Microsoft Forms vs Google Forms for a small business

Disclosure first: I build on Microsoft 365 for a living, so my bias runs toward Microsoft Forms. Where Google Forms does the job better, this page says so.

Short answer: use Microsoft Forms if your team is on Microsoft 365 and the answers should go to Excel, SharePoint or Power Automate. Use Google Forms if your team is on Google accounts and the answers should go to Google Sheets. The real choice is which account system your team and your customers already use.

The two form builders

Microsoft Forms is a form builder that comes with a Microsoft account. Microsoft says you can create a form with "Microsoft 365 school credentials, Microsoft 365 work credentials, or Microsoft account (Hotmail, Live, or Outlook.com)".

Google Forms is a form builder from Google. Google says "When you create a Google Form, it's saved in Google Drive." You can start from a blank form, or from Google Sheets or Google Drive.

Who can answer the form

This is the first thing to check. It decides whether your customers can use the form without an account.

Microsoft Forms gives three choices for who can respond. Microsoft describes them like this:

"Anyone inside or outside of your organization can submit responses to your form or quiz."
"Only people within your organization, signed in with a work or school account, can submit responses to your form or quiz."
"Only people or groups in your organization that you specify can respond to your form or quiz."

For the last two, Microsoft says "You can choose to have their name recorded or not, and to limit responses to one per person." If "Anyone can respond" is greyed out on your screen, see our guide "Microsoft Forms: why "Anyone can respond" is greyed out".

Google Forms has a sign-in rule on its response settings page. Google says "To access and fill out the form, users must sign in to their Google Account." That sentence is on the page that describes the "Limit to 1 response" setting. Google's pages do not say whether a form with no limit can be filled out without an account. Open your own form's Settings and test it from a private browser window before you send it to customers.

Google also says owners "can restrict the access to a domain, trusted audience, or group of users" before publishing.

Branching

Branching means the form shows only the questions that apply to the person.

Microsoft says "You can add branching logic to a survey or quiz so that it changes according to the responses to specific questions." It also says "You can only branch to a consecutive question and not a preceding one." To end the form at a question, you choose "End of the form" in that question's drop-down list. Exact names may differ on your screen. If branching sends people to the wrong place, see our guide "Microsoft Forms branching sends people to the wrong question".

Google works with sections. Google says "You can set up a survey so that people only see certain sections based on their answers." It also says "'Go to section based on answer' is only available for Multiple choice and Dropdown question types." To end the survey on an answer, Google says "you can also choose Submit form."

The two tools do the same job in different ways. Microsoft branches from a question. Google branches from an answer to a section. If your form has several paths, build a small test version in both and click through it.

File upload

A small business may need a customer to send a photo or a document.

Microsoft says "File upload is only available when "Only people in my organization can respond" or "Specific people in my organization can respond" is the selected setting." So the person who uploads must be inside your organization. Microsoft adds: "File upload questions are not available for personal forms when Microsoft Information Barrier is enabled." Microsoft also says "you can find those files in your OneDrive for Business folder". On limits, Microsoft says you choose a "maximum file size (10MB, 100MB, or 1GB) you'll allow per question" and "A maximum of 10 files is allowed to be uploaded per question." You also choose the file types: "Word, Excel, PPT, PDF, Image, Video, or Audio." If the option is greyed out, see our guide "Microsoft Forms file upload is greyed out for outside people".

For Google, the question types page says: "To answer this question, responders need to sign in to a Google Account." It also says: "For the form owner, uploaded files are stored in a new folder on Google Drive." The owner can set the file types, the number of files and the maximum file size. Google adds that the question type is unavailable when the form is stored in a shared drive or when an administrator turns on Data Loss Prevention. Google's settings page also lists "File upload question" among the items that stop a form from being embedded in an email, so share it by link.

Quizzes

Microsoft Forms: in a quiz you mark the correct answer with a check mark, and you add points in the Points box. Microsoft says "Add a number in the Points text box to assign a point value for a correct answer to the quiz question." You can also set a message that respondents see when they pick a given answer.

Google Forms: Google says you can make an answer key, assign points and add feedback on all question types. You can choose to release grades immediately after each submission or later, after manual review.

Security and where the form lives

Both tools let the owner limit who can answer, as the section above shows. Microsoft's data storage page lists where Forms data is stored by the location of your tenant, so ask your admin which applies to you. For Google, a form is saved in the owner's Google Drive. I rank neither tool as more secure. Check the rules your own admin has set.

