Microsoft Forms Alternatives 2026: 6 Free Options
Microsoft Forms alternatives: Google Forms, Tally, Jotform, Typeform and 2 more. Prices and licenses checked October 23, 2026.
•3 min read•Forms & Surveys
Verdict:Microsoft Forms is easy to justify when you already have Microsoft 365 for work or school, because it comes bundled and signs people in through the organisation. People look elsewhere when they have no such licence, need to share forms with outsiders, or hit the limits of its logic and design. Google Forms is the simplest swap and costs nothing, so start there for quizzes, sign-up sheets and quick polls. Tally is the better pick when design matters and you want unlimited forms on the free plan; its paid plan starts at $24 a month. Jotform is stronger for business forms with payments and a large template library, though its free Starter is capped at 5 active forms and 100 submissions a month. Typeform gives a friendlier one-question flow for customer surveys, but it gets expensive quickly. For research that needs branching, quotas and data you control, LimeSurvey's Community Edition is free to self-host, and Formbricks fits product teams collecting feedback inside an app. The trade-off is integration. Forms writes straight to Excel, Teams and SharePoint with no setup; each alternative needs an export, Zapier-style connector or manual copy. If your whole workflow runs in Microsoft 365, stay put. If responses go to outsiders or to a database you manage, leave.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Price | Platforms | Best for | Tested |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Forms | Free | Web | Free quick surveys | Docs only |
| Tally | Free (Unlimited forms and submissions within Tally's fair usage guidelines); paid from $24 per month (Pro; yearly billing is advertised as 2 months off) | Web | Unlimited free forms | Docs only |
| Jotform | Free (Starter plan with 5 active forms, 100 submissions a month and 100 MB of upload space); paid from $34 per month, billed annually (Bronze; $39 billed monthly) | Web, iOS, Android | Template-heavy business forms | Docs only |
| Typeform | Free (Free plan with a limited number of responses a month; the page gives no count); paid from $28 per month, billed yearly (Basic, 100 responses a month, 1 user; $39 billed monthly) | Web, iOS, Android | Engaging customer surveys | Docs only |
| LimeSurvey | Free (Free package on LimeSurvey Cloud (see the pricing page for limits); Community Edition is self-hosted); paid from $36 per month, billed annually (Expert; Basic is $39 billed monthly) | Web, Self-hosted | Research-grade surveys, self-hosted | Docs only |
| Formbricks | Free (Hobby plan: 1 workspace and 250 responses a month); paid from $74 per month (Pro, 3 workspaces and 2,000 responses; annual billing gives 2 months free) | Web, Self-hosted | In-app product feedback | Docs only |
| SurveyMonkey | Free (Basic plan shows only a limited number of responses per survey); paid from $30 per user/month, Team Advantage, minimum 3 users, billed annually | Web | Surveys | Docs only |
Independent comparison. Paid placements are labelled separately; editorial links earn no affiliate commissions. Learn more.
Good fit if
- You want the easiest free replacement for a quick survey (Google Forms is the pick)
- You want well-designed forms with unlimited submissions (Tally is the pick)
- You need payments and many ready-made templates (Jotform is the pick)
- You run surveys that need advanced logic on your own server (LimeSurvey is the pick)
- You collect feedback inside a product (Formbricks is the pick)
Not ideal if
- You rely on Microsoft Forms features or integrations that these tools do not replicate
Microsoft Forms today: Free (Free with a Microsoft account (third-party reports; the official page was not readable)) (Microsoft Forms pricing, checked 2026-10-23).
Google Forms
Compared with Microsoft Forms: Free with a Google account and the most direct swap for quick surveys and quizzes. It lacks Microsoft Forms' tie to Teams and Entra sign-in, but works for anyone with no licence.
Price: Free (Google Forms pricing, checked 2026-10-23).
Platforms and license: Web. Proprietary.
Best for: Free quick surveys.
Tally
Compared with Microsoft Forms: Free plan with unlimited forms and submissions within fair use, and a Notion-style editor. Paid starts at $24 a month; you lose Microsoft's Excel integration but gain logic and nicer design.
