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IIS vs Microsoft .NET Framework 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:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
5.7
Network authentication improved, offering affordability and ROI, though user-friendly enhancements for IIS novices are needed.
Sentiment score
7.1
Microsoft .NET Framework offers substantial annual returns, enhancing efficiency and value, often outweighing outsourcing costs for companies.
It should be more user-friendly overall, because unless you know how IIS works as a Microsoft product, a system admin cannot just manage it.
Systems Engineer at Atos
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.5
Users report mixed experiences with Microsoft support, often favoring community resources, but praise premium plan responsiveness.
Sentiment score
6.5
Customer service excels with responsive assistance, though delays and challenges sometimes occur; online resources are frequently used.
There are typically no significant issues.
IT System Administrator at Bouri
Microsoft provides a lot of online documentation to consult before speaking to an expert.
Relationship Manager at a financial services firm with 5,001-10,000 employees
I would rate the support from Microsoft very high because I definitely got all the help during the testing time of the development kit while we were configuring features on our on-premises server.
Systems Engineer at Atos
The support from Microsoft deserves a rating of 10 out of 10.
Solutions Architect at Diyar United Company
Microsoft is better in backward compatibility compared to others.
IT Development Manager, Architect, Developer at Miltel Communications LTD
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.1
IIS scalability is mixed; effective with clustering and load balancing, but larger scales may need extra infrastructure or cloud migration.
Sentiment score
7.1
The .NET Framework offers strong scalability, especially with Azure, influenced by architecture, developer expertise, customization, and modular development.
Cloud solutions may have better scalability options compared to IIS.
Chief Technology Officer at EVtech
It depends on the server environment and the presence of a UPS for power backup.
IT System Administrator at Bouri
I would rate the scalability of IIS as a six, mainly due to integration issues since it cannot integrate with other environments.
Relationship Manager at a financial services firm with 5,001-10,000 employees
SQL server clusters run effectively in complicated environments such as banks, handling tasks such as deleting millions of records.
Solutions Architect at Diyar United Company
I have not encountered any significant issues with scalability.
Full Stack Engineer at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.8
IIS is praised for enterprise stability, though occasionally challenged by application pool interactions and non-Microsoft technology compatibility.
Sentiment score
7.5
The .NET Framework is praised for stability, though minor issues arise with older versions and under high load.
I would give it a nine out of ten for stability.
Relationship Manager at a financial services firm with 5,001-10,000 employees
It was secured for us, as we launched the product, and people were accessing it from India and Virginia, and we had no problem.
Systems Engineer at Atos
You can check the memory consumption and the number of crashes.
Senior System Integrations Architect at bs-team
We once had a Linux server running smoothly for five years without physical maintenance.
Solutions Architect at Diyar United Company
When systems need updates, they require proper long-term support (LTS) versions.
Full Stack Engineer at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
It is stable overall.
IT Development Manager, Architect, Developer at Miltel Communications LTD
 

Room For Improvement

IIS struggles with compatibility, security, usability, and integration issues, inconsistent performance, costly licensing, and limited technical support.
Microsoft .NET Framework needs better security, pricing, flexibility, integration, scalability, performance, AI, cloud, interoperability, support, and training.
It's influenced by the server's service performance.
IT System Administrator at Bouri
If I compare IIS to other web servers such as Apache, which can be deployed in other environments like Linux, I find IIS is mostly used for simple things.
Relationship Manager at a financial services firm with 5,001-10,000 employees
It should be more user-friendly because unless you know how IIS works as a Microsoft product, a system admin cannot just manage it.
Systems Engineer at Atos
Their IDE, Visual Studio Code, is open source and multi-platform.
Solutions Architect at Diyar United Company
Since it is now open source, it could be easier to progress further.
Full Stack Engineer at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
It's still possible with Microsoft .NET Framework, which isn't the case with many other products. That's a positive aspect.
IT Development Manager, Architect, Developer at Miltel Communications LTD
 

Setup Cost

Enterprise users find IIS cost-effective within Windows but some see high licensing fees compared to Linux alternatives.
Microsoft .NET Framework is free but may involve costs for enterprise editions, additional tools, and Microsoft ecosystem compatibility.
If you have a Windows license, there is no additional cost for IIS.
IT System Administrator at Bouri
We never had any pricing issue, but I don't know if it is competitive or not.
Systems Engineer at Atos
There is a free version available for the old version and also for the new version.
IT Development Manager, Architect, Developer at Miltel Communications LTD
 

Valuable Features

IIS offers seamless Microsoft integration, robust management, enhanced security, resource efficiency, user-friendly interface, and robust web hosting support.
Microsoft .NET Framework is preferred for its Windows integration, robust tools, scalability, performance, and support for modern technologies.
It is easy to publish websites with SSL, and it integrates well within the local environment and cloud.
IT System Administrator at Bouri
IIS is free.
Senior System Integrations Architect at bs-team
The configurations are simple, making it very easy to use and to set up everything.
Relationship Manager at a financial services firm with 5,001-10,000 employees
There are many cutting-edge features that have surpassed Java, including delegates, lambda expressions, and async calls.
Solutions Architect at Diyar United Company
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.
Full Stack Engineer at a tech services company with 1-10 employees
It's a good environment with many features and many libraries that help developers work quickly and efficiently.
IT Development Manager, Architect, Developer at Miltel Communications LTD
 

Categories and Ranking

IIS
Ranking in Application Infrastructure
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
61
Ranking in other categories
Application Server (5th)
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 December 2025, in the Application Infrastructure category, the mindshare of IIS is 10.1%, down from 12.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft .NET Framework is 4.7%, down from 5.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Infrastructure Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
IIS10.1%
Microsoft .NET Framework4.7%
Other85.2%
Application Infrastructure
 

Featured Reviews

Krishnakumar Natarajan - PeerSpot reviewer
Systems Engineer at Atos
Designs and manages multiple websites while ensuring data backup and disaster recovery
I have experience with AWS, and I am most familiar with the server environment, as we just use the server environment and then use Microsoft products on an AWS environment. I have experience with Windows Server IIS, which I ran on my own on-premise data center. The website was developed and then hosted, and through IIS, we managed the servers. The manageability within the IIS environment is not very difficult. For server management, you need to ensure data backup, data restore, and you have a DR configured to keep the database intact. It was done on-premises, so I had no problem doing that. If you have to go to the cloud, then you should have the storage connected to the IIS server and also have a DR set up for that. I didn't use Microsoft Azure tools, but since it is a Microsoft product, Azure has all the portability, so you don't have to worry about compatibility on the cloud. On a scale of 1-10, I would rate this solution a 10.
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.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Government
7%
Construction Company
16%
Real Estate/Law Firm
13%
Government
8%
Comms Service Provider
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business29
Midsize Enterprise11
Large Enterprise22
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business28
Midsize Enterprise9
Large Enterprise23
 

Questions from the Community

Which is better - IIS or NGINX Plus?
IIS is a flexible, secure, and manageable web server to host anything on the web. IIS’s scalable and open architecture can handle the most demanding tasks. From media streaming to web applications,...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for IIS?
For the pricing, setup cost, and licensing for IIS, as a Microsoft product, I didn't think much about separately purchasing an IIS product as it is part of Microsoft Windows. We bought a developmen...
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

Windows Server IIS
MS .NET Framework
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Erste Bank Group, NJVC, Samsung Electronics, Sheraton Hotels and Resorts, Tata Steel Europe, Urban Software Institute
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 IIS vs. Microsoft .NET Framework and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
879,259 professionals have used our research since 2012.