Surveys · head to head
Microsoft Forms vs SurveyCTO
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
- -
SurveyCTO
Surveys
Offline field survey platform priced by submissions rather than seats, built for research data quality
- 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.; SurveyCTO pricing is by submission volume, forms and storage rather than by users, so a small team running continuous high-volume collection can pay more than a 200-person survey team that runs for six weeks
- They diverge on capability: Microsoft Forms covers Bundled licensing, SurveyCTO covers Offline collection.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Microsoft Forms and SurveyCTO actually diverge.
| Attribute | Microsoft Forms | SurveyCTO |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Included with Microsoft 365, not sold separately | Per month by submission volume |
| Platforms | Web, iOS, Android | Web, Android, iOS |
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 Microsoft Forms
- Bundled licensing
- Very high response ceiling
- File upload questions
- Co-authoring
- eDiscovery coverage
- Surveys Agent in Copilot
Only in SurveyCTO
- Offline collection
- XLSForm authoring
- Automated quality checks
- Audio auditing
- Case management
- Random assignment
- Server region selection
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 SurveyCTO
- Education settings where quizzes need automatic grading and results in Excel without procurement approvalnot SurveyCTO
- Quick polls inside Microsoft Teams where the response data should stay in the same tenant as everything elsenot SurveyCTO
- Any case where the deciding factor is that no purchase order is requirednot SurveyCTO
SurveyCTO
- A household survey with 200 enumerators across a country where paying per seat would cost more than the fieldworknot Microsoft Forms
- An impact evaluation that needs audio auditing and timing metadata to prove interviews were conducted as reportednot Microsoft Forms
- A panel study revisiting the same households annually and needing offline case assignment to find them againnot Microsoft Forms
- A statistics unit that must keep data inside a specific region and produce a SOC 2 report for its fundernot 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.
SurveyCTO
- Pricing is by submission volume, forms and storage rather than by users, so a small team running continuous high-volume collection can pay more than a 200-person survey team that runs for six weeks
- Forms are authored in XLSForm spreadsheet syntax, which is precise and versionable but has a real learning curve, and organisations without someone comfortable in it stall at form design
- Overage is charged at 100 US dollars per 1,000 extra submissions, which is easy to trigger on the Basic tier at 5,000 a month and produces surprise invoices during an active field round
- Server region selection only appears on the Pro tier and a custom GDPR data processing agreement only on Advanced, so European data protection requirements push the price to at least 315 and often 630 dollars a month regardless of volume
- It is built for structured research fieldwork, not for business process forms, so it has no dispatch, no invoicing and no formatted document output, and a field service business would be buying the wrong tool
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
SurveyCTO
Free- CommunityFree
- Permanent free subscription for testing and training
- 10 forms
- 200 monthly submissions
- Basic$225/month
- Billed annually, 250 USD month to month
- 100 forms
- 10 GB storage
- Pro$315/month
- Billed annually, 350 USD month to month
- 500 forms
- 25 GB storage
- Advanced$630/month
- Billed annually, 700 USD month to month
- Unlimited forms, storage and submissions
- Advanced offline case management
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 SurveyCTO if
- You need offline collection.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Android, iOS.
- You also want xlsform authoring.
Questions people ask
- Is Microsoft Forms or SurveyCTO better?
- Neither clearly leads. Microsoft Forms starts at Free and SurveyCTO at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Microsoft Forms or SurveyCTO?
- Microsoft Forms starts at Free and SurveyCTO at Free.
- Does Microsoft Forms or SurveyCTO run on more platforms?
- Microsoft Forms runs on Web, iOS, Android. SurveyCTO runs on Web, Android, iOS.
- 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 SurveyCTO is typically brought in for.
- What can Microsoft Forms do that SurveyCTO cannot?
- Microsoft Forms covers Bundled licensing, Very high response ceiling, File upload questions, Co-authoring. SurveyCTO covers Offline collection, XLSForm authoring, Automated quality checks, Audio auditing.
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.
SurveyCTO: Do I pay per enumerator?
No. Users and devices are unlimited on every paid tier. You pay for monthly submissions, forms and storage.
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.
SurveyCTO: Is there a free version?
Yes, a permanent community subscription with 10 forms, 200 monthly submissions and 200 MB of storage, intended for testing and training rather than production.
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.
SurveyCTO: What happens if I exceed my submissions?
Extra credits are 100 US dollars per 1,000, with discounts of 20 per cent or more at volume. Plan the tier around your peak field month, not your average.
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.
SurveyCTO: Can I choose where the data is stored?
Only on Pro and above. If data residency matters, budget for at least the Pro tier.
Related pages
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