Both Google Forms and Microsoft Forms are widely used tools for creating surveys and forms online. Each has its unique characteristics and skills. The choice between the two largely depends on your specific needs, preferences, and the ecosystem you’re already using (Google Workspace or Microsoft 365).

Here’s a comparison of Google Forms and Microsoft Forms:

What are Google Forms?

• Google Forms is a web-based program that lets users create, distribute, and evaluate questionnaires, quizzes, assessments, and other forms.
• It is a tool that allows users to create surveys and questionnaires online, for the purpose of gathering and organizing information.
• It is a free form builder that can handle both simple and complex forms.
• With Google Forms, you can plan events, manage registrations, conduct polls, gather contact information, create quizzes, and much more.
• All the data collected through forms can be easily sent to a spreadsheet in Google Sheets for analysis.

Google Forms is widely used for a variety of purposes, including:

• Surveys and feedback collection
• Event registrations
• Contact forms
• Employee feedback and evaluations
• Classroom quizzes and assignments
• Market research
• Customer satisfaction surveys
• Volunteer sign-ups
• Order forms for businesses

What are Microsoft Forms?

The Microsoft 365 suite (formerly Office 365) includes a web-based programme called Microsoft Forms that enables users to construct surveys, tests, and polls.

Common Feature Comparison: Google Forms vs. Microsoft Forms:

Common Feature	Google forms	Microsoft forms
Form Creation:	Both Google Forms and Microsoft Forms allow users to create a wide variety of forms and surveys by adding questions using different question types, such as multiple-choice, short answer, paragraph, and more.
Templates:	Both platforms offer templates to help users get started quickly with common form types, including event registrations, surveys, feedback forms, and quizzes.
Real-Time Collaboration:	Enabling multiple users to work on the same form simultaneously.
Response Collection:	Both platforms automatically collect and store responses in an organized manner. Responses can be viewed within the respective form-building interface and exported to other formats like spreadsheets for further analysis.
Mobile Accessibility:	Forms created with both Google Forms and Microsoft Forms are accessible on both desktop and mobile devices, ensuring that respondents can complete forms using their preferred devices
Customization:	Users can customize the appearance of their forms by adding images, videos, themes, and backgrounds to make them visually appealing and aligned with their brand or theme.
Security:	Both platforms prioritize security and data protection, aligning with the security features of their respective ecosystems (Google Workspace and Microsoft 365).
Analytics and Reporting:	Both tools provide basic analytics and reporting features, including summary charts and graphs to visualize response data.
Quizzes:	Both offer quiz functionality, allowing users to create quizzes with automatic grading. This is commonly used for educational assessments.
Branching Logic:	Both platforms support branching logic, which lets users create forms with conditional questions based on respondents’ previous answers, providing a more tailored experience.
Education-Focused Features:	Both platforms include features designed for educators, making them suitable for creating classroom quizzes, assignments, and assessments. Integration with classroom management tools is also available
Anonymous Surveys:	Users can create anonymous surveys on both platforms to encourage honest feedback without revealing respondents’ identities.

Feature Comparison: Google Forms vs. Microsoft Forms

Feature	Google forms	Microsoft forms
Ease of Use:	Known for its user-friendly and intuitive interface, making it easy for beginners to create forms quickly.	Equally user-friendly, with a straightforward interface, suitable for both novice and experienced users.
Templates:	Offers a variety of pre-designed templates for various use cases.	Provides templates for different purposes, including surveys, quizzes, and feedback forms.
Collaboration:	Allowing multiple users to work on the same form simultaneously.	Making it easy for teams to collaborate on forms.
Question Types:	Offers a range of question types, including multiple-choice, short answer, paragraph, and more	Provides similar question types, including multiple-choice, text, rating, and others
Customization:	Allows customization of form appearance with themes, images, and videos.	Offers some customization options, such as theme changes.
Integration:	Seamlessly integrates with other Google Workspace apps like Sheets, Drive, and Calendar.	Integrates with Microsoft 365 apps such as Excel, SharePoint, and Teams.
Branching Logic:	Supports branching logic, enabling conditional questions based on previous responses.	Also supports branching logic, allowing for more complex forms with conditional logic
Response Collection:	Automatically collects and stores responses in Google Sheets for analysis.	Stores responses within the application. Iintegrates with Excel for advanced analysis.
Quizzes:	Offers quiz functionality with automatic grading and feedback for educators.	Equally supports quiz creation, grading, and feedback, making it suitable for educational assessments
Availability:	Available to users with a Google account.	Available to users with a Microsoft 365 subscription.

