Which Should You Choose for Your Website & App Development Needs Between ASP.NET and PHP?

• By Viaana Michael
• 20-09-2022
• Technology

Choosing a suitable technology for a web app development project is no doubt a daunting task. It is because there are many programming languages and frameworks out there for web app development, but the challenge lies in the fact that businesses need to choose the right technology that fits well for your specific project. Now let's come to the focal point of this blog which is choosing the right technology between ASP.NET and PHP, the two leading web app development technologies. Both these technologies have their pros and cons and also a broad user base. Moreover, both these techniques have proven incredibly successful and have a record of producing several beautiful websites. So, it becomes very difficult for business owners as well as developers to choose between the two.

So, if you are a business owner and not sure whether to hire an asp.net development company or a PHP development company for your next web or app development project, this blog will help you make the right decision as it provides a detailed comparison between ASP.NET vs PHP.

What Is PHP Development?

Generally, PHP comes first in mind when thinking about web projects. Being an open source and a recursive acronym for hypertext processors, it is preferred by the majority of developers when thinking about web projects. With its multiple open-source applications and large libraries, PHP allows developers to develop effective web applications most straightforwardly. Again, if you judge PHP from the client's perspective, what they most enjoy is the lower cost and the faster app development processes. It is because PHP comes with several ready-to-use tools that are available to purchase.

What Is ASP.NET Development?

ASP.NET is also an open-source programming language that is based on Microsoft. But what makes ASP.NET different from PHP is that it's less to no programming requirement. It offers an opportunity to d develop web applications by utilizing C#. Moreover, it also provides an effective library along with several development toolkits to help developers create dynamic web pages, microservices, and REST APIs. Though ASP.NET is new in the market as compared to PHP, it is acquiring remarkable growth in recent years. Studies show that more than 35% of developers now prefer ASP.NET over PHP programming language for building an excellent web app.

Pros & Cons of PHP Development:

Pros
PHP is open-source and free for users.
It is suitable for web development projects as it largely interacts with various databases.
It offers the highest customization and it is highly scalable.
PHP is backed by large community support of dedicated PHP developers from all over the world.
It offers cost-effective solutions and it is easy to learn, program and teach with PHP programming language.

Cons
Applications that are based on PHP generally run slowly as compared to other applications built with other programming languages.
Though PHP offers the highest customization options, it can lead to errors and poor coding.
When it comes to developing desktop applications, PHP is generally considered inefficient.
PHP does not provide robust security. Instead, it is incapable of error handling.

Pros & Cons of ASP.NET Development:

Pros:
Being a progressing programming language, ASP.NET offers scalability.
It offers compatibility with several major programming languages.
It is largely preferred by both developers and business owners for building enterprise apps.
It is a popular programming language in the market as it belongs to Microsoft.
ASP.NET is featured with several in-build security options that help developers to identify any error made in the coding before compiling it. Thus it guarantees the highest security.
It delivers various tools and functions to make it easier for the developers to support programming.
It also makes the app development process faster by using several pre-coded choices.
If you hire dot net developers, they can offer you a business application with an outstanding UI.

Cons
ASP.NET only runs on Microsoft servers.
When it comes to web development, ASP.NET does not offer enough flexibility.
ASP.NET is based on closed-source technology.
Developers find it complicated to use as compared to PHP.
It has small community support.
It is more expensive than PHP. It is because programming with ASP.NET requires buying a license from Microsoft.
PHP vs ASP.NET: A Detailed Comparison

So, here is a comparison guide between ASP.NET vs PHP to help you understand and choose the best technology for your next web app development project.

1. PHP vs ASP.NET: Speed & Performance Comparison: When it comes to comparing PHP and ASP.NET in terms of speed and performance, you will not find a large gap between the two. It s because, both PHP and ASP.NET are well equipped for running the routine process for producing the desired results like accessing the file system, finding images, and displaying the pages on a web server. Moreover, you need to understand the fact that the speed and performance of a web app do not always depend on the programming language you choose, rather it also varies on several other factors like the coding method, database server, bandwidth of end users, the devices used and many others.

2. PHP vs ASP.NET: Scalability Comparison: ASP.NET and PHP both are capable of developing highly scalable web applications. But, when it comes to choosing one in terms of scalability, make sure you consider the state of your business. Suppose, you are a DIY entrepreneur looking to build a website with Drupal, in such case choosing PHP is the most preferred option. But regardless of the programming languages, established businesses always prefer to hire experienced developers no matter whether PHP or ASP.NET developers depending on their project.

3. PHP vs ASP.NET: Cost Comparison: PHP is a completely free programming language. But, when it comes to ASP.NET, sometimes it demands cost for the tools used for developing an ASP.NET. Again, ASP.NET hosting on your website is not free. Instead, it is much more expensive than php development framework.

4. PHP vs ASP.NET: Community Support Comparison: PHP has large community support of expert and friendly developers as compared to ASP.NET. Though both of these communities are constantly working to improve the frameworks, you can get the best assistance from the PHP community due to the sheer number of developers associated with its community.

5. PHP vs ASP.NET: Availability Comparison: PHP can be used on Windows, Mac, and Linux, but ASP.NET can only run on Windows. But still, there is a way to run ASP.NET programming language on Mac and Linux. In such cases, developers take help from Mono Project, which is an open-source development platform based on the .NET framework.

6. PHP vs ASP.NET: Security Comparison: Both ASP.NET and PHP come with robust security features. When it comes to ASP.NET, it is loaded with inbuilt security features, but PHP only provides the tools. Simply put, PHP is more vulnerable to security threats as compared to ASP.NET. Moreover, PHP offers more customization which can cause bugs that lead to poor coding than ASP.NET.

7. PHP vs ASP.NET: Error Handling: As already mentioned that PHP lacks in-build security features that make it hard for the developers to find a specific piece of code not working properly. On the other hand, ASP.NET supports coding and enables developers to find out mistakes.

8. PHP vs ASP.NET: Focus: ASP.NET mainly focuses on building enterprise-level websites and apps, intranet, enterprise-level CRMs, etc. Whether, PHP programming language is the best suit for startups, independent software vendors, and billing and invoicing websites.

9. PHP vs ASP.NET: Popularity: Another important difference between PHP and .NET lies in their popularity. Today, PHP has more usage popularity than ASP.NET. Statistics show that PHP holds a dominant market share of 79% with ASP.NET holding 8.3%. But, today the market share and the popularity of PHP, have fallen to some extent because of the emergence of several other effective programming languages including ASP.NET.

Wrapping It up With Which One to Choose: ASP.NET or PHP?

From the above discussion, you can easily understand that both these techniques have substantial benefits and have worked successfully for a variety of projects. For instance, PHP offers scalability, accessibility, large community support, cost-efficiency, and many more advantages for an app development project. On the other hand, ASP.NET provides the best libraries, robust security, functionalities, and other significant benefits.

Now, the selection of PHP vs ASP.NET largely depends on you and your development team. Make sure you share all the technical requirements and goals of your project with the developers, to help them evaluate the benefits of these technologies for your project one by one and offer you the best solution. So, it is always helpful to take assistance from a reputed app development company treasured with expert developers who can help you pick the right technology for your next app development project.