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Microsoft Azure App Service vs Xamarin Platform comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 4, 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 Azure App Service
Ranking in Mobile Development Platforms
4th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
50
Ranking in other categories
Rapid Application Development Software (7th)
Xamarin Platform
Ranking in Mobile Development Platforms
5th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
40
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Mobile Development Platforms category, the mindshare of Microsoft Azure App Service is 4.6%, up from 2.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Xamarin Platform is 6.1%, down from 7.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Mobile Development Platforms Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Microsoft Azure App Service4.6%
Xamarin Platform6.1%
Other89.3%
Mobile Development Platforms
 

Featured Reviews

AntonioNascimento - PeerSpot reviewer
Solutions Architect at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Seamless integration and application hosting enabled through versatile service
When using a Linux App Service or containerized App Services, the logging is not as good as when using the Windows version. The Linux App Service should be more user-friendly, focusing on logging, troubleshooting, and similar features. With Microsoft Azure App Service, it is more difficult with Linux or other container solutions because there are many options. When creating an App Service, you can create it as Linux or Windows. After that, you can choose some stack or use Docker to container. When using Linux with container, the logging functionality is not as robust.
Prince Tiwari - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Software Engineer at AAPC
Facilitates UI development with XAML, enabling shared UI code across platforms and reducing platform-specific work
I like its simplicity. As someone who didn't start my career as a dedicated developer, I was used to building websites or Windows applications. Transitioning to mobile app development meant learning new languages like Swift or Java. With C# and Xamarin, though, I could leverage my existing skillset. Xamarin, and specifically Xamarin.Forms, let me write my code once and deploy it natively to both Android and iOS. Xamarin.Forms are very useful. Essentially, it's a framework that allows me to create the UI mostly in XAML. This XAML code is then translated into the native UI elements for each respective platform. The advantage is that roughly 90% of my UI code can be shared. This significantly reduces the amount of platform-specific UI work compared to having to write separate UIs for each platform. For the most part, Xamarin's integration with Visual Studio improved the workflow, whether I'm on Windows or Mac. Since I'm familiar with Visual Studio, it provides a comfortable development environment. Additionally, features like Hot Reload and the integration of tools like Copilot help streamline the development process. Overall, it offers a positive development experience.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"We are able to do millions of things simultaneously."
"Regarding its automatic scaling and load balancing features, those capabilities are really effective."
"It's very easy to use. That's one of the advantages for the business, that you don't need to struggle to configure your website and your app service. Microsoft made sure to make it stable and very easy to configure."
"Microsoft Azure App Service is an easy way to host applications and web applications, and it is very straightforward to automate the deploying and configure, making it very easy and useful."
"The product is scalable."
"The Logic Apps and Azure functions are very robust."
"The feature I find most valuable is the 'Diagnose and Solve problem' function. This not only allows us to fix a problem, but also to generate analytics on why the issue occurred."
"The most valuable feature is the ability to scale the application."
"My favorite feature of Xamarin platform is the Xamarin.Essentials package. I also like the changes seen in Xamarin's upgrade from Xamarin.Forms to .NET MAUI, because in the older Xamarin Platform, Xamarin.Forms gave you multiple libraries of a particular level for a single platform, whereas .NET MAUI comprises a single, organized library that contains everything needed for both Android and iOS."
"Xamarin Platform's best features are its single codebase, the support from Microsoft, and the free libraries."
"I think the best part about Xamarin is that you can create apps for both platforms using one source code. That's the most powerful feature. When you develop something for Android, it also builds for iVerse as well. The cross-platform aspect of Xamarin is unique. The ability to develop both apps with a single code base is something very unique."
"This solution is a cross-form technology, meaning that we don't have to create separate code to deploy apps across different platforms."
"It significantly reduces development and test costs, and ensures that there is synergy between the platforms on product features and user experience."
"The solution's most valuable asset is its shared code base in C# that is better for large apps."
"I like Renderers in Xamarin. They allow us to use native-platform controls easily."
"We very much like the XAML design techniques, multiple layout and pages, MVVMCross support, and portability across different platforms."
 

