Google Forms vs Microsoft Forms: Which Should You Use?
Quick answer: Both are free and both are good. Pick Google Forms if your files live in Google Drive and you analyze responses in Sheets; pick Microsoft Forms if your world is Microsoft 365, Teams and Excel. On mobile, Microsoft has an app experience — Google doesn't, which is the gap FormMaker fills.
Google Forms and Microsoft Forms are the two free form builders most people actually have access to already — one bundled with a Google account, the other with a Microsoft account. They overlap on maybe 90% of what a typical user needs, so the comparison rarely comes down to features. It comes down to where your responses should land, who you collaborate with, and what device you're building on. Here's the honest breakdown.
Price: a tie, with fine print
Both products are free for personal use with no time limit. Google Forms is free with any Google account and imposes no cap on the number of responses a form can collect. Microsoft Forms is free with a personal Microsoft account, with higher response limits and admin controls on paid Microsoft 365 plans. Organizations pay for the surrounding suite — Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 — not for the form tool itself. Nobody should choose between these two on price.
Ecosystem: the real deciding factor
This is where the decision actually gets made. Google Forms saves to Drive, streams responses into Google Sheets, attaches to Google Classroom assignments, and shares like any other Google file. Microsoft Forms lives in the Microsoft 365 world: responses sync to Excel, forms embed in Teams channels and PowerPoint, and school or company accounts manage everything through the same admin center as Outlook and OneDrive. Using the form tool from the other ecosystem means constant exporting and re-sharing. Match the tool to where your collaborators already are.
Question types: near parity
Both cover the essentials: multiple choice, checkboxes, dropdowns, short and long text, dates, ratings/scales, and file upload (with sign-in requirements and storage caveats on both sides). Google adds a few extras like the checkbox grid and multiple-choice grid, which are handy for "rate each item" questions. Microsoft counters with a built-in ranking question and a Likert question type, plus polished theme suggestions. Neither side has a question type that should swing your decision alone.
Quizzes: both strong, different classrooms
Both let you turn a form into a graded quiz with answer keys, point values, and automatic feedback. Google Forms quizzes plug into Google Classroom, which makes it the default in Google-based schools. Microsoft Forms quizzes integrate with Teams for Education and support math input, which teachers on Microsoft-based accounts appreciate. Pick whichever matches your school's platform — fighting the ecosystem is harder than any feature gap.
Mobile experience: Microsoft's clearest win — with an asterisk
Microsoft offers a Forms experience inside the Microsoft 365 (Office) mobile app, so you can create and edit forms on a phone with an interface built for touch. Google offers nothing: there is no official Google Forms app for iPhone or Android, and the web editor on a phone is a desktop interface you pinch-zoom through. That's a genuine advantage for Microsoft out of the box.
The asterisk: this gap is fixable on the Google side. FormMaker (our app) is a native mobile editor for iPhone and Android that creates and manages real Google Forms through your own Google account — the forms it makes are ordinary Google Forms with the same links and the same Sheets-connected responses. With it installed, mobile stops being a reason to leave the Google ecosystem.
Response analysis: Sheets vs Excel
Google Forms streams responses into a linked Google Sheet in real time — open the sheet anytime and new submissions appear as rows. Microsoft Forms syncs to an Excel workbook; on Microsoft 365 accounts, live sync into Excel for the web works well, while personal accounts historically leaned on downloading a snapshot. Both tools also show built-in summary charts that are fine for a quick read. If your analysis habits live in Sheets formulas, that settles it; same if they live in Excel and Power BI.
Limits
Google Forms has no stated cap on responses per form — practical limits come from Google Sheets' cell limits if you link a sheet. Microsoft Forms caps questions per form and responses per form, with the ceiling depending on account type (paid Microsoft 365 accounts get substantially higher response limits than free personal accounts). For a class quiz or an event RSVP neither limit matters; for very large ongoing collection, Google's approach is more forgiving.
Comparison table
| Google Forms | Microsoft Forms | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, no response cap | Free; higher limits on paid M365 |
| Ecosystem | Drive, Sheets, Classroom | Excel, Teams, Microsoft 365 |
| Question types | Core set + grid questions | Core set + ranking, Likert |
| Quizzes | Yes, with Classroom integration | Yes, with Teams integration |
| Official mobile app | None (FormMaker fills the gap) | Via Microsoft 365 app |
| Response analysis | Live Google Sheets link | Excel sync + summary charts |
| Limits | Effectively unlimited responses | Question and response caps by plan |
Verdict by use case
- Google Workspace team or Google Classroom school: Google Forms.
- Microsoft 365 company or Teams-based school: Microsoft Forms.
- Personal use, no ecosystem loyalty: Google Forms — the unlimited free tier is hard to beat.
- You build forms mostly from your phone: Microsoft Forms out of the box, or Google Forms with FormMaker if your data belongs in Sheets.
- High-volume ongoing collection: Google Forms, for the friendlier limits.
FAQ
Is Google Forms or Microsoft Forms free?
Both. Google Forms is free with any Google account and doesn't cap responses. Microsoft Forms is free with a Microsoft account, with higher limits on paid Microsoft 365 plans.
Does Google Forms or Microsoft Forms have a mobile app?
Microsoft offers Forms inside its Microsoft 365 mobile app. Google makes no official Forms app — use the mobile browser or FormMaker, which creates real Google Forms with a native editor.
Which is better for quizzes?
They're closely matched — answer keys, points and feedback on both. Choose based on whether your classroom runs on Google Classroom or Microsoft Teams.