Surveys · head to head
Microsoft Forms vs Tally
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
- -
Tally
Surveys
Form builder with unlimited forms and responses on the free plan, edited like a text document
- 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.; Tally built-in analysis is limited to basic summaries, so any real analysis means exporting responses to a spreadsheet or database.
- They diverge on capability: Microsoft Forms covers Bundled licensing, Tally covers Document-style editor.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Microsoft Forms and Tally actually diverge.
| Attribute | Microsoft Forms | Tally |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Included with Microsoft 365, not sold separately | Free tier, paid for branding and team features |
| Platforms | Web, iOS, Android | Web |
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 Tally
- Document-style editor
- Unlimited free responses
- Conditional logic and calculations
- Payment collection
- Notion and Airtable sync
- Custom domains
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 Tally
- Education settings where quizzes need automatic grading and results in Excel without procurement approvalnot Tally
- Quick polls inside Microsoft Teams where the response data should stay in the same tenant as everything elsenot Tally
- Any case where the deciding factor is that no purchase order is requirednot Tally
Tally
- A startup collecting waitlist or beta signups that will grow well past a free response cap elsewherenot Microsoft Forms
- A small team that wants form submissions landing directly in Notion or Airtablenot Microsoft Forms
- A charity or community group running a public consultation with no software budgetnot Microsoft Forms
- A quick internal request or intake form that needs to exist within the hournot 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.
Tally
- Built-in analysis is limited to basic summaries, so any real analysis means exporting responses to a spreadsheet or database.
- There is no offline data collection, which rules it out for field research or events without reliable connectivity.
- The company is very small and bootstrapped, so support is email and documentation with no account management, and some procurement processes will reject that.
- Advanced research features such as quotas, randomisation and panel integration are absent, so it is a form builder rather than a research instrument.
- Design control is deliberately narrow, so brands that need pixel-level form styling will find the theming options constraining even on the paid tier.
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
Tally
Free- FreeFree
- Unlimited forms, questions and responses
- Conditional logic, calculations and file uploads
- Integrations including Notion, Google Sheets and webhooks
- Tally Pro$29/month
- Remove Tally branding
- Custom domains and form redirects
- Team workspaces and collaboration
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 Tally if
- You need document-style editor.
- You want to start without paying.
- You also want unlimited free responses.
Questions people ask
- Is Microsoft Forms or Tally better?
- Neither clearly leads. Microsoft Forms starts at Free and Tally at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Microsoft Forms or Tally?
- Microsoft Forms starts at Free and Tally at Free.
- Does Microsoft Forms or Tally run on more platforms?
- Microsoft Forms runs on Web, iOS, Android. Tally runs on Web.
- 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 Tally is typically brought in for.
- What can Microsoft Forms do that Tally cannot?
- Microsoft Forms covers Bundled licensing, Very high response ceiling, File upload questions, Co-authoring. Tally covers Document-style editor, Unlimited free responses, Conditional logic and calculations, Payment collection.
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.
Tally: Is the free plan really unlimited?
Yes for forms, questions and responses. The paid tier sells branding removal, custom domains and team features rather than volume.
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.
Tally: Is Tally suitable for research surveys?
Only simple ones. It has logic and calculations but no quotas, randomisation or panel management.
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.
Tally: Is it GDPR compliant?
Tally is a European company operating under GDPR, and buyers with strict requirements should request the data processing agreement before rollout.
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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