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Marketing · head to head

Insider vs Microsoft Forms

Insider logo

Insider

Marketing

Omnichannel personalisation platform with web experimentation and WhatsApp as first-class channels

From
On request
Free plan
No
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
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Microsoft Forms has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Insider delivery depends heavily on the assigned account team, so results vary by region and a team change mid-contract can be felt immediately in campaign output.; 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: Insider covers Architect journeys, Microsoft Forms covers Bundled licensing.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Insider and Microsoft Forms actually diverge.

Attributes where Insider and Microsoft Forms differ
AttributeInsiderMicrosoft Forms
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquoteIncluded with Microsoft 365, not sold separately
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, iOS, Android, REST APIWeb, iOS, Android
CategoryMarketingSurveys

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 Insider

  • Architect journeys
  • Web and app personalisation
  • WhatsApp commerce
  • Predictive segments
  • InStory and InMobile
  • Experimentation

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.

Insider

  • A retailer in a WhatsApp-first market that needs conversational commerce rather than more email volumenot Microsoft Forms
  • Personalising category and product pages by segment without waiting for engineering release cyclesnot Microsoft Forms
  • A marketing team without in-house campaign operations that needs the vendor to build and run journeysnot Microsoft Forms
  • Unifying web, app and messaging targeting on one profile store after outgrowing separate point toolsnot 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 Insider
  • Education settings where quizzes need automatic grading and results in Excel without procurement approvalnot Insider
  • Quick polls inside Microsoft Teams where the response data should stay in the same tenant as everything elsenot Insider
  • Any case where the deciding factor is that no purchase order is requirednot Insider

Where each one falls short

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

Insider

  • Delivery depends heavily on the assigned account team, so results vary by region and a team change mid-contract can be felt immediately in campaign output.
  • The suite is licensed by module, so the platform fee quoted at the start typically excludes the channels and predictive features that make the business case work.
  • Template-driven web personalisation targets the rendered DOM, which breaks on single-page applications that re-render after the template applies unless a developer wires in the framework hooks.
  • Reporting exports are limited compared with warehouse-native tools, so teams that want campaign data alongside finance data end up pulling it through the API on a schedule.
  • Contracts are annual and negotiated per traffic band, so a seasonal spike in visitors can push you into a renegotiation rather than a metered overage.

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

Insider

On request
  • Insider Growth Management Platform$undefined/year
    • Licensed by module and by monthly traffic or user volume
    • Channels such as WhatsApp, SMS and email priced separately
    • Annual contract with an assigned delivery team

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 Insider if

  • You need architect journeys.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android, REST API.
  • You also want web and app personalisation.
Insider 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 Insider or Microsoft Forms better?
Neither clearly leads. Insider 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, Insider or Microsoft Forms?
Microsoft Forms has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Insider and Free for Microsoft Forms.
Does Insider or Microsoft Forms run on more platforms?
Insider runs on Web, iOS, Android, REST API. 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. Insider starts at On request.
What is Insider best used for?
Insider is most often used for a retailer in a whatsapp-first market that needs conversational commerce rather than more email volume, personalising category and product pages by segment without waiting for engineering release cycles, a marketing team without in-house campaign operations that needs the vendor to build and run journeys, unifying web, app and messaging targeting on one profile store after outgrowing separate point tools. Of those, a retailer in a whatsapp-first market that needs conversational commerce rather than more email volume and personalising category and product pages by segment without waiting for engineering release cycles are not what Microsoft Forms is typically brought in for.
What can Insider do that Microsoft Forms cannot?
Insider covers Architect journeys, Web and app personalisation, WhatsApp commerce, Predictive segments. Microsoft Forms covers Bundled licensing, Very high response ceiling, File upload questions, Co-authoring.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Insider: Is WhatsApp actually usable at scale here?

Yes. It is a supported primary channel with catalogue and template message support, though WhatsApp conversation fees from Meta are passed through and are separate from the licence.

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.

Insider: Can we run it without vendor help?

You can, but the pricing assumes a managed relationship. Teams with strong in-house campaign operations often find they are paying for services they do not use.

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.

Insider: Does it work for B2B?

Rarely a good fit. The segmentation, recommendations and channel mix are built around high-frequency consumer behaviour.

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.

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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