Pera vs Google Forms for anonymous employee feedback
Is Google Forms anonymous? How its email, sign-in and results settings work for staff surveys, when a free form is enough, and when to use a weekly check-in.
- Google Forms doesn’t collect email addresses by default, so a form can be anonymous. Whether it is depends on settings the owner controls.
- Some settings and question types make people sign in. That doesn’t record their name, but staff often assume it does.
- Results show from the first answer, so in a small team it can be easy to guess who said what.
- For a one-off survey, a well set-up form is often enough. For a weekly check-in, you’ll be doing the scheduling, chasing and anonymity checks by hand.
Is Google Forms anonymous?
It can be. A form built in Google Forms doesn’t collect email addresses unless the owner turns that on. The setting is under Settings, Responses, "Collect email addresses", and it has two options:
- Verified: the person must be signed in to a Google account, and their account email is saved with their response. Google shows a notice about this on each page of the form.
- Responder input: the person types an email address before they can submit. Google doesn’t check it.
If neither is on and no question asks for a name, the response itself doesn’t say who sent it. That is the basis of most "anonymous Google Form" staff surveys.
When people have to sign in
Several common settings make people sign in to a Google account before they can answer:
- Limit to 1 response. Google says usernames aren’t recorded unless you also collect email addresses. But staff see a sign-in prompt and reasonably wonder.
- File upload questions. Anyone answering one has to sign in.
- Work or school forms. Unless the owner changes the settings, a form made with a Google Workspace account is only open to people in that organisation, who have to sign in with their work account.
None of these on its own records who answered. The problem is trust. If people are asked to sign in to an "anonymous" survey, many will write less, or nothing.
Who staff have to trust
With Google Forms, anonymity is a set of choices made by whoever built the form. Apart from the notice shown for verified emails, staff can’t see those settings, and the owner can change them. So the people answering have to trust the person running the survey, who is often their manager or the owner of the business.
There are a few other things to know:
- Anyone you add as a collaborator on the form may also get access to the linked response spreadsheet. Removing them from one doesn’t remove them from the other.
- The "View results summary" setting shows everyone who can respond the full text of every answer, not just charts.
- Responses sit in your Google account and spreadsheet for as long as you keep them.
Pera takes the decision out of the admin’s hands. There is no setting that records names, and when a round closes the key that could link answer links to people is deleted. After that, not even Pera can tell who said what. The detail is on our anonymity page.
Small teams and early results
Google Forms shows a summary as soon as there is one response. In a team of six, the owner can watch answers arrive and match them to whoever was at their desk. A comment that mentions "my shift" or "the new rota" narrows it down further.
You can work around this by agreeing not to look until a set date, but it relies on discipline. Pera shows nothing until the round has closed and at least five people have answered. Comments are shown in random order, and email addresses and phone numbers in them are removed automatically.
Running it every week
A form is a good tool for a one-off survey. A regular check-in is a different job. Google Forms lets you set a close date or a response limit, but there is no built-in way to send the same form every week or remind people who haven’t answered. Someone has to resend the link, chase replies, and work out which responses belong to which week.
Pera emails everyone at the day and time you choose, sends one reminder before the round closes, and keeps each week’s results separate. After a round, you write a short note on what you’re doing about it, and it appears in the next email under "From last time". There’s more on how it works on the product page.
Side by side
| Google Forms | Pera | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | No extra cost if you already use Google | Free up to 15 people and one team, then £1.50 per person a month (minimum £29) |
| Anonymous by default | Yes, emails aren’t collected unless the owner turns it on | Always. There is no setting to turn it off |
| Who decides | The form owner, in the form’s settings | Fixed in how Pera is built |
| Sign-in | Needed for some settings and question types | Never. Each person gets their own one-time link |
| Minimum answers before results | None. Results show from the first response | Five, and only after the round closes |
| Weekly schedule | No. You resend it yourself | Yes, on the day and time you choose |
| Reminders | No built-in reminder to people who haven’t answered | One reminder before the round closes |
| Emails and phone numbers in comments | Kept as typed | Removed automatically |
| Questions | Any questions and question types you like | One fixed question and an optional comment |
| Telling staff what you did | Up to you | "You said, we did" note in the next email |
Which to use
Google Forms is enough if you want a one-off survey, you need your own questions, the group is big enough that one answer can’t be traced back, and staff trust whoever is running it. Don’t collect emails, avoid file upload questions, and tell people exactly how it is set up.
Pera fits better if you want to hear from people every week, your teams are small, or staff wouldn’t believe an anonymous form run by their own manager. It asks one question, "How was work this week?", with Good, Okay or Not great and an optional comment. You can’t change the question yet, so if you need a long survey, use a form.
Pera is free for up to 15 people and one team. After that it is £1.50 per person a month, with a £29 minimum, excluding VAT. See pricing.
Questions
Is Google Forms anonymous?
It can be. By default a Google Form doesn’t collect email addresses. If the owner turns on "Collect email addresses" (Verified or Responder input), each response is tied to an email address. Even when emails aren’t collected, small groups and free-text answers can still give people away.
Can the form owner see who filled in a Google Form?
Only if the form collects email addresses, or a question asks for a name or something that identifies the person. "Limit to 1 response" makes people sign in, but Google says their usernames aren’t recorded unless email collection is turned on.
Why does my Google Form ask people to sign in?
Common reasons are: "Limit to 1 response" is on, emails are collected as Verified, the form has a file upload question, or it was made with a work or school account and is only open to people in that organisation.
Is Google Forms good enough for an anonymous staff survey?
For a one-off survey of a large group, often yes, as long as you don’t collect emails and you tell staff exactly how it is set up. It is weaker for small teams, because results show from the first answer, and it has no built-in weekly schedule or reminders.
Sources
- Google Docs Editors Help: View & manage form responses
- Google Docs Editors Help: Publish and share your form with responders
- Google Docs Editors Help: Choose a type of question for your form
- Google Docs Editors Help: Get permission to open a Google Form
- Google Docs Editors Help: Choose where to save form responses
- AppSheet Help: Collect respondents’ email addresses using Google Forms
Details of other products come from their own websites and help pages on the date above. Products change, so check the latest before you decide.