Pros of Google Forms:

• Google Forms is known for its user-friendly and intuitive interface, making it easy for beginners to create forms and surveys quickly.
• Offers a variety of pre-designed templates for different use.
• Multiple users can collaborate on a single form simultaneously, making it great for team projects or group surveys.
• Seamlessly integrates with other Google Workspace apps like Sheets, Drive, and Calendar, streamlining your workflow if you’re already using Google tools.
• Forms are accessible on both desktop and mobile devices, ensuring that respondents can complete forms on their preferred devices.
• Allows for customization of the form’s appearance with themes, images, and videos.
• Supports branching logic for creating forms with conditional questions based on respondents’ previous answers.
• Offers quiz functionality with automatic grading and feedback, making it suitable for educational assessments.

Cons of Google Forms:

• Limited Customization: While it offers customization options, it may not provide as much flexibility in design and formatting compared to some other form-building tools.
• Advanced Features: Some advanced features and capabilities may require a Google Workspace subscription.

Pros of Microsoft Forms:

• Seamlessly integrates with other Microsoft 365 apps such as Excel, SharePoint, and Teams, making it a natural choice for organizations already using the Microsoft ecosystem.
• Provides templates for various purposes, including surveys, quizzes, and feedback forms.
• Supports branching logic, allowing for more complex forms with conditional questions based on respondents’ previous answers.
• Supports real-time collaboration, making it suitable for team projects and group surveys.
• Offers features specifically designed for educators, including the ability to create assignments, and quizzes, and integrate with classroom management tools.
• Aligns with Microsoft 365 security features and compliance controls, ensuring data protection and privacy.
• Forms created with Microsoft Forms are accessible on both desktop and mobile devices

Cons of Microsoft Forms:

• Less Intuitive Interface: Some users find the interface to be less intuitive compared to Google Forms, particularly if they are not already familiar with Microsoft 365.
• Limited Customization: While it provides customization options, it may not offer as much design flexibility as some other form-building tools.
• Availability: Microsoft Forms is typically available to users with a Microsoft 365 subscription, which may not be free.
• Advanced Features: Some advanced features may be limited compared to specialized survey and form-building tools.

Pricing Comparison: Google Forms vs. Microsoft Forms

	Pricing Comparison
Google Forms	Google Forms reigns supreme here. Like other Google suite products, all Google Forms features are free forever with no premium plans. Although, the Google Forms logo remains on all created forms. Using Google Forms, you can create forms, questions, and responses for free. Google Forms is free for individual use, including 15GB of storage per user. The product also comes as part of the comprehensive Google Workspace package, which is priced as follows: Business Starter: $6 per user per month. Business Standard: $12 per user per month
Microsoft Forms	Microsoft Forms is a part of the Office 365 suite that comes with a 1-month free trial for up to 25 users. Unlike other tools in their free trial, Microsoft has no restrictions on what you can use and the features you can try. After the free trial period, the Office 365 suite for business starts from $6 per user per month. Once you’ve got this or other premium plans, Microsoft Forms is completely free to use.

Which is better, Google Forms vs. Microsoft Forms?

Both have advantages and disadvantages, but overall Google Forms is the best option if you want a free tool with a simple user interface and all the capabilities you need to conduct a survey. Make no mistake: Microsoft Forms is ideal for those who wish to design thorough audience surveys and polls.

Alternatively, Microsoft Forms is the perfect tool if you are obsessed with extensive data analysis and we all know that Excel is the superior tool in this case. It is continually expanding, and new features are coming soon!

Both Google Forms and Microsoft Forms are capable tools for creating surveys and forms, but the choice between them largely depends on your existing software ecosystem, specific requirements, and whether you need more advanced features like branching logic (which Microsoft Forms offers) or prefer the simplicity of Google Forms.