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Microsoft Azure App Service vs Xamarin Platform comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 4, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Azure App Service
Ranking in Mobile Development Platforms
4th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
45
Ranking in other categories
Rapid Application Development Software (10th)
Xamarin Platform
Ranking in Mobile Development Platforms
5th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
40
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Mobile Development Platforms category, the mindshare of Microsoft Azure App Service is 3.1%, down from 3.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Xamarin Platform is 6.6%, down from 8.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Mobile Development Platforms
 

Featured Reviews

Sharjeel Khan - PeerSpot reviewer
Lets you manage security more efficiently, and supports multiple frameworks, but has limited multi-language support and integration
Limited integration is an area for improvement in Microsoft Azure App Service. Another area for improvement in the platform is multi-language support. That still needs to be added because, at the moment, my team still has to work on specific Python languages whenever the API calls need to be configured. The pricing tier for Microsoft Azure App Service also has room for improvement because it significantly varies. For example, you have premium and dynamic pricing, and people on P2 should be offered dynamic pricing or the high-priced tier on offer could still be worked on. I want a lifecycle pipeline feature, similar to Azure Pipelines from Microsoft Azure App Service. For example, when configuring the pipelines, I should be able to configure the cloud security posture for a specific deployment. By default, there should be a prebuilt cloud security option that can be configured before moving into the production environment. Microsoft Azure App Service should also give you a clue regarding the risks. It would be best if you didn't have to connect to other modules because that wouldn't be as beneficial to platform users, mainly because Microsoft Azure App Service has a lot of security development kits.
Prince Tiwari - PeerSpot reviewer
Facilitates UI development with XAML, enabling shared UI code across platforms and reducing platform-specific work
I like its simplicity. As someone who didn't start my career as a dedicated developer, I was used to building websites or Windows applications. Transitioning to mobile app development meant learning new languages like Swift or Java. With C# and Xamarin, though, I could leverage my existing skillset. Xamarin, and specifically Xamarin.Forms, let me write my code once and deploy it natively to both Android and iOS. Xamarin.Forms are very useful. Essentially, it's a framework that allows me to create the UI mostly in XAML. This XAML code is then translated into the native UI elements for each respective platform. The advantage is that roughly 90% of my UI code can be shared. This significantly reduces the amount of platform-specific UI work compared to having to write separate UIs for each platform. For the most part, Xamarin's integration with Visual Studio improved the workflow, whether I'm on Windows or Mac. Since I'm familiar with Visual Studio, it provides a comfortable development environment. Additionally, features like Hot Reload and the integration of tools like Copilot help streamline the development process. Overall, it offers a positive development experience.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"Overall, all of the features are very good."
"What I found most valuable in Microsoft Azure App Service is that it's a PaaS. I also like that it supports Docker and multiple frameworks so that you can work on Java, Ruby on Rails, PHP, and Python."
"Debugging using Application Insights is a valuable feature."
"The solution can scale."
"Overall, I would rate Microsoft Azure App Service as nine out of ten."
"This solution is easy to deploy."
"The cost or price of Azure is lower than that of the on-premises version, which is why we might want to implement our solutions in Azure."
"It's a platform as a service, so we don't have to manage the infrastructure to hold the websites."
"Xamarin.Forms reduced the effort and time to build and market our solution, market our features, and get our solution into production."
"It brings about good code sharing strategies, which bring down cost and maintenance efforts."
"You can just write one XM channel core and it'll be used for both iOS and Android."
"On the market, compared to everyone else, they're the top solution. They're the best solution out there that I could see."
"The best part while using the Xamarin Platform is a cross-platform application. We could execute iOS and Android while writing a single line of code."
"The native features and Xamarin Essentials package are highly valuable to us."
"It is a true native solution, and we can use the cross-platform framework."
"The combination of forms for cross-platform UI and C-Sharp for the programming language are my two favorite features."
 

