with Microsoft 365, not sold separately
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWebWeb, iOS, Android
CategoryMarketingSurveys

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Customer.io

Nothing recorded that Microsoft Forms does not also cover.

Only in Microsoft Forms

  • Bundled licensing
  • Very high response ceiling
  • File upload questions
  • Co-authoring
  • eDiscovery coverage
  • Surveys Agent in Copilot

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Customer.io

  • Orchestrating multi-channel customer journeys from signup to retentionnot Microsoft Forms
  • Personalizing email and SMS campaigns using customer profilesnot Microsoft Forms
  • Triggering automated messages based on user behaviornot Microsoft Forms
  • Coordinating cross-team messaging without rebuilding campaignsnot Microsoft Forms

Microsoft Forms

  • Internal surveys and quizzes inside an organisation that already pays for Microsoft 365 and does not want a second vendor contractnot Customer.io
  • Education settings where quizzes need automatic grading and results in Excel without procurement approvalnot Customer.io
  • Quick polls inside Microsoft Teams where the response data should stay in the same tenant as everything elsenot Customer.io
  • Any case where the deciding factor is that no purchase order is requirednot Customer.io

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Customer.io

  • Essentials plan caps at 5,000 profiles (people and objects) and 1,000,000 monthly emails, with overages billed at $0.12 per 1,000 emails beyond that
  • Standard and Premium tiers show custom pricing only, and Enterprise is negotiated rate, so three of the four published tiers require a sales conversation
  • Monthly plans accept credit card only; annual billing via invoice (ACH/wire) requires the annual commitment

Microsoft Forms

  • The Advanced Data Residency add-on explicitly does not cover Microsoft Forms, so a tenant that has paid for regional residency still has its survey responses provisioned according to best-effort guidance rather than a contractual commitment.
  • Above 50,000 responses a form degrades sharply: only CSV export continues to work, while summary charts, viewing individual responses, printing, shared summary links and manual quiz grading all stop.
  • Forms belonging to an account that is hard deleted, or deleted more than thirty days earlier, are not recoverable at all, so an unmanaged leaver process destroys survey data silently.
  • The administrator settings that govern external sharing, template sharing and result summary sharing are only available to education and Microsoft 365 Apps for business customers, leaving many commercial tenants without the controls the documentation describes.
  • A summary sharing link that has already been created continues to work for anyone inside or outside the organisation even after the form is restricted, so tightening permissions does not close an existing leak unless the link is deleted explicitly.

Pricing, plan by plan

Customer.io

$15/month
  • Essentials$15/month
    • Base profiles starting at 5,000
    • Email sends: 1 million monthly
    • Community and email support
  • Standard$null/month
    • Mid-tier scaling across channels
    • Higher profile and email allowances
    • Email and priority support
  • Premium$null/month
    • Advanced custom workflows
    • Dedicated support
  • Enterprise$null/month
    • Custom pricing for dedicated infrastructure
    • HIPAA compliance
    • Dedicated hardware

Microsoft Forms

Free
  • Free consumer Microsoft accountFree
    • 200 responses per form
    • 400 forms per account, including the recycle bin
    • 200 questions per form
  • Paid consumer Microsoft account$undefined/year
    • Included in the subscription price, not sold separately
    • 1,000 responses per form
    • 400 forms per account
  • Microsoft 365 work or school licence$undefined/year
    • Included in the subscription price, not sold separately
    • 5,000,000 responses per form
    • Included in Business Basic, Standard, Premium, Office 365 E1, E3, E5 and Microsoft 365 F3
  • Government GCC High and DoD$undefined/year
    • Included in the subscription price, not sold separately
    • 50,000 responses per form
    • No email notification, video insert, Bing image search or phishing protection

Which should you pick?

Choose Customer.io if

Nothing in the data separates Customer.io from Microsoft Forms on the points above - pick on price and on how each one feels to use.

Customer.io review

Choose Microsoft Forms if

  • You need bundled licensing.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want very high response ceiling.
Microsoft Forms review

Questions people ask

Is Customer.io or Microsoft Forms better?
Neither clearly leads. Customer.io starts at $15/month and Microsoft Forms at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Customer.io or Microsoft Forms?
Microsoft Forms has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $15/month for Customer.io and Free for Microsoft Forms.
Does Customer.io or Microsoft Forms run on more platforms?
Customer.io runs on Web. Microsoft Forms runs on Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use Microsoft Forms for free?
Yes. Microsoft Forms has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Customer.io starts at $15/month.
What is Customer.io best used for?
Customer.io is most often used for orchestrating multi-channel customer journeys from signup to retention, personalizing email and sms campaigns using customer profiles, triggering automated messages based on user behavior, coordinating cross-team messaging without rebuilding campaigns. Of those, orchestrating multi-channel customer journeys from signup to retention and personalizing email and sms campaigns using customer profiles are not what Microsoft Forms is typically brought in for.
What can Customer.io do that Microsoft Forms cannot?
Microsoft Forms covers Bundled licensing, Very high response ceiling, File upload questions, Co-authoring.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Customer.io: How much does Customer.io Essentials cost?

Customer.io Essentials starts at $15/month and includes 5,000 base profiles with 1 million monthly email sends, community and email support, and data-driven messaging tools. Customers can choose monthly or annual billing.

Source
Microsoft Forms: Can I buy Microsoft Forms on its own?

No. It exists only as a service plan inside Microsoft 365, Office 365 and education or government SKUs, or free with a consumer Microsoft account. There is no standalone product to purchase.

Customer.io: What are Customer.io's usage-based add-on costs?

Beyond plan limits, Customer.io charges $0.009 per additional profile, $0.12 per 1,000 additional emails, and $10 per 100K AI credits. Messages exceeding plan limits are charged at nominal rates. Billing occurs on the subscription anniversary.

Source
Microsoft Forms: Where are responses stored?

In the United States for most tenants, in the EU and EFTA region for EU tenants, and in Australia only for Forms provisioned after October 2022. Microsoft states this is guidance, not a residency commitment.

Customer.io: Does Customer.io offer a startup discount?

Yes, early-stage companies that have raised under $10 million qualify for a full year free through Customer.io's Startup Program with annual billing.

Source
Microsoft Forms: Can an administrator read someone else responses?

Not while that user account is active; ownership transfer is refused. Yes once the account is disabled or deleted, and yes through premium eDiscovery, which is still labelled preview.

Microsoft Forms: How do I turn Forms off for the organisation?

Disable both the Microsoft Forms and the Office Hive enterprise applications in Entra ID, or clear the Forms checkbox per user. Both applications must be disabled for it to take effect.

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