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Surveys · head to head

Device Magic vs Microsoft Forms

Device Magic logo

Device Magic

Surveys

Offline mobile forms for field crews, quote-only with a three user minimum, now under GoCanvas

From
On request
Rated
-
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
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Microsoft Forms has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Device Magic neither plan publishes a price and both carry a three user minimum billed annually, so a two-person business cannot buy it at all and a small firm cannot benchmark the quote against published competitors; 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.
  • They diverge on capability: Device Magic covers Fully offline capture, Microsoft Forms covers Bundled licensing.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Device Magic and Microsoft Forms actually diverge.

Attributes where Device Magic and Microsoft Forms differ
AttributeDevice MagicMicrosoft Forms
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquoteIncluded with Microsoft 365, not sold separately
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsiOS, Android, WebWeb, iOS, Android

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

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 Device Magic

  • Fully offline capture
  • Formatted PDF output
  • Destinations
  • Dispatch and scheduling
  • Resource data
  • Conditional logic
  • White labelling

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.

Device Magic

  • A mechanical contractor whose service certificates must reach the customer as a specific PDF layout immediately after the visitnot Microsoft Forms
  • An inspection crew working in basements and rural sites where there is no signal for most of the working daynot Microsoft Forms
  • A utility that needs the day's jobs dispatched to named engineers with the right form attached to each onenot Microsoft Forms
  • A business replacing carbon-copy job sheets where the office currently re-keys every sheet into an accounting systemnot 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 Device Magic
  • Education settings where quizzes need automatic grading and results in Excel without procurement approvalnot Device Magic
  • Quick polls inside Microsoft Teams where the response data should stay in the same tenant as everything elsenot Device Magic
  • Any case where the deciding factor is that no purchase order is requirednot Device Magic

Where each one falls short

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

Device Magic

  • Neither plan publishes a price and both carry a three user minimum billed annually, so a two-person business cannot buy it at all and a small firm cannot benchmark the quote against published competitors
  • Device Magic is now part of GoCanvas, which sells an overlapping mobile forms product, so buyers should ask directly about long-term investment in Device Magic before signing a multi-year term
  • Per user per month pricing means seasonal and occasional field staff consume full seats, and businesses with a large casual crew pay for licences that are used a few weeks a year
  • It captures and delivers data but does not manage the work itself, so there is no job costing, no scheduling depth and no invoicing, and it usually sits alongside a field service management system rather than replacing one
  • PDF layout control is the main reason to buy it and is also the most fiddly part of the product; complex certificate layouts take real configuration effort and are not something a field supervisor will maintain

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

Device Magic

On request
  • Max$undefined/month
    • Per user per month, billed annually
    • Three user minimum
    • Unlimited forms and submissions
  • Enterprise$undefined/month
    • Per user per month, billed annually
    • Three user minimum
    • Everything in Max

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 Device Magic if

  • You need fully offline capture.
  • You work on iOS, Android, Web.
  • You also want formatted pdf output.
Device Magic 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 Device Magic or Microsoft Forms better?
Neither clearly leads. Device Magic starts at On request and Microsoft Forms at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Device Magic or Microsoft Forms?
Microsoft Forms has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Device Magic and Free for Microsoft Forms.
Does Device Magic or Microsoft Forms run on more platforms?
Device Magic runs on iOS, Android, 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. Device Magic starts at On request.
What is Device Magic best used for?
Device Magic is most often used for a mechanical contractor whose service certificates must reach the customer as a specific pdf layout immediately after the visit, an inspection crew working in basements and rural sites where there is no signal for most of the working day, a utility that needs the day's jobs dispatched to named engineers with the right form attached to each one, a business replacing carbon-copy job sheets where the office currently re-keys every sheet into an accounting system. Of those, a mechanical contractor whose service certificates must reach the customer as a specific pdf layout immediately after the visit and an inspection crew working in basements and rural sites where there is no signal for most of the working day are not what Microsoft Forms is typically brought in for.
What can Device Magic do that Microsoft Forms cannot?
Device Magic covers Fully offline capture, Formatted PDF output, Destinations, Dispatch and scheduling. Microsoft Forms covers Bundled licensing, Very high response ceiling, File upload questions, Co-authoring.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Device Magic: What does Device Magic cost?

It does not publish prices. Both the Max and Enterprise plans are per user per month billed annually with a three user minimum, and you get a figure from sales.

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.

Device Magic: Who owns Device Magic?

It is part of GoCanvas, which also sells a competing mobile forms product.

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.

Device Magic: Does it work with no signal?

Yes, that is the main use case. Forms and reference data are held on the device and submissions sync when connectivity returns.

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.

Device Magic: Is there a submission limit?

No. Both plans list unlimited forms, unlimited submissions and unlimited lifetime data storage, so the cost variable is seats.

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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