Blazor vs React: A .NET Developer's Honest Comparison

Why I switched from React to Blazor and why your npm audit might thank you too.

---

TL;DR

Blazor vs React is a question every .NET developer eventually asks. Blazor lets you build interactive web UIs with C# instead of JavaScript. If you're already a .NET developer, this means one language, one ecosystem, and far fewer existential crises about which state management library to use this quarter.

---

Table of Contents

• What Is Blazor, Anyway?
• The Case Against React
• Code Comparison: React vs Blazor
• Why Blazor Works for Me
• Blazor's Evolution: .NET 8, 9, and 10
• When React Still Makes Sense
• Getting Started with Blazor
• FAQ: Common Concerns Answered
• Final Thoughts

---

I've been writing JavaScript since jQuery was revolutionary. I've watched frameworks rise and fall like empires. I've migrated from Backbone to Angular to React to... whatever we're supposed to be using next Tuesday.

And somewhere around my third node_modules folder that exceeded 800MB, I started asking myself: what if there was another way?

Spoiler: there is. It's called Blazor, and it let me build web applications using a language that doesn't think "2" + 2 = "22" is acceptable behavior.

---

What Is Blazor, Anyway?

Blazor is Microsoft's framework for building interactive web UIs using C# instead of JavaScript. The name is a portmanteau of "Browser" and "Razor" (the .NET templating syntax), and it's been production-ready since 2020.

Here's the core idea: instead of writing JavaScript that runs in the browser, you write C# that either:

1. Runs on the server (Blazor Server) - Your C# executes on the server, and UI updates flow to the browser via a SignalR WebSocket connection in real-time.

2. Runs in the browser (Blazor WebAssembly) - The .NET runtime itself runs in the browser via WebAssembly. Yes, actual compiled .NET code, in your browser.

3. Both (Blazor United/.NET 8+) - Pick your rendering mode per-component. Server-side for initial load speed, WebAssembly for offline capability. Best of both worlds.
   

// A Blazor component. Yes, that's C# in your UI.
@page "/counter"

<h1>Counter</h1>
<p>Current count: @currentCount</p>
<button @onclick="IncrementCount">Click me</button>

@code {
    private int currentCount = 0;

    private void IncrementCount()
    {
        currentCount++;
    }
}

That's it. No webpack. No babel. No seventeen configuration files. Just C# that compiles and runs.

---

The Case Against React (Or: Why I Needed a Change)

Look, React is fine. It revolutionized how we think about component-based UIs. The Virtual DOM was genuinely clever. Facebook uses it, and they seem to be doing okay.

But after years of building production React applications, I started noticing patterns that made me question my life choices.

The Framework Churn is Real

The React ecosystem has been described as "an ever-shifting maze of faddish churn". That's not me being dramatic-that's developers who've lived it.

Every year brings a new "right way" to do things:

Year	State Management Du Jour
2016	Redux (obviously)
2018	MobX (Redux is too verbose!)
2020	Context API (who needs libraries?)
2021	Zustand (Context doesn't scale!)
2022	Jotai, Recoil, Valtio...
2024	Server Components (state is a lie?)

One developer on DEV Community summed it up perfectly: "After years of jumping from React to Vue to Svelte to Solid (and back again), I realized I was constantly relearning how to build the same thing in a slightly different way."

Decision Fatigue is Exhausting

Starting a new React project means choosing from:

• Bundlers: Webpack, Vite, Parcel, esbuild, Turbopack
• State Management: Redux, MobX, Zustand, Jotai, Recoil, XState
• Styling: CSS Modules, Styled Components, Emotion, Tailwind, vanilla-extract
• Data Fetching: React Query, SWR, Apollo, RTK Query
• Forms: React Hook Form, Formik, Final Form
• Meta-frameworks: Next.js, Remix, Gatsby

That's before you've written a single line of business logic.

The State of React 2025 notes that "the flexibility and variety of ecosystem options has been both a strength and a weakness... That leads to decision fatigue, variations in project codebases, and constant changes in what tools are commonly used."

The Type Safety Theater

Yes, TypeScript exists. Yes, it helps. But TypeScript is a bandage on a dynamically-typed wound. You're bolting a type system onto a language that fundamentally doesn't have one, and the seams show.

// TypeScript: Types are suggestions, really
const user: User = JSON.parse(response); // No runtime validation!
// user could be anything. TypeScript just trusts you.

// Meanwhile, in C#:
var user = JsonSerializer.Deserialize<User>(response);
// Actual deserialization with type checking

I've seen TypeScript projects where any appears 400 times. At that point, why bother?

The npm Security Nightmare

Let's talk about something the JavaScript community doesn't like to discuss: your node_modules folder is a security liability.

