Surveys · head to head
Microsoft Forms vs QuestionPro
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
- -
QuestionPro
Surveys
Survey and experience management platform with a permanently free tier capped at 200 responses
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: 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.; QuestionPro team Edition has a five-seat minimum, so a small team that only needs two or three licences still pays for five.
- They diverge on capability: Microsoft Forms covers Bundled licensing, QuestionPro covers Survey builder.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Microsoft Forms and QuestionPro actually diverge.
| Attribute | Microsoft Forms | QuestionPro |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Included with Microsoft 365, not sold separately | Per user per month |
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 Microsoft Forms
- Bundled licensing
- Very high response ceiling
- File upload questions
- Co-authoring
- eDiscovery coverage
- Surveys Agent in Copilot
Only in QuestionPro
- Survey builder
- QuestionPro CX
- QuestionPro Workforce
- Research Suite
- Offline data collection
- White label reporting
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Microsoft Forms
- Internal surveys and quizzes inside an organisation that already pays for Microsoft 365 and does not want a second vendor contractnot QuestionPro
- Education settings where quizzes need automatic grading and results in Excel without procurement approvalnot QuestionPro
- Quick polls inside Microsoft Teams where the response data should stay in the same tenant as everything elsenot QuestionPro
- Any case where the deciding factor is that no purchase order is requirednot QuestionPro
QuestionPro
- A researcher or student who needs unlimited surveys but stays under 200 responses and wants to pay nothingnot Microsoft Forms
- A single analyst who needs advanced logic and unlimited responses and can justify one Advanced seatnot Microsoft Forms
- A CX team that wants closed-loop case management bundled with survey distributionnot Microsoft Forms
- A market research agency needing MaxDiff and conjoint analysis that SurveyMonkey does not offernot Microsoft Forms
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
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.
QuestionPro
- Team Edition has a five-seat minimum, so a small team that only needs two or three licences still pays for five.
- CX, Workforce and Research Suite are effectively separate products with their own pricing and onboarding, not tiers of the same subscription, which complicates a multi-department rollout.
- The free Essentials plan caps at 200 responses per survey, which a single moderately popular customer survey can exceed in days.
- The interface is denser than Typeform or SurveyMonkey, and teams that want a fast, visually simple survey builder often find QuestionPro slower to set up.
- Enterprise CX and Research Suite pricing is never published, so budgeting for a programme rollout requires a sales conversation before any commitment is possible.
Pricing, plan by plan
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
QuestionPro
Free- EssentialsFree
- 1 user
- 200 responses per survey
- Unlimited surveys and questions
- Advanced$99/month
- 1 user
- Unlimited responses
- Advanced logic and reporting
- Team Edition$83/month
- Minimum 5 users, billed per seat
- Collaboration and role permissions
- Advanced analysis tools
- CX, Workforce, Research Suite$undefined/year
- Sold as separate products with separate quotes
- Volume and module dependent
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.
Choose QuestionPro if
- You need survey builder.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, iOS, Android.
- You also want questionpro cx.
Questions people ask
- Is Microsoft Forms or QuestionPro better?
- Neither clearly leads. Microsoft Forms starts at Free and QuestionPro at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Microsoft Forms or QuestionPro?
- Microsoft Forms starts at Free and QuestionPro at Free.
- Does Microsoft Forms or QuestionPro run on more platforms?
- Both run on Web, iOS, Android, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
- Can I use Microsoft Forms for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is Microsoft Forms best used for?
- Microsoft Forms is most often used for internal surveys and quizzes inside an organisation that already pays for microsoft 365 and does not want a second vendor contract, education settings where quizzes need automatic grading and results in excel without procurement approval, quick polls inside microsoft teams where the response data should stay in the same tenant as everything else, any case where the deciding factor is that no purchase order is required. Of those, internal surveys and quizzes inside an organisation that already pays for microsoft 365 and does not want a second vendor contract and education settings where quizzes need automatic grading and results in excel without procurement approval are not what QuestionPro is typically brought in for.
- What can Microsoft Forms do that QuestionPro cannot?
- Microsoft Forms covers Bundled licensing, Very high response ceiling, File upload questions, Co-authoring. QuestionPro covers Survey builder, QuestionPro CX, QuestionPro Workforce, Research Suite.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
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.
QuestionPro: Is the free plan actually usable long-term?
Yes. Essentials has no time limit, but it caps at 200 responses per survey and one user, which rules it out for anything with meaningful reach.
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.
QuestionPro: Is QuestionPro CX the same product as the survey builder?
No. CX is a separate product built for closed-loop customer experience programmes, priced and sold on its own.
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.
QuestionPro: Does Team Edition have a minimum seat count?
Yes, five seats at roughly $83 per user per month billed annually, so the minimum monthly spend is around $415.
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
More on QuestionPro
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