Cons

"I thought it would be better to have a template to publish directly to Microsoft Azure App Service using GitHub because there were some documents related to Azure DevOps."
"Microsoft Azure App Service could be improved in various application functions, as we have a need for improvement after monitoring and diagnosing each application."
"Microsoft Azure App Service needs some improvement in the scaling area."
"Microsoft Azure App Service has a lot of complexity because there are a lot of options and functionality. It is simple to become confused, there are many technical elements to learn before you can utilize the solution. If they could make the solution easier to use it would be a benefit."
"From an IoT use case perspective, we're all good, however, we should have additional plugins."
"Sometimes customer service and support can be challenging."
"Can be improved by increasing the number of data centres worldwide."
"Microsoft Azure App Service could improve by having better integration and connectivity with other platforms. The solution has good integration with other large companies' solutions but there are smaller service platforms companies where there could be integrated better."
"The primary area for improvement is the support for third-party libraries, especially for major providers like Microsoft and Google."
"I would like to see hot reload, similar to what Flutter has out-of-the-box. There is "Live Reload" but it’s still in preview and was only recently announced."
"There are compatibility issues between versions of various Xamarin components."
"The recent move to .NET MAUI is a big change that's affecting a lot of the good features."
"Xamarin Platform lacks in app size."
"They need to take a step towards independence from the UI platform. It takes a lot of time to adapt the native controls."
"The solution struggles a little bit with binding libraries."
"Xamarin's profiling tools are only available for the highest tier of MSDN subscription and compatibility with platform-native profiling tools is rather lacking. This causes friction when working on performance-related issues."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing for this solution is set in tiers, with the overall cost depending on the features that are required. I would advise organizations to have a detailed look at the functions they need, to ensure that they are in the correct pricing tier."
"The price of the support could improve. It is expensive."
"The cost depends on the App Service plan that you choose. There are a number of tiers available."
"The pricing and cost of this solution depends on the use and needs of a business."
"The cost is reasonable."
"The product is not expensive. The tool's price is okay for all of the benefits you get from the solution."
"Azure App Service is expensive compared to its competitors, especially its cloud-only version."
"The product's price is low, especially if we compare it with other tools or clouds, like Google Cloud or AWS Cloud."
"There's no licensing cost for Xamarin."
"For personal use, the Community Edition is free."
"You can build in Xamarin without paying any money."
"There is no license fee because the solution is open-source."
"Xamarin is available under several licensing arrangements. Each developer needs one license at least. All features, especially the Profiler, unlock only with the highest tier."
"Xamarin is free. There is no license unless you go for some high-end enterprise features. Other than that, everything's free."
"It saved a lot of time and resources needed to develop a cross platform mobile app."
"My company provided all the licenses that we need to support our use of Xamarin Platform."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Educational Organization
27%
Manufacturing Company
15%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Performing Arts
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business12
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise33
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business18
Midsize Enterprise5
Large Enterprise14
 

Questions from the Community

Would you choose Microsoft Azure App Service or PowerApps?
Microsoft Azure App Service is helpful if you need to set up temporary servers for customers to run their programs in locations that other cloud providers do not cater to. When servers are closer t...
Do you recommend Microsoft Azure App Service?
I highly recommend Microsoft Azure. We have been using it for nearly four years. We mostly use it for creating and maintaining websites, such as content management systems like WordPress sites, whi...
What do you like most about Microsoft Azure App Service?
One valuable feature of Azure App Service for us is its integration with Azure DevOps, which we heavily rely on in our development process.
What do you like most about Xamarin Platform?
Xamarin.Forms are very useful. Essentially, it's a framework that allows me to create the UI mostly in XAML. This XAML code is then translated into the native UI elements for each respective platform.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Xamarin Platform?
Xamarin Platform is free, and we use an Azure subscription at a relatively low cost for our builds. It offers a good value for money, although it requires time to make it work effectively.
What needs improvement with Xamarin Platform?
The primary area for improvement is the support for third-party libraries, especially for major providers like Microsoft and Google. The lack of robust documentation and support for third-party bin...
 

Also Known As

Azure App Service, MS Azure App Service
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Real Madrid, Absolut, AccuWeather, Heineken, NBC News, Paramount
Cinemark, MixRadio, Sqor Sports, Storyo, JetBlue, The World Bank, Cr_dito Agrcola, Applied Research Associates
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft Azure App Service vs. Xamarin Platform and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
879,371 professionals have used our research since 2012.