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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

"As we are scaling quite nicely on Azure."
"Microsoft .NET Framework reduces the cost of entry and enables the development of applications with mature and enterprise features, thereby lowering the entry barriers."
"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."
"The APIs are completely effective."
"Microsoft is better in backward compatibility compared to others."
"If we take low code, no code platform such as RPA platforms, you might end up writing 100 lines of code and you might do it in a single line of code using. NET."
"The tool offers a lot of support, and there is a lot of knowledge material available, along with a lot of community groups."
"The .NET Framework simplified operations dealing with the allocation and deallocation of memory spaces and the additional processing resources."
"This solution is really easy for me to use."
"Zend PHP Engine is more secure than any other framework, and I usually prefer Zend PHP Engine for big applications."
"The Zend Framework provides an easy, open source way to produce coding based on the needs of our customers.​"
"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."
"Scaling up is an important factor for large projects, and with PHP 7 and its performance improvements, this becomes even easier.​"
"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 fact that it is available open-source is the best feature."
"Faster web app implementation, when PHP dev is required by customers."
 

Cons

"The product’s reliability needs improvement."
"The solution is difficult to learn if someone is learning it for the first time."
"The cloud features must be improved."
"The product's price is an area of concern, making it an area where improvements are required."
"Some cloud features will not run in an old version of Microsoft .NET Framework easily or at all. Running on the cloud is complex."
"There may be some topics regarding connectivity and management of certificates that require attention."
"The integration could improve in Microsoft .NET Framework."
"There are performance constraints when multiple users are accessing the application and that consumes CPU resources."
"Integrating AI tools would make PHP more competitive, as other tools already have AI features."
"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."
"Zend PHP Engine needs to improve the loading time of its libraries and make it faster."
"The process of installing and configuring the product is a bit complex and could be improved."
"The biggest problem with PHP is you have to write lot of conditions or have to use a framework."
"SQL queries have always been an issue with PHP, especially if you use large tables, which require caution from the side of the developer.​"
"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."
"A general scripting language should be further developed and should be embedded into it."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The Microsoft .NET Framework is free of charge, without licensing cost."
"Considering the bigger picture, opting for the Microsoft ecosystem can be beneficial and it is priced well. When relying on entirely open-source solutions, you may encounter challenges associated with dealing with multiple vendors and potentially compromised security measures. However, it is important to note that Microsoft could enhance its performance when it comes to addressing critical security concerns."
"The solution is free but you need to pay for a license for the hosting service."
"If you want to develop an enterprise-level application, you have to purchase the enterprise-level development license."
"The product and support for this solution are free for everyone."
"The product is not expensive."
"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."
"Microsoft .NET Framework is very cost-effective for corporate users."
"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."
"Zend PHP Engine is not an expensive solution."
"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.