Marketing · head to head
Mailgun 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
- Each has a real cost: Mailgun free tier limited to 100 emails per day, restricting high-volume use cases; 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.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Mailgun and Microsoft Forms actually diverge.
| Attribute | Mailgun | Microsoft Forms |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | subscription | Included with Microsoft 365, not sold separately |
| Platforms | Web | Web, iOS, Android |
| Category | Marketing | Surveys |
Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), 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 Mailgun
Nothing recorded that Microsoft Forms does not also cover.
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.
Mailgun
- Transactional email delivery and SMTP relaynot Microsoft Forms
- Email marketing at scale for developers and enterprisesnot 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 Mailgun
- Education settings where quizzes need automatic grading and results in Excel without procurement approvalnot Mailgun
- Quick polls inside Microsoft Teams where the response data should stay in the same tenant as everything elsenot Mailgun
- Any case where the deciding factor is that no purchase order is requirednot Mailgun
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Mailgun
- Free tier limited to 100 emails per day, restricting high-volume use cases
- Log retention minimal on lower tiers (1 day on Free and Basic plans)
- Add-on pricing for email validations and extra emails can accumulate quickly for high-traffic 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.
- 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
Mailgun
Free- FreeFree
- 100 emails per day
- Basic APIs
- SMTP relay
- Basic$15/monthly
- 10,000 emails per month
- No daily limits
- Monthly overage options
- Foundation$35/monthly
- 50,000 emails per month
- 1,000 custom domains
- Email template builder
- Scale$90/monthly
- 100,000 emails per month
- SAML SSO
- 5,000 email validations
Microsoft Forms
Free- Free consumer Microsoft accountFree
- 200 responses per form
- 400 forms per account, including the recycle bin
- 200 questions per form
- Paid consumer Microsoft account$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 Mailgun or Microsoft Forms better?
- Neither clearly leads. Mailgun 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, Mailgun or Microsoft Forms?
- Mailgun starts at Free and Microsoft Forms at Free.
- Does Mailgun or Microsoft Forms run on more platforms?
- Mailgun runs on Web. Microsoft Forms runs on Web, iOS, Android.
- Can I use Mailgun for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is Mailgun best used for?
- Mailgun is most often used for transactional email delivery and smtp relay, email marketing at scale for developers and enterprises. Of those, transactional email delivery and smtp relay and email marketing at scale for developers and enterprises are not what Microsoft Forms is typically brought in for.
- What can Mailgun do that Microsoft Forms cannot?
- Microsoft Forms covers Bundled licensing, Very high response ceiling, File upload questions, Co-authoring.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Mailgun: What happens when I exceed my monthly email quota?
Mailgun allows monthly overage options on paid plans. Extra emails are charged from $1.30 to $1.10 per 1,000 emails depending on plan tier. Enterprise customers negotiate custom rates.
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.
Mailgun: Can I upgrade from Free to a paid plan and when does billing begin?
Yes, you can upgrade to paid plans anytime. The first month is free on Foundation ($35/month) and Scale ($90/month) plans, with billing starting on month two.
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.
Mailgun: What currencies and billing periods does Mailgun support?
Mailgun supports monthly billing in USD, EUR, and GBP. Charges are prorated for mid-month signups. Annual billing options are not explicitly listed on the pricing page.
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.
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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