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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
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
56
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Zend PHP Engine
Ranking in Application Infrastructure
14th
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 February 2026, in the Application Infrastructure category, the mindshare of Microsoft .NET Framework is 4.7%, down from 5.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Zend PHP Engine is 1.7%, up from 1.5% 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%
Zend PHP Engine1.7%
Other93.6%
Application Infrastructure
 

Featured Reviews

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.
MW
CEO at VonatelNetworks
Effective network data analysis with customization capabilities and an open-source model
We use Zend PHP Engine in a government project to develop a tool for network monitoring analysis. We utilize the tool to collect all the network data for a platform PHP allows us to personalize a solution if the customer desires. This flexibility is beneficial. Zend PHP Engine is a good tool for…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I'd rate the solution as highly stable."
"When it comes to the user interface, the context is better than other tools because it is easier to use."
"I like that ASP.NET is used for the framework and the core web services."
"The addition of generics to handle common functionality across types, and the more recent upgrade of the dataset to the Entity Framework, has cut development time drastically, while increasing quality and confidence between builds."
"User-friendly and straightforward."
"As we are scaling quite nicely on Azure."
"The most valuable features for us are web frameworks like MVC, Web API, and WCS."
"The technology is very scalable and accessible to use."
"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."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is the speed at which it compiles and sends the dynamic cache."
"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."
"This solution is really easy for me to use."
"The fact that it is available open-source is the best feature."
"​Zend Engine is the core of PHP. It makes PHP fast, efficient, and basically, the language of choice for web applications."
"Zend PHP Engine is more secure than any other framework, and I usually prefer Zend PHP Engine for big applications."
 

Cons

"The initial setup is complex."
"This solution is best used with some training."
".NET Is still heavy or dependant on other Microsoft libraries and frameworks."
"One thing that could be improved is the tooling and IDE for .NET in non-Windows environments like Mac."
"Like in C#, Microsoft .NET Framework should provide code reusability options for all kinds of development processes."
"If AI could be incorporated in Microsoft .NET Framework it would be helpful."
"In the realm of Microsoft .NET Framework, particularly in the C# language, there have been significant developments that I find highly commendable. I am genuinely fascinated by the continuous evolution of the language, and staying abreast of the latest features in Azure is both challenging and enjoyable. Working with C# in Azure is particularly fantastic. I appreciate in .NET, as compared to Java, is the enforcement of types, providing a better experience in terms of technicalities. Additionally, the introduction of Roslyn in the past few years has brought about the concept of late .NET, which I find interesting and powerful. This allows for the transformation of symbolic code just before execution, eliminating the runtime decision-making process and enhancing efficiency. However, late .NET does come with a drawback – a delay in the last-minute computation when starting an executable. While some may find this less appealing in terms of instant responsiveness, especially in serverless cloud environments, the efficiency gained from executing strictly binary code is valuable. Despite potential drawbacks like the time required for activation, I view .NET favorably for its technical advancements and efficiency, especially in scenarios such as serverless cloud computing. It's essential to recognize the intricacies of how .NET processes code and the efficiency it brings, which some may overlook."
"The pricing is a bit expensive."
"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.​​"
"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."
"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."
"Its object oriented programming language needs improvement."
"In terms of improvement, it doesn't support concurrent processing. When we want to process anything on a concurrent basis, we have to divide it into a number of things, like a queue, or we have to run it using Cron jobs. We would like to have the capability to run any thread or process in parallel."
"The process of installing and configuring the product is a bit complex and could be improved."
"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."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"The solution is free but you need to pay for a license for the hosting service."
"Microsoft .NET Framework is very cost-effective for corporate users."
"Microsoft .NET Framework is free of cost."
"Do your homework. Consider the partnership program."
"The product and support for this solution are free for everyone."
"If you want to develop an enterprise-level application, you have to purchase the enterprise-level development license."
"There is a Community Edition that can be used free of charge, but the licensing cost for the Enterprise version is quite high."
"Zend PHP Engine is not an expensive solution."
"The Zend PHP engine is open source technology, so there's no need for us to worry about licensing or other costs."
"Its pricing depends on the number of users."
"The solution is open source and you just pay for the server cost."
"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
15%
Real Estate/Law Firm
13%
Marketing Services Firm
9%
Comms Service Provider
7%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business28
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise23
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business9
Large Enterprise2
 

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?
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...
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: February 2026.
881,707 professionals have used our research since 2012.