Where the answers go

Microsoft Forms keeps answers in the form. Microsoft also says: "From Responses Overview, you can Open results in Excel to capture a snapshot of your current response data in a workbook." To send each answer to a list, see our guide "Save Microsoft Forms answers to a SharePoint list".

Google Forms is built around Google Sheets. Google says "If you store your responses in a spreadsheet, Google Sheets automatically puts your data in a table." For a form made from Google Sheets, Google says "the responses will be saved in a new sheet." Google also says "In the “Summary” tab, you can find the list of people who responded to your form."

Cost

I print no prices here. Prices differ by plan. Microsoft Forms comes with Microsoft accounts, and which features you get depends on your plan, so check with your admin. For Google, check the current price on Google's own pricing page for your plan. A fair way to compare: count how many people build forms and how many people only fill them in. Then ask each vendor what that group needs.

Row by row

Swipe sideways to see all columns.

Topic	Microsoft Forms	Google Forms
Fits	teams in Microsoft 365	teams in Google accounts
Who creates	work, school or Microsoft account	Google account, saved in Drive
Who answers	anyone, people in my organization, or specific people	sign-in rule on the Limit to 1 response setting; restrict by domain or group
Branching	from a question, forward only	to a section, Multiple choice and Dropdown only
File upload	organization only, 10 files per question, size cap of 10MB, 100MB or 1GB	responders sign in to a Google Account, files go to the owner's Drive
Quizzes	correct-answer check mark, points, message per answer	answer key, points, feedback, release grades now or later
Answers	in the form; send on with a flow	in the form or a Google Sheet
Price	check with your admin	check the current price

Pick Microsoft Forms if

Your team already has Microsoft 365.
You want answers to feed a SharePoint list or a Power Automate flow.
Your forms are for staff, members or clients inside your organization.
You want files to go to OneDrive for Business.

Pick Google Forms if

Your team already uses Google accounts and Drive.
You want answers in a Google Sheet.
Your branching fits Multiple choice or Dropdown questions.
You do not use Microsoft 365 at all.

Test both before you send one

Write down who fills in your form: staff, or outside customers.
Write down if they need to send a file.
Write down where you want the answers: a list, a sheet or an email.
Check which account system your team already uses.
Build the same short form in both. Send it to two people. Keep the one that works for them.

One way to start: build one form with five questions, one branch and no file upload. Add the file question only after the basic form works.

What to avoid

Do not pick by a feature list alone. Pick by who fills in the form and where the answers must go.
Do not send a form to customers before you test it from a private browser window.
Do not keep one form live in both tools. Answers split, and nobody trusts either count.
Do not plan around a file upload rule you have not read on the vendor's current help page.
Do not trust a plan feature from last year. Open the vendor help page on the day you decide.

When to get help

You can build all of this yourself in Microsoft 365. If you would rather have it built and tested for your team, I do that. A tracker like this is a fixed price: $5,000 for one, built in 2 weeks. See "What a SharePoint tracker costs to build". Bring one example of the problem to a free call.

Tell me what's still manual

I am Al Davies. I run 250 High Street LLC and build SharePoint trackers and Power Automate flows for operations teams. I work remotely. The first call is free, and I will not try to sell you anything.

See trackers I built: Tools I built

FAQ

Can customers without an account fill in a Microsoft or Google form?

Microsoft says "Anyone inside or outside of your organization can submit responses to your form or quiz" when you pick "Anyone can respond", and your admin can limit this setting. Google says "To access and fill out the form, users must sign in to their Google Account" on the page about limiting to one response. Test your own form from a private window.

Which one handles file upload better?

Microsoft limits file upload to people in your organization, with up to 10 files per question and a size cap of 10MB, 100MB or 1GB. Google asks responders to sign in to a Google Account and stores files in the owner's Drive. For outside customers, test before you rely on either.

Which one is better for quizzes?

Both support points and feedback. Microsoft has a Points box and a correct-answer check mark. Google has an answer key, points and feedback on all question types.

Which one is more secure?

Both let the owner limit who can respond. Microsoft lists three response choices, and Google says owners "can restrict the access to a domain, trusted audience, or group of users". Ask your admin which rules apply to you.

Where do the answers go?

Google can store answers in a Google Sheet. Microsoft Forms can open results in Excel, or send answers on with Power Automate, for example into a SharePoint list.

Can I move a form from one tool to the other?

One way to start (our advice, not a Microsoft rule): list your questions, rebuild them by hand in the new tool, then send a test response. Branching rules do not carry over, so rebuild them and click through every path.