In this guide · 8 sections
Short answer
Use the one in your suite. Microsoft Forms suits Microsoft 365 offices: responses go to Excel in OneDrive or SharePoint and approvals run through Power Automate. Google Forms suits Workspace: responses go to Sheets and automations use Apps Script. Both need signed-in users for file uploads.
Quick comparison: Microsoft Forms vs Google Forms
Both are good enough for most small-business forms. The deciding factor is usually the rest of your tools.
Microsoft Forms
Microsoft 365- Responses viewable in Excel, stored in OneDrive or SharePoint
- Up to 200 questions and 5,000,000 responses per form
- Approvals and notifications via Power Automate
- Admin controls for external sharing and phishing checks
Best for: Offices on Microsoft 365, Outlook and Teams.
Google Forms
Google Workspace- Form saved in Google Drive; responses can link to Google Sheets
- Restricted to your organisation by default on Workspace
- Automations with Apps Script or add-ons
- Fits Gmail, Sheets and Looker Studio reporting
Best for: Offices on Google Workspace and Gmail.
If you need payments, conditional pricing or heavily branded public forms, a dedicated form tool may suit better; see Tally vs Google Forms vs Jotform.
Where the responses are stored
For a business, response storage decides who can see the data and whether it is backed up with everything else.
| Microsoft Forms | Google Forms | |
|---|---|---|
| Where the form lives | Forms portal; group forms in a Microsoft 365 group | Google Drive, like any other file |
| Spreadsheet of responses | Excel workbook in OneDrive or SharePoint, depending on where the form was created | Optional linked Google Sheet |
| Uploaded files | Saved to OneDrive (personal form) or SharePoint (group form) | Saved to the form owner's Google Drive |
| When the owner leaves | Personal forms belong to the user; use group forms for team processes | Transfer Drive ownership before deleting the account |
Microsoft's page on Forms and Excel workbooks explains that the response workbook is stored in OneDrive or SharePoint depending on where you start the form. Google's guide to using Google Forms says a new form is saved in Google Drive.
External sharing and who can respond
Both tools can take responses from the public, but the defaults and controls differ.
- Microsoft Forms: the form owner chooses Anyone can respond, Only people in my organisation, or Specific people in my organisation. Microsoft's administrator settings for Forms let an admin control external sharing (sending to outsiders, collaborating, sharing as a template, sharing results), all on by default, plus whether names are recorded and phishing protection for internal forms.
- Google Forms on Workspace: Google's Workspace learning centre says that by default access is restricted to people inside your organisation, who must sign in. To accept outside responses, you turn off Restrict to users in your domain and its trusted organisations.
File uploads need signed-in respondents
Microsoft says file upload questions are only available when only people in your organisation (or specific people in it) can respond. Google Forms shows a notice that responders must sign in to a Google Account to answer a file upload question. Neither is suitable for collecting documents from the general public; use a secure upload tool or email instead.
Approvals and automation
A form becomes useful when the response goes somewhere: an approval, a notification, a row in a tracker.
| Task | Microsoft 365 | Google Workspace |
|---|---|---|
| Email the team on a new response | Power Automate: when a new response is submitted, send an email | Built-in response notifications, or Apps Script |
| Approval (leave, purchase, refund) | Power Automate approval with the form details | Apps Script or an add-on; often a second review form |
| Add to a tracker | Excel worksheet or SharePoint list | Linked Google Sheet |
| Reply to the person who submitted | Power Automate email to the responder | Apps Script draft or send |
Microsoft's list of common ways to use a form in a flow includes sending an approval request with the form details and adding responses to Excel. On Google, Apps Script triggers run on each submission, as in Google's own form response sample. For connecting forms to other apps, see Power Automate vs Zapier.
A PDPA checklist for any business form
If a form collects names, phone numbers, NRIC details, photos or anything else that identifies a person, the PDPA applies. A few lines on the form cover most of it.
Before you publish a form
A one-line notice works for most enquiry forms, for example: "We use these details only to reply to your enquiry and keep them for 12 months. Contact us at [email] with questions." Adjust the purpose and period to what you really do.
Which should you choose?
Choose Microsoft Forms if
- Your staff use Outlook, Teams and SharePoint
- You want approvals in Teams via Power Automate
- Admins want tenant-wide control of external sharing
Choose Google Forms if
- Your staff use Gmail and Google Drive
- Your reporting already lives in Google Sheets
- You want form logic edited by anyone with Drive access
Mixing both causes confusion about where responses live. Pick the one that matches your suite and use it for everything internal.
Do it yourself or get help?
Building a form and linking it to a spreadsheet takes minutes in either tool. Help is worth it when the response must trigger something reliable: an approval chain, a customer reply, a record in your CRM or accounting software.
Our Workflow Automation package (S$390, paid upfront) builds one end-to-end flow, for example a form that creates an approval in Teams, updates a tracker and emails the requester, on Power Automate, Apps Script or Zapier. IT Sorted is a Singapore-based team of developers with over 10 years of experience.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Microsoft Forms is included with Microsoft 365 business plans, and Google Forms is included with Google Workspace. Personal Microsoft accounts can also use Forms, but Microsoft lists much lower response limits for them: up to 200 responses per form for free accounts and 1,000 for paid personal accounts.
Microsoft lists up to 5,000,000 responses and up to 200 questions per form for Microsoft 365 business plans, and up to 400 forms per user. Above 50,000 responses, summary charts and viewing individual responses on the Forms site are not supported, so you export to CSV for analysis instead.
Yes, but on Google Workspace the default restricts access to your organisation. In the form's settings, turn off the option that restricts responses to users in your domain and trusted organisations. If the form has a file upload question, responders still need to sign in to a Google Account.
Not easily. Microsoft Forms only offers file upload questions when respondents must be inside your organisation. Google Forms requires respondents to sign in to a Google Account for file uploads. For customers, a secure upload link from your file storage or a dedicated form tool is usually more practical.
If the form collects personal data, you need to tell people what you collect and why, and get their consent or rely on another basis under the PDPA. A short notice above the submit button covering purpose, retention and a contact point is usually enough for simple enquiry and booking forms. This is not legal advice.