Surveys · head to head
Google Forms vs Microsoft Forms
Google Forms
Surveys
Survey tool bundled with Google Workspace that cannot be disabled separately from Drive and Docs
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
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
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: 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.; 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: Google Forms covers Bundled with every Workspace edition, Microsoft Forms covers Bundled licensing.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Google Forms and Microsoft Forms actually diverge.
| Attribute | Google Forms | Microsoft Forms |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Included with Google Workspace, not sold separately | Included with Microsoft 365, not sold separately |
Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), platforms (Web, iOS, Android), 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 Google Forms
- Bundled with every Workspace edition
- Linked Sheets responses
- Per-unit external sharing controls
- Auto-close
- Gemini assistance
- Locked mode quizzes
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.
Google Forms
- Schools and universities running quizzes and collecting coursework where Workspace is already the standardnot Microsoft Forms
- Internal data collection that must land in a Google Sheet for onward analysis without any export stepnot Microsoft Forms
- Organisations that want a form tool with zero incremental cost and no procurement conversationnot Microsoft Forms
- Simple public surveys where no respondent sign-in is required and no file uploads are involvednot 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 Google Forms
- Education settings where quizzes need automatic grading and results in Excel without procurement approvalnot Google Forms
- Quick polls inside Microsoft Teams where the response data should stay in the same tenant as everything elsenot Google Forms
- Any case where the deciding factor is that no purchase order is requirednot Google Forms
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
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.
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
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$undefined/year
- Included in the subscription price, not sold separately
- Enterprise data regions with per-unit and per-group policies
- Forms still excluded from client-side encryption and unnamed in Assured Controls
Microsoft Forms
Free- Free consumer Microsoft accountFree
- 200 responses per form
- 400 forms per account, including the recycle bin
- 200 questions per form
- Paid consumer Microsoft account$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 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.
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.
Questions people ask
- Is Google Forms or Microsoft Forms better?
- Neither clearly leads. Google Forms starts at Free and Microsoft Forms at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Google Forms or Microsoft Forms?
- Google Forms starts at Free and Microsoft Forms at Free.
- Does Google Forms or Microsoft Forms run on more platforms?
- Both run on Web, iOS, Android, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
- Can I use Google Forms for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is Google Forms best used for?
- Google Forms is most often used for schools and universities running quizzes and collecting coursework where workspace is already the standard, internal data collection that must land in a google sheet for onward analysis without any export step, organisations that want a form tool with zero incremental cost and no procurement conversation, simple public surveys where no respondent sign-in is required and no file uploads are involved. Of those, schools and universities running quizzes and collecting coursework where workspace is already the standard and internal data collection that must land in a google sheet for onward analysis without any export step are not what Microsoft Forms is typically brought in for.
- What can Google Forms do that Microsoft Forms cannot?
- Google Forms covers Bundled with every Workspace edition, Linked Sheets responses, Per-unit external sharing controls, Auto-close. Microsoft Forms covers Bundled licensing, Very high response ceiling, File upload questions, Co-authoring.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Related pages
More on Google Forms
More on Microsoft Forms
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