Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) has two perfectly decent survey solutions. Microsoft Forms is the main contender compared to Survey Monkey – and the one we’ll be focusing on. Microsoft 365 also offers a survey app within SharePoint Online which is more complex and probably overkill for the typical user. But that’s why we have Microsoft Forms.
Surveys and polls are great ways for businesses to measure satisfaction and collect feedback to improve the overall business experience. They’re essential for businesses to capture information – both from their audience and employees – and visualise it. Microsoft Forms and Survey Monkey are great cloud-based tools your business can use to gather data with. But why pay extra for SurveyMonkey if you have a Microsoft 365 subscription that comes with Microsoft Forms as standard?
What’s great about Microsoft Forms
Quickly creating forms and collecting survey responses is as simple as you’d want it to be. But Microsoft Forms has gone one step further with a number of great features to enhance its efficiency and experience.
Firstly, there are two creation methods. One is your traditional form, the other a quiz. When creating a quiz, you can assign a certain number of points to each question. Also, Forms works on any web browser – no app download required – and it can suggest question templates by determining your chosen topic.
Sharing options are equally neat. You can share it as a link or as a QR code. You can even share it as a template so that anyone with the link can copy and edit it should you permit them.
When it comes to viewing results the responses tab not only lets you see the answers for each respondent, but the time it took to give their answers. This can also be viewed in an Excel spreadsheet if you need a closer, more detailed look.
In comparison to SurveyMonkey, which is quite costly and requires a subscription, Microsoft Forms allows personal users to create an account for free (one user only). However, to get premium features and additional users, you need to subscribe to the Microsoft 365 package – which most businesses already have! The good thing about that is that in addition to Microsoft Forms, you can enjoy all the other handy applications included in the subscription as Excel, Word, Outlook, Yammer, Access and Publisher etc.
Microsoft Forms vs Survey Monkey: A breakdown
The two are pretty similar. And below there’s a comparison table for those who think more visually. Both are GDPR compliant. Both user interfaces are simple and friendly – so which you prefer may well be down to preference.
Both have great design options. However, Survey Monkey will most likely offer you a bit more on this front. It offers additional layout options to further customise surveys with footers and headers, and includes advanced features that Microsoft Forms lacks, e.g., data and reports, and the ability to run A/B testing.
Another benefit that both tools allow is multi-user collaboration. Several users can use the platform, edit, and work on templates simultaneously time to improve collaboration.
With Microsoft Forms being a product of the Microsoft 365 stack, it seamlessly integrates and connects survey data with SharePoint and other M365 tools like Microsoft Power Automate (formerly known as Microsoft Flow), which allows the automation of repetitive tasks and processes for improved workflows.
Survey Monkey can integrate with Microsoft 365 to some extent. It will let you create and share surveys within Microsoft’s OneDrive. It will even allow for interactive previews inside Microsoft Teams. But it won’t connect to Microsoft Power Automate no matter how politely you ask it. This will no doubt put off certain power users.
Conclusion
There may be aspects of Survey Monkey which some users prefer. But if you just need to create simple surveys and forms, why pay for an additional platform when you’re already paying for an excellent alternative within your MS365 subscription?
Microsoft Forms has everything your business needs to capture and visualise survey data – and what’s more, it’s free with most 365 subscriptions. So unless you’re chasing a tricky conversation with the finance department, you can give Survey Monkey a pass.
Why You Don’t Need Survey Monkey If You Have Microsoft 365