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Surveys · head to head

Device Magic vs Google 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
Google Forms logo

Google Forms

Surveys

Survey tool bundled with Google Workspace that cannot be disabled separately from Drive and Docs

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Google 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; Google Forms forms has no service toggle of its own and is governed by the Drive and Docs service, so an administrator cannot disable it for an organisational unit without also disabling Docs, Sheets, Slides and Drive for those same users.
  • They diverge on capability: Device Magic covers Fully offline capture, Google Forms covers Bundled with every Workspace edition.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Device Magic and Google Forms differ
AttributeDevice MagicGoogle Forms
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquoteIncluded with Google Workspace, 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 Google Forms

  • Bundled with every Workspace edition
  • Linked Sheets responses
  • Per-unit external sharing controls
  • Auto-close
  • Gemini assistance
  • Locked mode quizzes

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 Google Forms
  • An inspection crew working in basements and rural sites where there is no signal for most of the working daynot Google Forms
  • A utility that needs the day's jobs dispatched to named engineers with the right form attached to each onenot Google Forms
  • A business replacing carbon-copy job sheets where the office currently re-keys every sheet into an accounting systemnot Google Forms

Google Forms

  • Schools and universities running quizzes and collecting coursework where Workspace is already the standardnot Device Magic
  • Internal data collection that must land in a Google Sheet for onward analysis without any export stepnot Device Magic
  • Organisations that want a form tool with zero incremental cost and no procurement conversationnot Device Magic
  • Simple public surveys where no respondent sign-in is required and no file uploads are involvednot 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

Google Forms

  • Forms has no service toggle of its own and is governed by the Drive and Docs service, so an administrator cannot disable it for an organisational unit without also disabling Docs, Sheets, Slides and Drive for those same users.
  • Data Regions covers Forms only for data at rest and not during processing, Business Starter gets no data regions at all, and Forms is excluded from client-side encryption and unmentioned in Assured Controls, so the residency guarantees are weaker than for Gmail or Drive.
  • Google Vault has no Forms-specific retention rule, hold or export, reaching forms only as Drive files, which means survey responses are reliably retainable only when they are routed to a linked Google Sheet.
  • Adding a file upload question requires every respondent to sign in to a Google account, which destroys anonymity and excludes anyone without one, and uploaded files consume the form owner personal Drive quota rather than an organisational pool.
  • File uploads are disabled when a form lives in a shared drive, so the ownership pattern that survives a staff departure and the upload feature are mutually exclusive, and a deleted owner Drive files are recoverable for only twenty days.

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

Google Forms

Free
  • Personal Google accountFree
    • Free with any personal Google account
    • 300 pieces of content per form, counting questions, descriptions, images and videos
    • 75 sections per form
  • Google Workspace Business Starter$undefined/year
    • Included in the subscription price, not sold separately
    • No data regions coverage at all at this tier
    • Forms governed by the Drive and Docs service toggle
  • Business Standard, Business Plus, Frontline Standard, Education Standard, Enterprise Essentials$undefined/year
    • Included in the subscription price, not sold separately
    • Fundamental data regions, one organisation-wide at-rest policy
    • Forms covered at rest only, not during processing
  • Frontline Plus, Enterprise Plus, or the Data Regions add-on$undefined/year
    • Included in the subscription price, not sold separately
    • Enterprise data regions with per-unit and per-group policies
    • Forms still excluded from client-side encryption and unnamed in Assured Controls

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 Google Forms if

  • You need bundled with every workspace edition.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want linked sheets responses.
Google Forms review

Questions people ask

Is Device Magic or Google Forms better?
Neither clearly leads. Device Magic starts at On request and Google Forms at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Device Magic or Google Forms?
Google Forms has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Device Magic and Free for Google Forms.
Does Device Magic or Google Forms run on more platforms?
Device Magic runs on iOS, Android, Web. Google Forms runs on Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use Google Forms for free?
Yes. Google 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 Google Forms is typically brought in for.
What can Device Magic do that Google Forms cannot?
Device Magic covers Fully offline capture, Formatted PDF output, Destinations, Dispatch and scheduling. Google Forms covers Bundled with every Workspace edition, Linked Sheets responses, Per-unit external sharing controls, Auto-close.

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.

Google Forms: Can I buy Google Forms separately?

No. It is bundled with Drive and the Docs editors in every Workspace edition and is free with a personal Google account. There is no standalone SKU.

Device Magic: Who owns Device Magic?

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

Google Forms: How many responses can one form take?

Google publishes no limit. The practical ceiling is the linked Google Sheet at ten million cells. The documented 300 figure is pieces of content per form, not questions and not responses.

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.

Google Forms: Can I turn Forms off but keep Drive?

No. Forms is controlled by the Drive and Docs service toggle. You can restrict external sharing of forms per organisational unit, but you cannot disable Forms alone.

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.

Google Forms: Are responses covered by Vault?

Only as Drive files. There is no Forms-specific hold or export, so route responses to a linked Sheet if they need to be retained or produced in discovery.

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