Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

Microsoft .NET Framework vs Windows Process Activation Services comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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 .NET Framework
Ranking in Application Infrastructure
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
55
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Windows Process Activation ...
Ranking in Application Infrastructure
23rd
Average Rating
4.0
Reviews Sentiment
2.8
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Application Infrastructure category, the mindshare of Microsoft .NET Framework is 5.8%, down from 6.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Windows Process Activation Services is 1.1%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Infrastructure Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Microsoft .NET Framework5.8%
Windows Process Activation Services1.1%
Other93.1%
Application Infrastructure
 

Featured Reviews

David Shlingbaum - PeerSpot reviewer
Old version maintains functionality but lacks current cloud support
Since the version I'm using is many years old, they have been continuously improving. They are always adding features to the language and framework, but I cannot comment from a very old version on what needs to be improved as I'm not completely up to date. There is a challenge and complexity in supporting a very old version of a product that is no longer supported. It's still possible with Microsoft .NET Framework, which isn't the case with many other products. That's a positive aspect. It has limitations when trying to develop new things with Microsoft .NET Framework. But whatever works, continues to work. It always needs improvement, but again, it does not improve when discussing an old version of Microsoft .NET Framework. I think they're always improving, but it's a never-ending process.
it_user1226547 - PeerSpot reviewer
Central console enables us to see all of the activated and deactivated computers but it has poor alerts and frustrating technical support
The solution needs to allow for other company product licenses to be included if possible. The solution needs to include other Microsoft products, like Exchange, SharePoint, etc. Right now, it's only for Windows and Office. The solution needs to be made web-based. Right now, we have to install some tools and to use these tools we have to log into a specific server. If that server has an issue we cannot manage it. The solution needs to be able to be managed from any machine. Alerting capabilities should be improved. If a license expires or there is a breach, or something is non-compliant, the solution should send out alerts.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable features for us are web frameworks like MVC, Web API, and WCS."
"As we are a software company, we find that accessing resources using this technology is easier compared to the others."
"The new .NET Core has those middlewares, which are awesome from a security standpoint. With the old Framework or the newer Framework, middleware is basically an event pipeline. You configure and register it, and it handles things centrally. A simple example is logging. With the old Framework, you needed to try/catch blocks everywhere. Here, you configure the logging handler once, and it captures exceptions across the application. I really like the middleware pattern."
"When it comes to the user interface, the context is better than other tools because it is easier to use."
"The solution is easy to use if the user is a developer or some technical person."
"In my opinion, the best thing about Microsoft .NET is the fully featured framework. It provides most of the things which a normal developer requires of any application out of the box."
"For us, it is better to remain under the umbrella of Microsoft."
"The web development and Microsoft Windows service development capabilities are among the most valuable features offered by the Microsoft .NET Framework. This language platform is highly user-friendly, with plenty of online examples and information available, as well as a robust development environment."
"The most valuable aspect of the solution is the central console, that allows you to see all of the activated and deactivated computers."
 

Cons

"The learning curve could be improved."
"Needs stronger security with respect to cloud issues."
"They should try to improve their Blazor WebAssembly."
"One thing that could be improved is the tooling and IDE for .NET in non-Windows environments like Mac."
"They do provide the .NET library, however, for me, the most important capability we want to investigate in the future is the integration with Copilot. This would help speed up the development of the code and also the testing and documentation of the requirement."
"The product could have a better framework for application development."
"The solution has difficulty integrating with other products. There are no such difficulties if you have the same platform, hardware, and operating system."
"The solution is difficult to learn if someone is learning it for the first time."
"The stability of the solution needs improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing could be cheaper."
"The solution is a bit costly when compared to open source products or open gear licenses."
"Microsoft .NET Framework is licensed under the Windows License."
"In the interim, there's no need to purchase videos for viewing. Microsoft has made significant moves in the .NET space, starting with their response in Visual Studio Code and now providing Visual Studio entirely for free. This is a notable shift from the past when we used to pay substantial amounts for technical subscriptions. Previously, a group of ten developers could cost several thousand dollars annually for licensing. However, the current trend is to offer these tools for free to maintain their dominance in the developer market. The market dynamics have changed, and now developers can freely download Visual Studio, making it a preferred choice over other paid options."
"Do your homework. Consider the partnership program."
"The Microsoft .NET Framework is free of charge, without licensing cost."
"There is a Community Edition that can be used free of charge, but the licensing cost for the Enterprise version is quite high."
"Microsoft .NET Framework is free of cost."
Information not available
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Application Infrastructure solutions are best for your needs.
867,676 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
14%
Real Estate/Law Firm
12%
Government
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business28
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise22
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Microsoft .NET Framework?
Microsoft .NET Framework continually innovates, particularly in Visual Studio, which focuses on improving languages, debugging, and .NET functionality.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft .NET Framework?
I don't know about pricing. I'm paying for Visual Studio, even though I'm not using the new version yet. Prices can always be better, but I think for the environment provided, the prices are accept...
What needs improvement with Microsoft .NET Framework?
Since the version I'm using is many years old, they have been continuously improving. They are always adding features to the language and framework, but I cannot comment from a very old version on ...
Ask a question
Earn 20 points
 

Also Known As

MS .NET Framework
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Curtin University, Rockwell Automation, Aruba Networks, Insurity Inc., City of Barcelona, Pennsylvania DCNR, University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, A1 Telekom Austria AG, Eastman Chemical Company
Bank Alfalah Ltd., Harris Farm Markets, The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council, John Keells Holdings, Green Prefab, 343 Industries, SM Prime, Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System Ltd.
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, IBM, F5 and others in Application Infrastructure. Updated: August 2025.
867,676 professionals have used our research since 2012.