Price: Free (Unlimited forms and submissions within Tally's fair usage guidelines); paid from $24 per month (Pro; yearly billing is advertised as 2 months off) (Tally pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web. Proprietary.
Best for: Unlimited free forms.
Jotform
Compared with Microsoft Forms: Free Starter plan with 5 active forms and 100 submissions a month, and a huge template library. Paid starts at $34 a month billed annually; limits are tighter than Forms' bundled use.
Price: Free (Starter plan with 5 active forms, 100 submissions a month and 100 MB of upload space); paid from $34 per month, billed annually (Bronze; $39 billed monthly) (Jotform pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web, iOS, Android. Proprietary.
Best for: Template-heavy business forms.
Typeform
Compared with Microsoft Forms: Free plan with a limited number of responses and a conversational, one-question-at-a-time layout. Basic is $28 a month billed yearly; nicer for respondents than Microsoft Forms, pricier to scale.
Price: Free (Free plan with a limited number of responses a month; the page gives no count); paid from $28 per month, billed yearly (Basic, 100 responses a month, 1 user; $39 billed monthly) (Typeform pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web, iOS, Android. Proprietary.
Best for: Engaging customer surveys.
LimeSurvey
Compared with Microsoft Forms: Open source (GPL-2.0 or later) with a free self-hosted Community Edition and a free cloud package. Far deeper survey logic than Microsoft Forms, with a steeper setup.
Price: Free (Free package on LimeSurvey Cloud (see the pricing page for limits); Community Edition is self-hosted); paid from $36 per month, billed annually (Expert; Basic is $39 billed monthly) (LimeSurvey pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web, Self-hosted. GPL-2.0 or later (open source).
Project activity: 3.8k GitHub stars · last commit Oct 27, 2026
Best for: Research-grade surveys, self-hosted.
Formbricks
Compared with Microsoft Forms: AGPL-3.0 core with a free Hobby plan of 250 responses a month and a self-hosted option. Aimed at in-product feedback rather than office quizzes, so it replaces Forms for product teams only.
Price: Free (Hobby plan: 1 workspace and 250 responses a month); paid from $74 per month (Pro, 3 workspaces and 2,000 responses; annual billing gives 2 months free) (Formbricks pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Web, Self-hosted. AGPL-3.0 (core; enterprise features under a separate license) (open source).
Project activity: 13.2k GitHub stars · latest release 6.1.2 (Oct 27, 2026) · last commit Oct 27, 2026
Best for: In-app product feedback.
Other popular options (paid)
SurveyMonkey
Compared with Microsoft Forms: Team Advantage is $30 per user a month billed annually with a 3-user minimum. The Basic plan shows only a limited number of responses per survey, so it is a paid survey platform rather than a bundled add-on.
Price: Free (Basic plan shows only a limited number of responses per survey); paid from $30 per user/month, Team Advantage, minimum 3 users, billed annually (SurveyMonkey pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Which one to pick
- You want the easiest free replacement for a quick survey: Google Forms
- You want well-designed forms with unlimited submissions: Tally
- You need payments and many ready-made templates: Jotform
- You run surveys that need advanced logic on your own server: LimeSurvey
- You collect feedback inside a product: Formbricks
Limits of this review
Docs-only for Google Forms, Tally, Jotform, Typeform, LimeSurvey, Formbricks: we did not install or run them, so feature claims come from vendor pages and we did not test import from Microsoft Forms. Vendor prices and free limits change; confirm on the linked pricing page before you buy or migrate.
Related guides
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Kevin Fan
Kevin Fan is a SaaS founder. He runs Free Instead Of, which tracks free and open-source alternatives to paid software and checks each price and free-plan limit against the vendor's own pages.
Methodology
Based on official pricing and product pages checked between 2026-10-22 and 2026-10-23: Microsoft Forms, Google Forms, Tally, Jotform, Typeform, LimeSurvey, Formbricks, SurveyMonkey. Prices, free limits and licenses are the figures shown on those pages on those dates. No tool on this page was installed or run. No accounts were created.