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ASP.NET vs Microsoft Visual Studio 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

ASP.NET
Ranking in .NET Development Services
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.9
Number of Reviews
35
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Microsoft Visual Studio
Ranking in .NET Development Services
1st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
101
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the .NET Development Services category, the mindshare of ASP.NET is 11.4%, up from 11.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Visual Studio is 11.8%, down from 19.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
.NET Development Services Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Microsoft Visual Studio11.8%
ASP.NET11.4%
Other76.8%
.NET Development Services
 

Featured Reviews

SasidharParupudi - PeerSpot reviewer
Principle Consultant at a outsourcing company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Building reliable web APIs and sites has become faster and development stays well supported
I think Microsoft can make ASP.NET better by catching up with other frameworks by adopting features that are very popular in those frameworks, such as minimal APIs and other innovations. They have introduced Blazor, which is their newer front-end development software framework, but unfortunately, Blazor is not well adopted in the market. However, I feel that they will catch up in the future as Blazor has a lot of potential. In my opinion, there is not anything extra needed immediately for ASP.NET; the framework is self-sufficient and very mature at this stage. The problem lies with wider adoption, as some people are anti-Microsoft and prefer open-source alternatives such as React. Microsoft could potentially do a better job at marketing these solutions, but other than that, the tool has the potential to be used in any enterprise-level applications. I would say the setup process for ASP.NET is relatively simple, but with the latest generation of user management or integration with OpenID, the documentation is not comprehensive in terms of what you can do with the latest libraries. They support many things and have decoupled themselves from their own identity servers, but still need to improve documentation considerably.
Eitan Gold - PeerSpot reviewer
SQA Manager at Elmo Motion Control Ltd.
Test code efficiency improves with integrated debugger and automation
The test explorer is really important for us as it aids in testing, along with the regular debugger. Even though I forgot the term for it at the moment, there is an overall debugger tool within the IDE that is very effective. This comprehensive debugger tool does the job efficiently, making our work easier.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It is seamless compared to Java or any other technology stack."
"The solution is easy to learn, understand and develop."
"The solution is very easy to maintain because UI management is simple and many libraries are available."
"The solution is easy to integrate and understand. It has a very good user interface and a lot of prebuilt tools, which require a lot less coding if we compare it to other solutions."
"The solution has good scalability."
"While using ASP.net, we can create interactive websites."
"The most valuable feature is that it's easy to use."
"ASP.NET is stable. I did not have to do any maintenance on it."
"It is definitely sophisticated and provides many out-of-the-box features. Going community has boosted all that."
"Microsoft Visual Studio is an easy-to-use solution."
"Visual Studio is a tool used for custom software development. It covers everything under this umbrella, including architecture for automation testing."
"Microsoft Visual Studio is a robust Microsoft product, very secure, with numerous extensions and plugins available, and it's a cross-platform development tool supporting development for any devices."
"Microsoft Visual Studio is integrated with all tools and offers all necessary extensions, making it very convenient."
"We can use different .NET features."
"My company works with outsourced programmers. The solution helps us to test, integrate and foresee the code quality. We can trace the development stages."
"The most valuable features are the extensions."
 

Cons

"It could use better reporting and documentation."
"ASP.NET is not the best solution for all companies looking to implement a solution like it."
"Sometimes we have issues with instability and it crashes, which is something that should be made to work better."
"It would be beneficial if Microsoft provided more support for certain technologies, such as Blazor, in the form of basic components. As it stands, some reliance on third-party tools may be necessary. Having more support from Microsoft for these technologies would make it easier for users to build and maintain applications. For example, the grids, date pickers, and dropdown lists would be components to add."
"The solution is out of date and should not be used."
"In my opinion, this solution should improve their web toolkit."
"In the future, I would like to see more AI and machine learning technologies made available in libraries."
"Scripted languages like AngularJS and Node.js are much faster than using ASP on the client side."
"Microsoft Visual Studio can improve by adding more features to the Mac version. There are a lot of features lacking in the Mac version, there are limitations. I can install Microsoft Visual Studio on the Mac operating system, but it is not the same as if I installed it on a Microsoft Windows system. The Microsoft Windows version has a lot of features available in Microsoft Visual Studio."
"With the free version, we don't have that much support for Visual Studio. Its support is a little bit less and can be better."
"The solution’s technical support could be improved."
"Microsoft should add more visualization for analytical studies or research."
"For Visual Studio, the only challenge I've faced is referencing any package or new concept I'm trying to debug or run."
"The tool's interface should be more user-friendly."
"The reporting services are quite limited in terms of features and need to be improved."
"File installations are heavy."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"ASP.NET is open-source and free of charge."
"I think ASP.NET, in deployment, is something that's quite costly when you're on a cloud provider such as Azure, and you have to pay the server cost. On average, it can cost approximately $1,000 per month to host a good site with a few databases."
"The pricing is somewhere in the middle. Not too expensive, but not the cheapest either."
"The pricing is a bit high and I believe that it can be brought down."
"The price of ASP.NET is reasonable. I rate the pricing a five out of ten."
"ASP.NET is not an expensive solution."
"The solution is open source and free."
"The solution is comparatively cheaper, and you don't have to pay anything for a developer license."
"I use Microsoft Visual Studio's free version."
"The development license for Microsoft Visual Studio is free. I don't know if there's a licensing cost to it."
"The price of Microsoft Visual Studio is approximately $400 annually."
"The cost of using Microsoft Visual Studio is approximately $1,700 per user."
"The price is good."
"The introduction of the Community Version allows some people to use it free of charge."
"The cost of using Microsoft Visual Studio monthly is approximately $300."
"Its price could be better."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Performing Arts
20%
Real Estate/Law Firm
14%
Logistics Company
6%
Comms Service Provider
6%
Performing Arts
15%
Computer Software Company
12%
Outsourcing Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business16
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise13
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business36
Midsize Enterprise19
Large Enterprise50
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ASP.NET?
Our solution is deployed in a hybrid setup; we have some on-site on a private cloud and some on Azure. Most of our costing comes from database licensing, as we use SQL Server, which has very costly...
What needs improvement with ASP.NET?
I think Microsoft can make ASP.NET better by catching up with other frameworks by adopting features that are very popular in those frameworks, such as minimal APIs and other innovations. They have ...
What is your primary use case for ASP.NET?
My current use case for ASP.NET mainly involves APIs and websites.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Visual Studio?
I wish Microsoft Visual Studio was available on the Mac for improvement. I just wish it worked on the Mac.
What is your primary use case for Microsoft Visual Studio?
My main use case for Microsoft Visual Studio is writing file processing code and backend APIs. A specific example of the kind of file processing or API work I do with Microsoft Visual Studio is pro...
 

Comparisons

No data available
No data available
 

Also Known As

No data available
MS Visual Studio
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Kienzle Automotive GmbH, Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Vengo Labs, Oneview Healthcare, BookedOut, Ministry of Rural Development, Grupo WRR
Knab, Hamburg Port Authority, Kecioren Municipality, National Instruments, Hamburg Port Authority, Government of Odisha, Kongsberg Maritime AS
Find out what your peers are saying about ASP.NET vs. Microsoft Visual Studio and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.