Is Google Forms Enough? Key Drawbacks You Shouldn’t Overlook

Nowadays, Google has become so ingrained in our lives that it’s almost unusual not to have a Google account. So it’s no surprise that Google Forms is the most readily accessible tool when creating a quick survey. Even now, I suspect many people—students and working professionals alike—are collecting data for various purposes using Google Forms.

But can we really say a service that’s easy to access is convenient and beneficial for every user?

Why Google Forms Seems Perfect

With just one Google account, you can use every app in Workspace. That includes Google Forms, along with Gmail, Google Drive, Google Sheets, and so on—each offering excellent integration and making Google a dominant collaboration tool. You can also use all of it for free, without having to install any extra software, as long as you’re connected to the internet. These points underscore Google’s ease of access.

So, if Google Forms seems flawless, where’s the catch?

1. Limited Design Options Make Branding Difficult

I’m sure many of you have used a Google Form at least once. If you look closely, most of them look quite similar, making it hard to find any design that truly stands out. This might be fine for personal data collection, but it’s a very different story for a brand that wants to send out a survey.

Because Google Forms provides only basic design options, it’s challenging to deliver a survey that conveys your brand identity. You can adjust some font styles and theme colors, and you’re allowed a header image at the top. However, beyond the header image, you’re stuck with minimal ways to show originality.

Design plays a big part in shaping consumers’ perceptions of a brand. When the customization options are so limited, it can impact the sense of brand cohesion—or even undermine the brand image. A form builder that allows more professional and detailed design work might be the key to more polished branding.

2. No Third-Party App Integration, Which Can Hinder Collaboration

These days, people in every industry—from video to design—use various collaboration tools to boost productivity. The number of users of platforms like Slack (for communication) or Notion (for responsive document and data sharing) keeps growing. However, once you step outside Google Workspace, Google Forms becomes less helpful for collaborative work.

While Google Forms does integrate with Google Calendar and Google Sheets, it doesn’t support integration with apps beyond the Google ecosystem. This can create headaches if you’re already using other tools or need to collaborate externally.

For example, if you use Google Forms to recruit participants for a product trial, you might struggle to respond to many ongoing issues in real time, because you have to export the data manually and check it in another system. You might have to confirm each applicant’s status, then input their personal information into a separate app—leading to unnecessary time and effort.

A form builder that integrates seamlessly with the apps you already use—one that sends real-time notifications and conveniently syncs data—could significantly improve workflow efficiency.

3. It Only Collects Data; Analyzing It Is Up to You (Requiring Advanced Skills)

Once you’ve gathered data with Google Forms, the next step is extracting that data. The app lets you see real-time and completed survey results, and it provides basic visualizations like bar graphs and pie charts. You can even link to Google Sheets for deeper analysis. But once you start looking for more in-depth capabilities, shortcomings become apparent.

Essentially, the data shown is just a listing of responses—there aren’t any tools for deeper analysis. Respondents have different ages, regions, and genders, which may result in varied answers. To truly parse all these angles, you need to apply functions and pivot tables in Google Sheets, requiring more specialized knowledge and time.

Imagine if you could track dropout rates per question, average response times, and so forth, rather than just the answers given. A platform that also produces a subjective report based on the data could yield valuable insights and help you plan your next steps more precisely.

No individual or company sends out a survey without a specific purpose. Typically, the main goal is to gather customer information and uncover insights. Surveys might inform product improvements, influence sales, or even help establish a brand’s direction (more on that later!).

4. Detailed Work Can Be Challenging: The 2% Shortfall in Google Forms

Google Forms provides templates for various needs—for surveys, party invitations, collecting customer feedback, and more. However, these templates only differ in the questions asked. They lack the ability to set up more sophisticated logic or add extra functions.

Yes, you can apply simple conditional logic to multiple-choice questions, displaying different pages based on the respondent’s selected answer. But that’s the limit. Google doesn’t provide more advanced logic. For instance, open-ended questions can’t use conditional branching, and it’s not possible to set up complex conditions—like “move to page C only if both Question A and Question B answers match certain criteria.”

Logic is critical in a form builder, as it fundamentally shapes your form’s structure and outcomes. That’s why the limitations in Google Forms can be frustrating. Additionally, if your form is a product order sheet that needs to exclude certain shipping dates, you can’t eliminate those dates automatically in the built-in calendar function—your only option is to add text reminding respondents of unavailable days.

A form builder that enables you to set up detailed logic for valuable data, while providing an easy-to-understand visual interface for building that logic, would let anyone collect high-quality data without hassle.

Conclusion

There’s no denying that Google Forms has served a large user base for a long time. It is convenient and highly accessible. However, if you’re not getting the features or insights you need, perhaps it’s time to look into a different form builder that better meets your goals and enhances both convenience and efficiency.

In the next post, we’ll introduce the “perfect form builder” that addresses everything Google Forms lacks!