Marketing · head to head
Hootsuite vs Microsoft Forms
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
The short version
- Only Microsoft Forms has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: Hootsuite no free tier available; minimum cost is $99/user/year annually; 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: Hootsuite covers Content scheduling, Microsoft Forms covers Bundled licensing.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Hootsuite and Microsoft Forms actually diverge.
| Attribute | Hootsuite | Microsoft Forms |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $99/year | Free |
| Pricing model | Unknown | Included with Microsoft 365, not sold separately |
| Free tier | No | Yes |
| Platforms | Web | Web, iOS, Android |
| Category | Marketing | Surveys |
| Founded | 2008 | Unknown |
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 Hootsuite
- Content scheduling
- Social inbox
- Content calendar
- Analytics & reporting
- Social listening
- Team collaboration
- Approval workflows
- Bulk scheduling
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.
Hootsuite
- Social media schedulingnot Microsoft Forms
- Community managementnot Microsoft Forms
- Social advertisingnot Microsoft Forms
- Analytics & reportingnot Microsoft Forms
- Team collaborationnot 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 Hootsuite
- Education settings where quizzes need automatic grading and results in Excel without procurement approvalnot Hootsuite
- Quick polls inside Microsoft Teams where the response data should stay in the same tenant as everything elsenot Hootsuite
- Any case where the deciding factor is that no purchase order is requirednot Hootsuite
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Hootsuite
- No free tier available; minimum cost is $99/user/year annually
- Monthly billing significantly more expensive than annual (20-30% premium)
- Advanced data export via SFTP available only to Enterprise tier customers
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
Hootsuite
$99/yearNo published plan breakdown. See the Hootsuite review.
Microsoft Forms
Free- Free consumer Microsoft accountFree
- 200 responses per form
- 400 forms per account, including the recycle bin
- 200 questions per form
- Paid consumer Microsoft account$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 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 Hootsuite or Microsoft Forms better?
- Neither clearly leads. Hootsuite starts at $99/year and Microsoft Forms at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Hootsuite or Microsoft Forms?
- Microsoft Forms has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $99/year for Hootsuite and Free for Microsoft Forms.
- Does Hootsuite or Microsoft Forms run on more platforms?
- Hootsuite 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. Hootsuite starts at $99/year.
- What is Hootsuite best used for?
- Hootsuite is most often used for social media scheduling, community management, social advertising, analytics & reporting. Of those, social media scheduling and community management are not what Microsoft Forms is typically brought in for.
- What can Hootsuite do that Microsoft Forms cannot?
- Hootsuite covers Content scheduling, Social inbox, Content calendar, Analytics & reporting. Microsoft Forms covers Bundled licensing, Very high response ceiling, File upload questions, Co-authoring.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Hootsuite: What is Hootsuite's pricing structure?
Hootsuite offers four annual plans: Standard at $99/user/year, Professional at $199/user/year, Advanced at $399/user/year, and Enterprise with custom pricing. Monthly billing is available at 20-30% higher cost.
SourceMicrosoft 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.
Hootsuite: Does Hootsuite offer a free tier?
No. Hootsuite does not offer a free tier or freemium plan. A 30-day trial is available, and skipping the trial provides 25% off annual plans.
SourceMicrosoft 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.
Hootsuite: How many integrations does Hootsuite support?
Hootsuite advertises support for over 100 integrations, claiming more than any other social media management platform.
SourceMicrosoft 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.
Hootsuite: Can users export their data from Hootsuite?
Yes. Hootsuite offers Advanced Analytics data export as CSV files to SFTP folders for Enterprise users, with daily exports and 90-day retention. Standard and Professional plans have more limited export capabilities.
SourceMicrosoft 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.
Hootsuite: Does Hootsuite offer API access?
Yes. Hootsuite provides a REST API for building custom applications and integrations, though API capabilities vary by plan level.
SourceHootsuite: Does Hootsuite offer self-hosted or on-premise deployment?
No. Hootsuite is a cloud-based SaaS platform only. There is no self-hosted or on-premise deployment option available.
SourceRelated pages
More on Microsoft Forms
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