Surveys · head to head
Microsoft Forms vs Zoho Survey
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
- -
Zoho Survey
Surveys
Survey tool with a choice of data centre region, bundled into the wider Zoho suite
- 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.; Zoho Survey the data centre region is set when the Zoho account is created and changing it later requires a vendor-assisted migration, so a hasty signup can lock an organisation into the wrong jurisdiction.
- They diverge on capability: Microsoft Forms covers Bundled licensing, Zoho Survey covers Regional data centres.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Microsoft Forms and Zoho Survey actually diverge.
| Attribute | Microsoft Forms | Zoho Survey |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Included with Microsoft 365, not sold separately | Free tier, then 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 Zoho Survey
- Regional data centres
- Zoho CRM integration
- Logic and piping
- Offline collection
- Multilingual surveys
- Report sharing
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 Zoho Survey
- Education settings where quizzes need automatic grading and results in Excel without procurement approvalnot Zoho Survey
- Quick polls inside Microsoft Teams where the response data should stay in the same tenant as everything elsenot Zoho Survey
- Any case where the deciding factor is that no purchase order is requirednot Zoho Survey
Zoho Survey
- An organisation already running Zoho CRM that wants survey responses on the customer record without integration worknot Microsoft Forms
- A buyer whose procurement requires European, Indian, Australian or Canadian data residencynot Microsoft Forms
- A support team measuring satisfaction after tickets close in Zoho Desknot Microsoft Forms
- A field team collecting responses offline and syncing when connectivity returnsnot 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.
Zoho Survey
- The data centre region is set when the Zoho account is created and changing it later requires a vendor-assisted migration, so a hasty signup can lock an organisation into the wrong jurisdiction.
- The free tier caps both questions and responses per survey tightly, so it functions as an evaluation rather than a plan any team can run on.
- Reporting and statistical analysis are thin compared with research-grade tools, and advanced methods such as conjoint or maximum difference scaling are absent.
- Integrations outside the Zoho suite are shallow, so organisations on Salesforce, HubSpot or Microsoft stacks lose most of the value that makes the product attractive.
- Interface conventions and quality vary across Zoho applications, so users moving between Survey, CRM and Analytics face inconsistent behaviour and separate learning curves.
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$undefined/year
- Included in the subscription price, not sold separately
- 50,000 responses per form
- No email notification, video insert, Bing image search or phishing protection
Zoho Survey
Free- FreeFree
- Unlimited surveys with a cap on questions and responses per survey
- Basic reporting and link or email distribution
- Zoho branding on surveys
- Paid tiers$undefined/year
- Priced per user with higher response allowances at each tier
- Skip logic, piping, white labelling and offline collection unlocked by tier
- Included for organisations licensing the Zoho One suite
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 Zoho Survey if
- You need regional data centres.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, iOS, Android.
- You also want zoho crm integration.
Questions people ask
- Is Microsoft Forms or Zoho Survey better?
- Neither clearly leads. Microsoft Forms starts at Free and Zoho Survey at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Microsoft Forms or Zoho Survey?
- Microsoft Forms starts at Free and Zoho Survey at Free.
- Does Microsoft Forms or Zoho Survey 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 Zoho Survey is typically brought in for.
- What can Microsoft Forms do that Zoho Survey cannot?
- Microsoft Forms covers Bundled licensing, Very high response ceiling, File upload questions, Co-authoring. Zoho Survey covers Regional data centres, Zoho CRM integration, Logic and piping, Offline 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.
Zoho Survey: Can I choose where my survey data is stored?
Yes, at account creation across several regions including Europe, India, Australia and Canada. Changing it afterwards requires a migration request to Zoho.
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.
Zoho Survey: Is it included in Zoho One?
Yes. If your organisation licences Zoho One, Survey is part of the suite, which usually removes the case for a separate survey subscription.
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.
Zoho Survey: Is it good enough for market research?
For basic questionnaires yes. For quota-managed or statistically demanding studies, a research-grade platform is a better fit.
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 Zoho Survey
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