Surveys · head to head
LimeSurvey vs Microsoft Forms
LimeSurvey
Surveys
Open source survey software you can self-host, with German-hosted cloud as the alternative
- 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: LimeSurvey self-hosting shifts patching, backups and PHP upgrades onto your own team, and neglected installations become a security liability holding participant data.; 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: LimeSurvey covers Self-hosted deployment, Microsoft Forms covers Bundled licensing.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which LimeSurvey and Microsoft Forms actually diverge.
| Attribute | LimeSurvey | Microsoft Forms |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Open source, with paid cloud hosting | Included with Microsoft 365, not sold separately |
| Platforms | Web, Self-hosted | Web, 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 LimeSurvey
- Self-hosted deployment
- Question type depth
- Expression manager
- Quotas and screening
- Multilingual surveys
- Participant management
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.
LimeSurvey
- A university study whose ethics approval requires participant data to stay on institutional serversnot Microsoft Forms
- A public body procuring survey software under European data protection rulesnot Microsoft Forms
- A market research agency running multilingual instruments with quotas and screening logicnot Microsoft Forms
- A team that needs complex matrix and ranking questions consumer form builders do not supportnot 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 LimeSurvey
- Education settings where quizzes need automatic grading and results in Excel without procurement approvalnot LimeSurvey
- Quick polls inside Microsoft Teams where the response data should stay in the same tenant as everything elsenot LimeSurvey
- Any case where the deciding factor is that no purchase order is requirednot LimeSurvey
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
LimeSurvey
- Self-hosting shifts patching, backups and PHP upgrades onto your own team, and neglected installations become a security liability holding participant data.
- The default interface and themes look dated beside Typeform or Jotform, which measurably lowers completion rates on consumer-facing surveys.
- Cloud plans are capped on responses per period, so an unexpectedly successful field wave can force an upgrade in the middle of data collection.
- Serious theming and layout changes require template and CSS work rather than a visual designer, so agencies often budget developer time per project.
- Support on the free edition is community forums only, and paid support is a separate purchase, which is a poor fit for teams with no technical staff.
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
LimeSurvey
Free- Community Edition (self-hosted)Free
- Free under the GNU General Public Licence
- No response limits imposed by the vendor
- Hosting, patching, backups and upgrades are your responsibility
- LimeSurvey Cloud$undefined/year
- Hosted on servers in Germany
- Tiered on responses and storage per period rather than per user
- Higher tiers add branding removal, more storage and support
Microsoft Forms
Free- Free consumer Microsoft accountFree
- 200 responses per form
- 400 forms per account, including the recycle bin
- 200 questions per form
- Paid consumer Microsoft account$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 LimeSurvey if
- You need self-hosted deployment.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Self-hosted.
- You also want question type depth.
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 LimeSurvey or Microsoft Forms better?
- Neither clearly leads. LimeSurvey 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, LimeSurvey or Microsoft Forms?
- LimeSurvey starts at Free and Microsoft Forms at Free.
- Does LimeSurvey or Microsoft Forms run on more platforms?
- LimeSurvey runs on Web, Self-hosted. Microsoft Forms runs on Web, iOS, Android.
- Can I use LimeSurvey for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is LimeSurvey best used for?
- LimeSurvey is most often used for a university study whose ethics approval requires participant data to stay on institutional servers, a public body procuring survey software under european data protection rules, a market research agency running multilingual instruments with quotas and screening logic, a team that needs complex matrix and ranking questions consumer form builders do not support. Of those, a university study whose ethics approval requires participant data to stay on institutional servers and a public body procuring survey software under european data protection rules are not what Microsoft Forms is typically brought in for.
- What can LimeSurvey do that Microsoft Forms cannot?
- LimeSurvey covers Self-hosted deployment, Question type depth, Expression manager, Quotas and screening. Microsoft Forms covers Bundled licensing, Very high response ceiling, File upload questions, Co-authoring.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
LimeSurvey: Is LimeSurvey really free?
The self-hosted Community Edition is free under the GPL with no vendor response limits. The hosted cloud is paid and tiered by response volume.
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.
LimeSurvey: Where is cloud data stored?
On servers in Germany, which is why public sector and academic buyers choose it over United States hosted competitors.
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.
LimeSurvey: Can it handle complex research designs?
Yes. Quotas, randomisation, piping and matrix question types are core features rather than enterprise add-ons.
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.
Related pages
More on Microsoft Forms
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