Cons

"Initially, there were some rare instances when the server went down because it was deployed on Linux."
"I am new to the intervention and I find it difficult to find my way around the user interface. I have my own learning tool. However, it could be simpler for new users."
"I would like to see some improvement in the UI/UX design, to make navigation of this solution more user friendly. For example, it could contain more explicit information on each of the features."
"When trying to scale up, it has a limitation, specifically an upper limitation. In general, scalability should be improved."
"Can be improved by increasing the number of data centres worldwide."
"The solution is somewhat expensive."
"The solution needs better integration capabilities on the network side."
"If you are not using the product properly, then it can cost you a lot of money. Hence, you need to make sure that you choose the services wisely. You need to make sure that you have a budget and have some alerts associated with it. The tool's cost can easily go high if you don't consider these things properly. You need to review your existing subscription."
"For beginners, the entire setup can be overwhelming because it involves setting up development environments for iOS, Android, and Windows at the same time if you want to target all three."
"The monitoring of the remote devices is not good as it should be extended along. It would be useful if the log is more integrated with the central console. I am not sure it can be accessed but it would be better."
"The solution does not include Hot Reload which is painful because it causes us to wait quite some time for huge builds."
"From time to time, it is a bit harder to code some specific scenarios compared to the native approach."
"There are compatibility issues between versions of various Xamarin components."
"The file size is a bit big, so you have to make certain layers."
"The recent move to .NET MAUI is a big change that's affecting a lot of the good features."
"The problem that I faced was that the communication, the roles, and the responsibilities, weren't defined between Microsoft and Xamarin."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"On a scale of one to five, with one being expensive and five being competitive, I would rate this solution as a four."
"Less than USD $100 per month."
"I would rate the product's pricing a five out of ten and is subscription based."
"The cost depends on the App Service plan that you choose. There are a number of tiers available."
"The product is not expensive. The tool's price is okay for all of the benefits you get from the solution."
"The pricing model of Microsoft Azure App Service could be made more clear. There is a scale and range and it can be complicated and convoluted. Some simplification is needed."
"On a scale of one to ten, where one is a low price and ten is a high price, I rate the pricing a five. The product is affordable."
"The pricing and cost of this solution depends on the use and needs of a business."
"Xamarin is free. There is no license unless you go for some high-end enterprise features. Other than that, everything's free."
"I think the solution is free."
"It saved a lot of time and resources needed to develop a cross platform mobile app."
"The price of the Xamarin Platform is not expensive. However, the price of the solution depends on the application that is made. For example, if you have small applications, it's different from large or enterprise applications."
"You can build in Xamarin without paying any money."
"The product is inexpensive."
"There's no licensing cost for Xamarin."
"There is no requirement for a license. It is available for free as an open-source product."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Educational Organization
18%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
11%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

Would you choose Microsoft Azure App Service or PowerApps?
Microsoft Azure App Service is helpful if you need to set up temporary servers for customers to run their programs in locations that other cloud providers do not cater to. When servers are closer t...
Do you recommend Microsoft Azure App Service?
I highly recommend Microsoft Azure. We have been using it for nearly four years. We mostly use it for creating and maintaining websites, such as content management systems like WordPress sites, whi...
What do you like most about Microsoft Azure App Service?
One valuable feature of Azure App Service for us is its integration with Azure DevOps, which we heavily rely on in our development process.
What do you like most about Xamarin Platform?
Xamarin.Forms are very useful. Essentially, it's a framework that allows me to create the UI mostly in XAML. This XAML code is then translated into the native UI elements for each respective platform.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Xamarin Platform?
Xamarin Platform is free, and we use an Azure subscription at a relatively low cost for our builds. It offers a good value for money, although it requires time to make it work effectively.
What needs improvement with Xamarin Platform?
The primary area for improvement is the support for third-party libraries, especially for major providers like Microsoft and Google. The lack of robust documentation and support for third-party bin...
 

Also Known As

Azure App Service, MS Azure App Service
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Real Madrid, Absolut, AccuWeather, Heineken, NBC News, Paramount
Cinemark, MixRadio, Sqor Sports, Storyo, JetBlue, The World Bank, Cr_dito Agrcola, Applied Research Associates
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Azure App Service vs. Xamarin Platform and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
842,767 professionals have used our research since 2012.