Surveys · head to head
Microsoft Forms vs Swydo
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
Swydo
Marketing
Automated client reporting for marketing agencies, priced per data source rather than per client
- From
- €69/month
- Free plan
- No
The short version
- Only Microsoft Forms has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- 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.; Swydo pricing by data source punishes agencies with many small clients: forty clients on two connections each costs more than the headline EUR 69 suggests, and the per-source rate only starts falling after ten sources.
- They diverge on capability: Microsoft Forms covers Bundled licensing, Swydo covers Multi-platform connectors.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Microsoft Forms and Swydo actually diverge.
| Attribute | Microsoft Forms | Swydo |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free | €69/month |
| Pricing model | Included with Microsoft 365, not sold separately | Per month by data source count |
| Free tier | Yes | No |
| Platforms | Web, iOS, Android | Web |
| Category | Surveys | Marketing |
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 Microsoft Forms
- Bundled licensing
- Very high response ceiling
- File upload questions
- Co-authoring
- eDiscovery coverage
- Surveys Agent in Copilot
Only in Swydo
- Multi-platform connectors
- Report templates
- Goal and budget tracking
- White label delivery
- Client portal
- Scheduled distribution
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 Swydo
- Education settings where quizzes need automatic grading and results in Excel without procurement approvalnot Swydo
- Quick polls inside Microsoft Teams where the response data should stay in the same tenant as everything elsenot Swydo
- Any case where the deciding factor is that no purchase order is requirednot Swydo
Swydo
- A performance agency with a dozen retainer clients that each need a branded monthly PDF without an analyst rebuilding itnot Microsoft Forms
- An in-house team reporting on paid search and paid social to a board that will not open a Looker Studio linknot Microsoft Forms
- An agency that wants unlimited internal users because juniors, account managers and the finance team all need accessnot Microsoft Forms
- Replacing a per-client reporting tool when the client roster is small but each client runs many channelsnot 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.
Swydo
- Pricing by data source punishes agencies with many small clients: forty clients on two connections each costs more than the headline EUR 69 suggests, and the per-source rate only starts falling after ten sources.
- There is no data warehouse or SQL layer, so any calculation the interface does not offer natively cannot be built, and complex attribution reporting has to happen elsewhere.
- Historical data lives with the connection, so removing a departed client destroys the reporting history for that account unless it was exported first.
- The connector list is around forty sources and skews to mainstream ad platforms, so agencies serving niche verticals with bespoke platforms will still need manual data entry or Google Sheets bridges.
- Report design is template-driven rather than free-form, so agencies that sell on the polish of their deliverables often find they cannot match a designed InDesign or Canva output.
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
Swydo
€69/month- Swydo$69/month
- Ten data sources included
- Unlimited clients, users, dashboards and reports
- White labelling and custom sending domain
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 Microsoft Forms or Swydo better?
- Neither clearly leads. Microsoft Forms starts at Free and Swydo at €69/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Microsoft Forms or Swydo?
- Microsoft Forms has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Microsoft Forms and €69/month for Swydo.
- Does Microsoft Forms or Swydo run on more platforms?
- Microsoft Forms runs on Web, iOS, Android. Swydo runs on Web.
- Can I use Microsoft Forms for free?
- Yes. Microsoft Forms has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Swydo starts at €69/month.
- 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 Swydo is typically brought in for.
- What can Microsoft Forms do that Swydo cannot?
- Microsoft Forms covers Bundled licensing, Very high response ceiling, File upload questions, Co-authoring. Swydo covers Multi-platform connectors, Report templates, Goal and budget tracking, White label delivery.
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.
Swydo: Does Swydo charge per client?
No. Clients, users and reports are unlimited. You pay a base fee plus a per-data-source charge above ten sources.
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.
Swydo: What is a data source?
One authenticated connection to one platform for one account, so one client with Google Ads and GA4 is two sources.
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.
Swydo: Is there a free plan?
No, only a fourteen day trial. Billing starts at EUR 69 per month.
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.
Swydo: Can clients log in themselves?
Yes, clients get live dashboard access at no extra seat cost.
Related pages
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