Softwr

Surveys · head to head

Fillout vs Google Forms

Fillout logo

Fillout

Surveys

Form builder that reads and writes records in Airtable, Notion, HubSpot and Salesforce, with unlimited seats on every plan including the free one

From
Free
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

  • Each has a real cost: Fillout the Business plan is marketed with unlimited responses but the fair use policy names thresholds of 30,000 submissions a month, 250,000 in total, 500 forms per account and 50 GB of uploads a month, above which the vendor may limit or suspend features, so unlimited means unmetered rather than uncapped.; 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: Fillout covers Unlimited seats and forms, Google Forms covers Bundled with every Workspace edition.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Fillout and Google Forms actually diverge.

Attributes where Fillout and Google Forms differ
AttributeFilloutGoogle Forms
Pricing modelPer month by response countIncluded with Google Workspace, not sold separately
PlatformsWeb, APIWeb, iOS, Android

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), 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 Fillout

  • Unlimited seats and forms
  • Database read and write
  • Soft response limits
  • Conditional logic and calculations
  • EU hosting
  • REST API and webhooks

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.

Fillout

  • A team already running on Airtable or Notion that wants forms which update existing records rather than appending new rowsnot Google Forms
  • An organisation with many occasional form builders, where per-seat pricing elsewhere would cost more than the forms are worthnot Google Forms
  • Replacing a survey tool, a scheduling tool and a payment link with one form that does all threenot Google Forms
  • Public forms that must keep collecting through an unexpected traffic spike rather than shutting off at a quotanot Google Forms

Google Forms

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

Where each one falls short

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

Fillout

  • The Business plan is marketed with unlimited responses but the fair use policy names thresholds of 30,000 submissions a month, 250,000 in total, 500 forms per account and 50 GB of uploads a month, above which the vendor may limit or suspend features, so unlimited means unmetered rather than uncapped.
  • EU data residency begins on the Team plan at 250 USD per month, more than three times the Business price, and is not applied automatically; you must upgrade and then raise a support request to be moved.
  • The Team plan is hidden behind a secondary tab that does not render without interaction, so buyers reading the pricing page see Business at 75 USD as the top self-serve tier and only discover the 250 USD step when they ask for single sign-on or EU hosting.
  • The enterprise marketing page lists hosting in the United States, EU, United Kingdom, Australia and Canada, but the security documentation and subprocessor list name only the United States and the EU, so three of those five regions should be confirmed in writing before they are relied on.
  • The vendor is SOC 2 Type 2 but claims neither ISO 27001 nor HIPAA anywhere in its documentation, and it is angel-funded with no disclosed institutional round while the parent company now trades as Zite and ships a separate AI application builder.

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

Fillout

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 1,000 responses per month
    • Unlimited forms and unlimited seats
    • 20 MB per file upload
  • Starter$15/month
    • 180 USD per year billed annually, a stated 20 percent saving on monthly billing
    • 2,000 responses per month
    • Unlimited forms and seats
  • Pro$40/month
    • 480 USD per year billed annually
    • 5,000 responses per month
    • Branding fully removed at this tier
  • Business$75/month
    • 900 USD per year billed annually
    • Marketed as unlimited responses, subject to a fair use threshold near 30,000 per month
    • 1 GB per file upload

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 Fillout if

  • You need unlimited seats and forms.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, API.
  • You also want database read and write.
Fillout 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 Fillout or Google Forms better?
Neither clearly leads. Fillout starts at Free and Google Forms at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Fillout or Google Forms?
Fillout starts at Free and Google Forms at Free.
Does Fillout or Google Forms run on more platforms?
Fillout runs on Web, API. Google Forms runs on Web, iOS, Android.
Can I use Fillout for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Fillout best used for?
Fillout is most often used for a team already running on airtable or notion that wants forms which update existing records rather than appending new rows, an organisation with many occasional form builders, where per-seat pricing elsewhere would cost more than the forms are worth, replacing a survey tool, a scheduling tool and a payment link with one form that does all three, public forms that must keep collecting through an unexpected traffic spike rather than shutting off at a quota. Of those, a team already running on airtable or notion that wants forms which update existing records rather than appending new rows and an organisation with many occasional form builders, where per-seat pricing elsewhere would cost more than the forms are worth are not what Google Forms is typically brought in for.
What can Fillout do that Google Forms cannot?
Fillout covers Unlimited seats and forms, Database read and write, Soft response limits, Conditional logic and calculations. Google Forms covers Bundled with every Workspace edition, Linked Sheets responses, Per-unit external sharing controls, Auto-close.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Fillout: Are seats really unlimited?

Yes. The vendor states there are no per-seat charges on any plan, including Free, and forms are unlimited too. Responses per month is the only meter below the Business tier.

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.

Fillout: What happens when I exceed my response quota?

Nothing breaks. Forms keep collecting, and you can upgrade, buy bulk submissions or wait for the monthly reset.

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.

Fillout: Can I host respondent data in the EU?

Only from the Team plan at 250 USD per month, and only after contacting support to switch. Note that email and payment subprocessors remain in the United States regardless.

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.

Fillout: Is the Business plan really unlimited responses?

It is unmetered, not uncapped. The fair use policy names roughly 30,000 submissions a month as the point at which the vendor may intervene, so treat that as the practical ceiling.

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.

Share

Related pages

More on Fillout

More on Google Forms

Keep looking

Other head to heads