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Azul Zulu vs Microsoft .NET Framework 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

Azul Zulu
Ranking in Application Infrastructure
8th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
AI Customer Experience Personalization (13th), AI Content Creation (9th)
Microsoft .NET Framework
Ranking in Application Infrastructure
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
56
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Application Infrastructure category, the mindshare of Azul Zulu is 3.6%, down from 5.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft .NET Framework is 4.7%, down from 5.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Infrastructure Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Microsoft .NET Framework4.7%
Azul Zulu3.6%
Other91.7%
Application Infrastructure
 

Featured Reviews

BasilJiji - PeerSpot reviewer
System Engineer at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
Standardized our Java estate and have reduced licensing costs while maintaining strong support
Azul Zulu's ability to allow us to standardize our Java estate on a single and well-supported platform stands out as one of its best features. This standardization simplifies our compliance audits and ensures all our applications receive timely security updates.Azul Zulu positively impacts our organization by providing a platform that allows us to standardize Java on a well-supported platform. Without the high cost associated with other proprietary vendors, Azul Zulu provides an excellent platform for running our applications.
Muhammad Qasim - PeerSpot reviewer
Solutions Architect at Diyar United Company
Has enabled building responsive multi-threaded applications while supporting rapid deployment workflows
Microsoft .NET Framework has already made significant improvements by becoming open source. Many developers are contributing to Microsoft .NET Framework, not just Microsoft itself. They have ported it to many platforms and allow a healthy ecosystem of open source tools. They have moved from Visual SourceSafe to supporting Git with Microsoft Visual Studio. Their IDE, Visual Studio Code, is open source and multi-platform. There are many third-party tools available, including AI-based tools such as Cursor and Bolt, which are forks of Visual Studio Code. Based on my understanding, I don't have any suggestions for improvement as they are already doing an excellent job.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"We achieved specific outcomes from using Azul Zulu by reducing our Java licensing and support costs by approximately 70% when compared to our previous Oracle contract."
"It is a stable solution."
"Firstly, I appreciate the decision to use Microsoft .NET Framework. I find it to be an excellent language, with a history rooted in providing an alternative to Java, albeit with initial challenges. It is gaining popularity and may be voted the most desirable programming language. What I particularly like about .NET is its language efficiency. While C# is the primary language, the platform also supports others, catering to those inclined towards functional programming. Although I started with Shell, I'm still grasping the concept of functional programming. Despite initial reservations about object-oriented programming, I acknowledge its advantages. .NET is a safer option, and despite criticisms, it has evolved over the years. One notable aspect is .NET's transition to an open platform in recent years, distancing itself from being exclusive to Microsoft engineers. I appreciate the versatility of .NET, enabling code production for a wide range of platforms, presenting a strong competition to Java. It allows targeting practically any physical platform, showcasing its flexibility. These qualities contribute to my positive view of .NET, totaling thirteen aspects that I find appealing."
"As we are scaling quite nicely on Azure."
"The solution is easy to use if the user is a developer or some technical person."
"The most valuable features for us are web frameworks like MVC, Web API, and WCS."
"The tool offers a lot of support, and there is a lot of knowledge material available, along with a lot of community groups."
"The most valuable features are the Domain Controller and the WBFS Manager."
"The structure that can be created is beneficial because once you have the structure, you can be more productive and faster to create and interact with different clouds and implementations."
 

Cons

"Improvements for Azul Zulu could include more automated tools for unused code visibility integrated directly into the standard portal to help further optimize our cloud footprints."
"The product's price is an area of concern, making it an area where improvements are required."
"The runtime environment for ASP.NET needs improvement to make it more universal."
"Microsoft has its own product called Blazor, but I don't think it's quite as powerful yet as React or Angular. That's an area for improvement."
"In the next release, I am looking for more advanced technologies such as socket communication and enhanced features like realtime chat with the clients."
"The product is nearing its sunset, and we think that by 2028, we won't get support anymore"
"The cloud features must be improved."
"Improvements are needed in .NET development, particularly in a backend scenario."
"They should have more training materials available that are specific to .NET. We spend a lot of money training our engineers."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"Microsoft .NET Framework is very cost-effective for corporate users."
"The solution is free but you need to pay for a license for the hosting service."
"The product’s pricing is a bit high."
"The support is an extra cost when purchasing the license. The price of the solution is overall reasonable and paid annually or every three years. Additionally, they have a monthly license. The cost is approximately $1,000 per user."
"The pricing could be cheaper."
"There is a Community Edition that can be used free of charge, but the licensing cost for the Enterprise version is quite high."
"I rate the solution's pricing a two out of ten because .NET is an open-source framework. You don't have to pay for a license."
"For the moment I can only give the product a rating of five out of ten since only some of the customers will be satisfied, those that have the financial resources for hosting a platform on Windows Server."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
31%
Retailer
18%
Computer Software Company
12%
Real Estate/Law Firm
5%
Construction Company
15%
Real Estate/Law Firm
13%
Marketing Services Firm
9%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business28
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise23
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Azul Zulu?
Improvements for Azul Zulu could include more automated tools for unused code visibility integrated directly into the standard portal to help further optimize our cloud footprints. The other core J...
What is your primary use case for Azul Zulu?
Azul Zulu serves as our primary Java runtime, providing a stable, 100% open-source, and certified solution for our production microservices. We utilize it to ensure cross-platform compatibility acr...
What advice do you have for others considering Azul Zulu?
My advice for others looking into using Azul Zulu is to perform a pilot migration with one non-critical application first. You will likely find that it is truly a drop-in replacement, which will gi...
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?
Microsoft .NET Framework has already made significant improvements by becoming open source. Many developers are contributing to Microsoft .NET Framework, not just Microsoft itself. They have ported...
 

Also Known As

No data available
MS .NET Framework
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Microsoft, Kyocera, OKI, Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise, Voya Financial
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
Find out what your peers are saying about Azul Zulu vs. Microsoft .NET Framework and other solutions. Updated: February 2026.
881,733 professionals have used our research since 2012.