.NETvs
MySQL
MySQL: The world's most popular open source database
.NET
Free, cross-platform, open source developer platform
As of 29 August 2026, .NET is free to use. .NET is Microsoft's open source developer platform, with LTS releases supported 3 years and STS releases supported 2 years from launch. Softwr lists it under Web Development.
Overview
What .NET does
.NET is Microsoft's open source developer platform, with LTS releases supported 3 years and STS releases supported 2 years from launch.
What people use it for
- Web development with ASP.NET Core and Entity Framework
- Cloud-native application development for Azure
- Mobile and desktop apps with .NET MAUI cross-platform framework
- AI and machine learning applications using C#
The honest half
Where it falls short
Concrete and checkable, so you can decide whether any of them matter to you. This is the half of a review a vendor will not write about .NET.
- .NET 8 and .NET 9 both reach end of support on 10 November 2026, per dotnet.microsoft.com/en-us/platform/support/policy (Aug 2026), forcing an upgrade to .NET 10 by that date
- Standard Term Support releases get only 2 years of patches versus 3 years for Long Term Support releases, per Microsoft's own support policy page, so teams on an STS release face a shorter upgrade cycle
Cross-shopped
What people choose instead of .NET
Each pairing was judged by two reviewers asking whether a buyer would genuinely weigh the two against each other. The ones that failed were deleted rather than published.
- .NETvsDjango
Django: The web framework for perfectionists with deadlines
- .NETvsNext.js
Next.js: The React framework for the web
- .NETvsFlask
Flask: A lightweight WSGI web application framework
Answered, with sources
Questions people ask
Each answer names the page it came from, so you can check it rather than take our word for it.
Is .NET free to use?
Yes. .NET is completely free and open-source, available on GitHub.
SourceWhat platforms does .NET support?
.NET supports Windows, Linux, macOS, and Docker. A single C# codebase can run across multiple platforms including iOS, Android, and cloud environments.
SourceHow large is the .NET ecosystem?
NuGet provides 390,000+ unique packages with 50,000+ new packages added annually. .NET has 474K+ GitHub stars and active community support across multiple platforms.
SourceKeep looking
Where to go from .NET
- .NET alternativesEvery product people weigh against it
- .NET pricingPlans, floors and what the tiers exclude
- .NET badgesWhich rules it meets, and the figure behind each
- All Web Development softwareThe full category
- Best Web Development softwareThe shortlist, and how it was cut
Best Web Development software for
Compare .NET with
- Next.js
- Django
- MySQL
- Flask
- PHP
- TypeScript
- Docusaurus
- MUI
- React
- Vue.js
- Tailwind CSS
- Angular
- Radix UI
- Remix
- shadcn/ui
- Chakra UI
- esbuild
- npm
Other Web Development software
A popular general-purpose scripting language that is especially suited to web development
Free plan8 researched notesUtility-first CSS framework with responsive design and low output size
Free plan11 researched notesFull-stack JavaScript framework for building modern web applications
Free plan10 researched notes
Softwr does not host reviews and shows no star rating for .NET, because a rating we did not collect is not ours to publish. What is here is the pricing and platform detail from the vendor’s own pages, limitations we could state concretely, and alternatives a reviewer confirmed people weigh against it. Tell us if any of it is wrong.
More on .NET
.NET alternatives
What people switch to, and what they give up
.NET pricing
Every tier, and where the cost actually lands
Compare .NET
Put it head to head with anything we hold
.NET badge
Its rating, and an embed for your own site
Best Web Development software alternatives
Drag-and-drop website builder with hosting, e-commerce and marketing bundled into one subscription
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