Google Forms alternatives, picked by why you’re leaving.

Google Forms has 12 kinds of question, from short answer and checkboxes to grids, date and time. It can send people to a different section based on their answer, though only from multiple choice and dropdown questions. You can set a theme color, a background color, a header image and fonts; Google’s theme page says nothing about removing Google’s name.

Signing in is where it pinches. Anyone answering a file upload question must sign in to a Google account, and so must everyone answering a form limited to one response per person. Google says their usernames aren’t recorded unless you collect email addresses, but someone with no Google account can’t answer either kind. Uploaded files land in a new folder in your Drive.

• No Google account for anyone. Tally needs an account only to publish, and the people answering need none. Jotform’s public forms, its default, open for anyone with the link. Microsoft Forms needs a Microsoft account to make a form, but with “Anyone can respond” nobody signs in to answer.
• Files without a sign-in. Tally says respondents can upload without any account, up to 10 MB a file on the free plan. Fillout’s free plan takes files up to 20 MB, and Jotform’s has 100 MB of upload space in all. Microsoft Forms takes files only on forms limited to people in your organization.
• Privacy. Tally is based in Belgium and says form data is encrypted and stored in Europe. Typeform lists EU data hosting as paid.
• Logic and question types. Tally, Jotform and Fillout include conditional logic free, and Fillout lists 50+ field types on its free plan. Microsoft Forms has branching too.
• A different look. Typeform’s free plan takes your own images and colors, but a brand logo, custom fonts and removing “Powered by Typeform” are paid, and free forms share 10 responses a month. Typeform’s free plan, explained has the details.

Microsoft Forms stops at 200 responses a form on a free account; to take more, export them to Excel and clear them. Jotform counts 100 submissions a month across the account and, past a monthly limit, disables your forms on a date it emails you. Tally calls a steady 50,000 submissions a month extensive and, past fair use, offers a paid custom plan.

Two more free plans are worth a look. Zoho Forms allows 3 forms, 500 submissions a month and 200 MB of file storage, with a “Powered by Zoho” footer until you pay. Cognito Forms allows unlimited forms and 100 entries a month, with its branding until Pro.

Forms is ours, and it isn’t free: it comes with implements, $4.99 a month or $49.99 a year for every tool, with no ads. People answer from a link with no account, and you see only what they type and when they sent it. You can keep up to 100 forms, each with up to 50 questions of 7 kinds and 50,000 answers in total, with no monthly count; each answer you delete frees a place. Answers download as a CSV.

It does less than Google Forms in places: no logic, no file uploads and no themes. Each form’s page ends with a small “Made with Forms” line you can turn off, though the bar at the top still shows the Forms name. If your subscription ends, forms stop taking answers, and you can still read and export what came in. For files or branching, Tally or Fillout does more for free, and for a form now and then, Google Forms or Tally costs nothing.