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ASP.NET vs ASP.NET Core for eCommerce Platforms

Written by Ksenia Mironiuk

Reviewed by Oleg Zhuk

7days ago •7 min

Frameworks are the backbone of software development. They provide essential tools, libraries, and best practices that streamline, standardize, and accelerate the creation of complex solutions, serving as a foundation for efficient and scalable software rollout.

Among many frameworks on the market, .NET—a platform released by Microsoft in the early 2000s—stands out as the premier stack for enterprise-grade ecommerce. Engineered to excel in high-throughput, demanding environments, it earned the trust and support of global leaders, including GE Healthcare, which uses .NET for critical hospital software, UPS, which has built its backend services on .NET, and Alibaba, powering its global, high-volume ecommerce operations with the framework.

In this article, Virto Commerce’s CTO, Oleg Zhuk, examines ASP.NET and ASP.NET Core, explores their differences, evaluates their relative strengths, and explains why .NET remains a strategic choice for robust ecommerce platforms, highlighting why Virto Commerce has continuously been built on the .NET platform—currently on the latest long-term support (LTS) version—since its initial launch as an ecommerce platform in 2013.

What is ASP.NET?

ASP.NET is a mature web application framework designed for developing dynamic web pages, web services, and comprehensive web applications, including ASP.NET ecommerce solutions.

Ever since its debut by Microsoft in 2002, ASP.NET has been considered an enterprise-ready technology stack tailored for robust corporate server platforms. Despite its longevity, it continues to receive active maintenance and updates to ensure sustained compatibility, security, and performance for mission-critical systems that depend on it.

What is ASP.NET Core?

ASP.NET Core is a successor to ASP.NET. Introduced in 2016, it brought a transformative set of features for developers, including an open-source, unified platform that supports cross-platform deployment across Windows, Linux, and macOS. It also delivered significant improvements in speed, cloud-native readiness, and developer productivity.

These advancements unlocked a new level of scalability and security, firmly establishing ASP.NET as a robust framework well-suited for large-scale, demanding enterprise systems.

The .NET naming situation

Microsoft released the .NET development platform over 20 years ago, and it has since undergone a number of changes, including experiments with naming.

To this day, there is confusion as to what versions and editions people are talking about, as many developers stick to what they know and are used to, ignoring the new titles of the platform.

In short, here is the evolution of .NET products’ names:

The .NET Framework was first released in 2002 as a Windows-only platform with ASP.NET as an additional component for building web applications.
In the 2010s, .NET Core was introduced with cross-platform capabilities, and ASP.NET Core was released as a modern web framework.
In the 2020s, Microsoft incorporated all .NET-related components into a single solution and changed the name to simply .NET, starting with the .NET 5 version.

The rule of thumb is that if you see ASP.NET and ASP.NET Core (or .NET Core) mentioned somewhere, everything with the word “Core” is considered more modern. If you just see .NET, assume it’s the latest versions of the framework.

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ASP.NET Core vs ASP.NET

Both frameworks share a common lineage, with ASP.NET Core being an evolution of the original ASP.NET.

While ASP.NET was originally architected by Microsoft exclusively for building web applications on Windows, ASP.NET Core became a completely redesigned cross-platform framework that runs on the latest versions of .NET and enables development across Windows, macOS, and Linux environments, offering greater flexibility for modern application demands.

Below is a comparison of the key differences between the two versions of the .NET platform.

	ASP.NET	ASP.NET Core
Platform Support	Windows	Windows, macOS, Linux
Feature Evolution	Security updates only	Regular feature and version releases
Open Source	Partially open source, originally closed	Fully open source
Modularity	Monolithic	Modular and lightweight
Cloud	Limited	Cloud-native
Hosting	IIS	IIS, Kestrel, NGINX, Apache, Docker
Programming	Separate (MVC, Web API, SignalR)	Unified programming model (MVC, API, Pages)
Configuration	XML-based	Flexible

Even though ASP.NET remains fully supported and maintained by Microsoft, it is primarily suited for legacy environments. For those flexible to upgrade from ASP.NET commerce or running new projects, ASP.NET Core is recommended.

The modern ASP.NET Core framework:

Eliminates many traditional frictions and limitations.
Streamlines development with a unified, cross-platform architecture.
Reduces dependency on ancillary tools, enabling more efficient delivery.

The Benefits of Using the .NET Development Framework for eCommerce Platforms

ASP.NET and ASP.NET Core offer robust foundations for ecommerce ASP.NET development, but it’s the latest .NET 8 long-term support (LTS) version that maximizes the full capabilities of the framework.

Enterprise-grade ecommerce platforms deal with tens of thousands of requests per day and should easily scale to hundreds of thousands and even millions as the demand grows. Retailers, manufacturers, logistics companies, and distributors investing in ecommerce solutions require assurance that their platform delivers:

Enterprise-level security
Operational resilience and reliability
Future-proof longevity and maintainability

Amid the multitude of development frameworks out there, few are equipped to address the complexity of B2B ecommerce operations effectively.

