Best free form builder for teachers: 5 options for the classroom

The best free form builder for teachers depends on your school's accounts. Inside Google Workspace, use Google Forms. Inside Microsoft 365, Microsoft Forms. For permission slips with signatures, parent sign-ups and homework uploads that need no student logins, Qwenvo. Disclosure: we make Qwenvo, so it is listed first.

Start with your school's accounts

Most teachers do not pick a form builder freely. The school has a suite, a policy, and a view on student data. So the first question is not which tool is best, but which tool you are allowed to use with which audience.

1. Check your school's policy on third-party tools, especially for anything with student data.
2. Decide who answers: students (with school accounts), or parents (with no account at all).
3. Choose the job: quiz, sign-up, permission, feedback.
4. Then compare tools on cost, signatures and uploads.

We make no claims about any tool's compliance with student privacy rules. Ask your administrator.

At a glance

• Qwenvo: $0; respondents need no account; Signature, File upload, scoring; templates for classrooms.
• Google Forms: free with a Google account; quiz mode with grading.
• Microsoft Forms: free with a Microsoft account; part of Microsoft 365; quizzes.
• Tally: free with unlimited forms and submissions; 10 MB per file upload limit.
• Jotform: big template library; free Starter limits forms and submissions. Check its pricing page.

1. Qwenvo

Best for: forms parents fill in and anything that needs a signature. Parents and students need no account.

• Field trip permission slip with a Signature block.
• Parent-teacher conference sign-up.
• Homework submission with a File upload block (up to 1 GB per file).
• Quiz knowledge check with scoring and calculated fields.
• Student wellbeing check-in, and course evaluation at the end of term.

Forms can be set to close on a date or after a number of responses, which suits permission slips with a deadline. Languages cover 45+, including right-to-left, handy for multilingual families. Watch out for: no built-in scheduling (embed Calendly for conference slots), no mobile app, US hosting, and last save wins when two teachers edit at once. See also the Google Forms alternative for education.

2. Google Forms

Best for: quick graded quizzes for students who already have school Google accounts. Watch out for: no built-in payments for trip fees, a Google sign-in for file uploads, and limited design.

3. Microsoft Forms

Best for: schools on Microsoft 365, where it sits beside Teams and the rest of the suite. Watch out for: best inside Microsoft tools; confirm other details in Microsoft's documentation.

4. Tally

Best for: clean, simple forms with signatures and payments on the free plan. Watch out for: uploads limited to 10 MB per file, so large homework files are a problem, and the badge needs Pro at $29 a month.

5. Jotform

Best for: finding a ready-made template for almost any school form. Watch out for: limits on the free plan and Jotform branding. See Jotform's pricing.

A simple term planner

• Start of term: parent contact and consent form, with signature.
• Weekly: a short knowledge check; Google Forms or Qwenvo, whichever your class uses.
• Mid-term: a wellbeing check-in. Keep it brief and decide who reads the answers.
• End of term: a course evaluation. See survey tools for education.

Where the others are better

If every student is already logged in to Google or Microsoft, their own forms tool needs no new account, no new policy check, and nothing for parents to learn.

Tips for forms that parents fill in

• Keep the form short and test it on a phone first, since many parents will open it there.
• Put the deadline in the title and close the form on that date.
• Turn on confirmation emails so parents have a copy of what they agreed to.
• Offer the form in the languages your families use.

Questions people ask

Do students need an account to answer?

Not on Qwenvo. For Google Forms and Microsoft Forms, it depends on how you set them up.

Is Qwenvo free for schools?

It is free for everyone. There are no school plans to buy.

Can I grade a quiz automatically?

Google Forms has a grading quiz mode. On Qwenvo you set up scoring with calculated fields. See the quiz maker guide.

Will this stay free? If paid plans are ever introduced, everything you already use stays available and you will be told well in advance. Today there is no plan to pick and no card on file.