Google Forms is free, familiar, and already in your Google account. For a lot of use cases, it's totally fine. But "free and fine" has limits, especially when you're collecting feedback in person.

Google Forms is a form builder. QR Poll is a feedback tool.

Google Forms lets you build multi-question forms and collect responses in a spreadsheet. It works for everything from RSVPs to course evaluations to customer surveys. It's general purpose. That's its strength and its weakness.

QR Poll does one thing: fast feedback collection via QR codes in physical spaces. Conference sessions, restaurant tables, classrooms, events. The response page is purpose-built for mobile, designed to be completed in 15-30 seconds by someone who just scanned a code.

When you try to use Google Forms for in-person feedback, you run into some rough edges.

The mobile experience

Google Forms works on mobile. But it's not optimized for mobile in the way a purpose-built tool is. You'll get Google's standard form UI, which is functional but not exactly fast. Headers, descriptions, sometimes multiple pages. The respondent has to scroll, sometimes pinch-zoom, sometimes figure out which question they're on.

QR Poll's response pages are stripped down. Big tap targets, minimal scrolling, fast load. When someone scans a QR code while standing in line or between conference sessions, those seconds matter.

Branding

Google Forms shows Google branding. You can change the header color and add a banner image, but it still looks like a Google Form. Everyone recognizes it. That might be fine for internal use, but if you're a restaurant owner or event organizer trying to look professional, it's not ideal.

QR Poll doesn't show third-party branding on response pages. It's your poll, not Google's.

QR code support

Google Forms doesn't generate QR codes natively. You'll need a third-party QR code generator, create the code from your form URL, then hope the form looks decent when someone scans it on their phone. It works, but it's duct tape.

QR Poll generates the QR code as part of the workflow. Create poll, get code, print it. The code and the response page are designed to work together.

Analytics

Google Forms gives you a summary view and dumps everything into Google Sheets. If you're comfortable with spreadsheets, you can do whatever analysis you want. It's flexible but manual.

QR Poll gives you real-time results in the dashboard. For the "how did this session go?" use case, you want to glance at results right after, not export a CSV and pivot table your way to an answer.

Duplicate responses

Google Forms can limit responses to one per Google account (which requires sign-in, killing anonymous feedback) or... nothing. There's no built-in duplicate detection for anonymous forms. If someone fills it out twice, you get two responses.

QR Poll uses layered duplicate detection: localStorage, browser fingerprinting, and IP rate limiting. Suspicious responses get flagged but not deleted, so poll creators can decide what to include. This matters when you're collecting feedback from shared devices in a classroom.

Pricing

Google Forms: Free. Always. No limits on forms or responses.

QR Poll:

Free: 3 active polls, 250 responses/month, no ads
Starter: $6/mo, unlimited polls, 1,500 responses/month
Pro: $15/mo, unlimited polls, 10,000 responses/month
Business: $40/mo, unlimited responses, team features

Google Forms wins on price by being free. But you're trading away the QR-first design, mobile optimization, duplicate detection, and branding control. Whether that trade is worth it depends on how much the in-person experience matters to you.

When to use Google Forms

You need a free form builder for general-purpose surveys
Your respondents will click a link from email or a website
You want responses in Google Sheets for custom analysis
You need complex multi-page forms with validation
Internal use where branding doesn't matter

When to use QR Poll

You're collecting feedback at a physical location via QR code
You want purpose-built mobile response pages
You need anonymous feedback with duplicate detection
You care about the experience your respondents have
You want real-time results without spreadsheet work

Bottom line

Google Forms is a great free tool. If you need a general-purpose form and don't care about the in-person experience, use it. Nobody's going to judge you.

But if you're printing QR codes and putting them in front of real people in real rooms, Google Forms starts to feel like using a hammer to screw in a bolt. It'll work. You just might strip the threads.

Try QR Poll free — no credit card, no ads, takes about 30 seconds.

QR Poll vs Google Forms: When Free Isn't Free Enough