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Microsoft .NET Framework vs Zend PHP Engine comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 5, 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 .NET Framework
Ranking in Application Infrastructure
3rd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
53
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Zend PHP Engine
Ranking in Application Infrastructure
15th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
11
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Application Infrastructure category, the mindshare of Microsoft .NET Framework is 6.0%, down from 6.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zend PHP Engine is 1.7%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Infrastructure
 

Featured Reviews

Pavan Kodur - PeerSpot reviewer
Intuitive, easier to develop, maintain, and migrate from the old framework to newer versions
There are a few areas where they could compete better with products like React or Angular – the popular SPA (Single Page Application) frameworks. Microsoft has its own product called Blazor, but I don't think it's quite as powerful yet as React or Angular. I think that's an area for improvement. For example, HR asked me to build something that worked offline and online. Microsoft products don't really support that well, as I'd have to rely on browser databases. React and Angular are better for that. If I need something faster, I'd definitely use React. So, I see Microsoft lagging a bit in that area.
SatyendraGupta - PeerSpot reviewer
The fact that it is available open-source is the best feature
The fact that it is available open-source is the best feature.  A general scripting language should be further developed and should be embedded into it. I have been Zend PHP Engine for nine years.  Multiple people are using the solution.  Overall, I rate the solution a seven out of ten.…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The .NET framework is a mature platform that is very helpful and saves time during the software development process."
"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."
"User-friendly and straightforward."
"As we are a software company, we find that accessing resources using this technology is easier compared to the others."
"The most valuable feature is the financial accounting."
"The most valuable feature is customization."
"Microsoft .NET Framework continually innovates, particularly in Visual Studio, which focuses on improving languages, debugging, and .NET functionality."
"Ease of use, the richness of the libraries and basically very good development tools."
"It offers good support for various types of classes, along with many open source libraries that we can readily utilize in our application development process. This gives us a lot of options when it comes to custom development solutions, without having to worry about licensing or other programming-related issues."
"This solution is really easy for me to use."
"​Zend Engine is the core of PHP. It makes PHP fast, efficient, and basically, the language of choice for web applications."
"We have not encountered issues with scalability as long as we effectively use caching to optimize performance of our web applications as well as a proper use of database connectivity."
"Offers a complete environment to develop PHP applications. It is valuable because it allows you to have a complete stack (PHP, MySQL, Zend Server) enabling the building of a development environment, and to deploy to the production system."
"The cache modules that Zend provides have been able to optimize and accelerate the loading of the pages when there was exponential growth in data volume and quantity of requests. At the same time, the monitoring console allowed us to have a real-time understanding of the resources and to make decisions when they were at the limit."
"Zend Engine gives the flexibility to use external modules to easily expand the functionalities you need for your web project."
"The Zend Framework provides an easy, open source way to produce coding based on the needs of our customers.​"
 

Cons

"Needs stronger security with respect to cloud issues."
"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."
"They should try to improve their Blazor WebAssembly."
"Their system is very vast. I have spent 12 years here, and I can definitely say there is still a lot of scope for improvement."
"The solution has difficulty integrating with other products. There are no such difficulties if you have the same platform, hardware, and operating system."
"The product's price is an area of concern, making it an area where improvements are required."
"I would like to see more pre-built features in the MVC framework because as it is now, it's very open and you have to develop your own controls in order to use it."
"One thing that could be improved is the tooling and IDE for .NET in non-Windows environments like Mac."
"Integrating AI tools would make PHP more competitive, as other tools already have AI features."
"A general scripting language should be further developed and should be embedded into it."
"The solution can be quicker."
"The main area that Zend needs to improve is to support asynchronous programming tasks, which is facilitated in PHP 7, but not at the same degree as HHVM.​​"
"Integration of MVC with ORM tools for PHP is okay, but lacking a short list of decent ORM tools for PHP to choose from; there is ample room for improvement in both areas."
"Although it offers a complete environment to develop and deploy PHP applications, it has some limitations. For example, when the volume of data increased exponentially, I had problems scaling the system."
"The process of installing and configuring the product is a bit complex and could be improved."
"Zend PHP Engine needs to improve the loading time of its libraries and make it faster."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"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."
"The product and support for this solution are free for everyone."
"The product is not expensive."
"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."
"It's an expensive solution"
"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 solution is open source and you just pay for the server cost."
"Zend PHP Engine is not an expensive solution."
"Its pricing depends on the number of users."
"The Zend PHP engine is open source technology, so there's no need for us to worry about licensing or other costs."
"No problem with pricing and licensing, as tools are open source. You have to consider training cost, mindset setup cost, as part of the TCO."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
12%
Real Estate/Law Firm
11%
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
14%
University
11%
Construction Company
11%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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?
The company is not paying anything for the license. I am not familiar with this area. For us, it's free.
What needs improvement with Microsoft .NET Framework?
There may be some topics regarding connectivity and management of certificates that require attention. We are currently facing some issues.
What do you like most about Zend PHP Engine?
The fact that it is available open-source is the best feature.
What needs improvement with Zend PHP Engine?
Integrating AI tools would make PHP more competitive, as other tools already have AI features.
 

Also Known As

MS .NET Framework
PHP Engine
 

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
Cisco
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft .NET Framework vs. Zend PHP Engine and other solutions. Updated: April 2025.
851,604 professionals have used our research since 2012.