.NET distinguishes itself through several core advantages:

✔️ Established by Microsoft in 2002, it is highly supported and invested into to this day, signalling to businesses its stability and longevity.

✔️ Designed as an enterprise-level solution from day one, .NET provides native support for complex workflows and advanced security measures.

✔️ As an open-source platform, .NET delivers unparalleled customization and flexibility to accommodate highly specialized business workflows through tailored solutions.

“
Forward-thinking businesses should understand that, for projects in ecommerce, continuity of development tools is important. Hot trends for development tools change quickly. Your ecommerce website, on the other hand, should be built to live for at least ten years, and should be maintained and updated all that time—meaning, you must be confident that you will find both developers and software in ten years. And here is where Microsoft significantly outperforms the competition: .NET has been around since the early 2000s and is continually evolving.
”

Additionally, .NET offers a set of benefits for ecommerce solutions that make it an essential framework for ambitious and complex organizations.

Advanced and reliable performance in hectic environments. Traffic spikes are navigated with ease with efficient garbage collection, smart memory management, and native caching that all together minimize latency.
Faster time to market for any new feature developments or customization with a comprehensive ecosystem for coding and code refactoring, testing, debugging, and deployment. Extensive built-in libraries supply components that simplify development and minimize coding effort, and architecture patterns (MVC) reduce development complexity. Lastly, the framework’s cross-platform and modular design makes prototyping more efficient.
Robust security is the foundation of .NET. It offers input validation, Code Access Security (CAS), native protection against XSS, CSRF, and SQL injection. Best practices are encouraged for developers with security headers, HTTPS enforcement, support of all key authentication and authorization protocols (OpenID Connect, OAuth, and multi-factor authentication), and integration with Microsoft Defender for Cloud.
Scalable architecture designed for rapid growth facilitates ecommerce growth instead of creating bottlenecks and forcing companies to lose momentum. Asynchronous programming, modular microservices, and parallel processing allow on-demand scaling. Native integration with cloud platforms (including, naturally, Microsoft’s Azure) provides smart load balancing and consistent performance.

Although ASP.NET ecommerce development suits many use cases, the modern .NET framework offers enhanced scalability and performance that complex ecommerce workflows demand. Businesses relying on e-commerce ASP.NET platforms may fall short of the superior efficiency and enhanced security required to thrive in today’s highly competitive marketplace.

.NET eCommerce Software Success Stories: How Technology Helps Virto Commerce Customers Win

Built on the robust and enterprise-grade .NET framework, Virto’s Commerce Innovation Platform (CIP) inherits all the powerful capabilities required for large-scale, complex ecommerce operations.

Below are examples of how Virto’s .NET ecommerce software leverages the full strength of the framework to deliver scalable, advanced ecommerce solutions that drive tangible results for our customers.

✔️ De Klok Dranken, a leading beverage company and a subsidiary of Grolsch, deployed Virto across its five redistribution centers and 3500 users with complex pricing and conditions. This initiative achieved a staggering 80% adoption rate of the online self-service portal among customers.

✔️ Cadillac & KW Parts leveraged Virto to host and manage their extensive catalog exceeding 4 million products across 30 countries, and achieved an average indexing and search speed of 1 second.

✔️ Bosch Home Comfort Group consolidated its loyalty programs across Europe using Virto to improve visibility into product usage and align loyalty efforts. A single loyalty portal was introduced to handle 50+ localized shop instances with 22K products listed and 150K+ users registered.

✔️ Royal Brass & Hose collaborated with Virto to launch a self-service B2B portal providing customers with 24/7 access to catalogs and order tracking. The platform also incorporated custom payment handling and alerts, rules-based pricing, and bulk order creation capabilities.

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Looking for a .NET-powered eCommerce Platform to Elevate Your Operations?

Whether you’re embarking on a digital transformation journey or considering replacing your existing legacy platform, the .NET framework provides a solid foundation to advance your business capabilities.

Virto’s Commerce Innovation Platform is built on the latest .NET 8 LTS release, combining full control, unlimited extensibility, and enterprise-grade security to meet the most complex B2B ecommerce needs.

✔️ Future-proof and secure: Fully aligned with the latest Microsoft releases, SOC-2 certified, GDPR and CCPA compliant, with integrated CI/CD pipelines to ensure business continuity.

✔️ Built for B2B complexity: Native support of multi-layered business rules—including access levels and permissions for different business units, personalized pricelists and pricing, custom promotions, and advanced order management—delivers the flexibility and control required for sophisticated enterprise commerce.

✔️ Extensible and composable: Built on modular and independently deployable components, the headless and API-first platform enables unlimited workflows and seamless integrations—with ERP, CRM, CMS, PIM, and any other service—and on-demand feature rollout without vendor lock-in.

✔️ Cloud-native and scalable: Seamlessly deployed on any cloud provider, supporting horizontal scaling and high availability.

This one-of-a-kind, powerful combination empowers your organization to tailor your commerce ecosystem precisely to your business needs, while consistently exceeding the demands of your customers and partners.

Build, expand, and grow your commerce on your own terms with Virto Commerce.

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