HACKER Q&A
📣 mafiaa

Why aren't more startups using .NET?


Wanted to learn/try something new with my next start-up venture and decided to use .NET for my backend and it has been amazing so far.

Very low learning curve, easy to separate functionality rather than relying on some mega AIO Next.js app, easy integration with cloud providers such as Azure, and it's already widely used in the industry (valuable experience to have).

So why aren't start-ups using it more often? It seems like the perfect framework to build with in almost every capacity (unless you really dislike Microsoft).

  👤 porcoda Accepted Answer ✓
Anti-MS sentiment is common in some corners of the tech world. People ignore the fact that the CLI and C# are ECMA standards like JavaScript and C++, and treat them like closed proprietary systems. .NET is a great choice and there are tons of people who happily use it.
👤 runningmike
Technology choice is by far the least important choice. A business is seldom about technology, but the value for customers. Other factors count more, but your question leaves all important factors out. So the consultant answer is: it depends….
👤 nacozarina
its an ms thing and how much does one want to be at the mercy of an ms roadmap
👤 smt88
A) It used to suck

B) It's not that popular for frontend, which is a very important concern for most early startups

C) Microsoft was historically only used because it was Microsoft, not because it was the best choice

It's mostly a Microsoft brand problem that they rightfully earned by being bullies producing over-complex, stagnant corporate IT trash.

👤 zaktoo2
Because it's shit
👤 kgwxd
I love it. Been using it professionally since the beginning. I owe my entire career to it.

This year, I've switched to Go for all projects moving forward, and will never recommend anyone ever touch anything MS has any part in.

👤 jcz_nz
Historically it was targeted at already captive clients building on Windows, so there was no incentive to innovate or break eggs. This persisted just long enough for the industry to evolve (web & Linux) and create much better solutions, making MS’s dev tools largely irrelevant. Today, seeing .net in a shop is a red flag for me at least (choosing .net for Web work, to clarify)