September 2025: The Shai-Hulud Attack

One of the largest npm supply chain attacks in history compromised 18+ packages with over 2.6 billion weekly downloads. The attack started with a phishing email to a single maintainer. Within days, packages from Zapier, PostHog, and Postman were trojanized.

The kicker? Shai-Hulud 2.0 followed in November 2025, affecting over 25,000 GitHub repositories. This version included a "scorched earth" fallback-if the malware couldn't exfiltrate credentials, it would destroy the victim's entire home directory.

This isn't ancient history. This is this year.

The Greatest Hits of npm Disasters

Incident	Year	Impact
left-pad	2016	One developer unpublished an 11-line package. Babel, React, and thousands of projects broke instantly.
event-stream	2018	Malicious code injected by a "helpful" new maintainer. Went undetected for 2.5 months. Targeted Bitcoin wallets.
ua-parser-js	2021	8 million weekly downloads. Compromised to install cryptominers and password stealers.
everything	2024	A "joke" package that depended on every npm package. DOS'd anyone who installed it.
Shai-Hulud	2025	2.6B+ weekly downloads affected. AI-assisted attacks. Data destruction payloads.

Why This Keeps Happening

The npm ecosystem has structural problems:

1. Massive dependency trees: A typical React app has hundreds of transitive dependencies. Each one is an attack surface.

2. Volunteer maintainers: Critical infrastructure maintained by unpaid individuals who can be phished, burned out, or social-engineered.

3. No build-time verification: npm installs whatever package.json says. There's no compile-time check that the code is safe.

4. Trivial packages: The JavaScript ecosystem has normalized depending on packages for trivial functionality. is-odd? is-even? is-number? These exist, and they have millions of downloads.
   

# A real npm audit from a "simple" React project
found 47 vulnerabilities (12 moderate, 28 high, 7 critical)

Meanwhile, in .NET Land

NuGet isn't perfect, but it's dramatically better:

• Signed packages: Publishers can cryptographically sign packages
• Curated ecosystem: Fewer packages overall, but higher average quality
• Microsoft backing: Core libraries maintained by a trillion-dollar company, not a solo developer
• Compile-time safety: The C# compiler catches many issues before runtime
• Smaller dependency graphs: .NET's comprehensive standard library means fewer external dependencies

When I run dotnet list package --vulnerable on my Blazor projects, I typically see zero results. When I run npm audit on React projects, I clear my afternoon.

---

The Code Speaks for Itself: React vs. Blazor

Theory is nice. Code is better. Let me show you what the same functionality looks like in both frameworks.

A Simple Counter (The "Hello World" of Frameworks)

React (with hooks):

import { useState } from 'react';

export default function Counter() {
  const [count, setCount] = useState(0);

  return (
    <div>
      <h1>Counter</h1>
      <p>Current count: {count}</p>
      <button onClick={() => setCount(count + 1)}>
        Click me
      </button>
    </div>
  );
}

Blazor:

@page "/counter"

<h1>Counter</h1>
<p>Current count: @count</p>
<button @onclick="() => count++">Click me</button>

@code {
    private int count = 0;
}

Similar line count, but notice: no imports, no useState hook, no setter function. Just a variable and an increment.

Two-Way Data Binding

This is where the ceremony difference gets real.

React:

import { useState } from 'react';

export default function SearchBox() {
  const [query, setQuery] = useState('');
  const [results, setResults] = useState([]);

  const handleChange = (e) => {
    setQuery(e.target.value);
  };

  return (
    <div>
      <input
        type="text"
        value={query}
        onChange={handleChange}
        placeholder="Search..."
      />
      <p>You typed: {query}</p>
    </div>
  );
}

Blazor:

<input type="text" @bind="query" @bind:event="oninput" placeholder="Search..." />
<p>You typed: @query</p>

@code {
    private string query = "";
}

That's it. @bind handles both directions. No onChange handler, no e.target.value, no setter function. The binding just... works.

Form Handling with Validation

Here's where things get spicy. A user registration form with validation.

React (with React Hook Form + Zod - the "modern" approach):

import { useForm } from 'react-hook-form';
import { zodResolver } from '@hookform/resolvers/zod';
import { z } from 'zod';

const schema = z.object({
  email: z.string().email('Invalid email'),
  password: z.string().min(8, 'Password must be at least 8 characters'),
  confirmPassword: z.string()
}).refine(data => data.password === data.confirmPassword, {
  message: "Passwords don't match",
  path: ['confirmPassword']
});

export default function RegisterForm() {
  const {
    register,
    handleSubmit,
    formState: { errors, isSubmitting }
  } = useForm({
    resolver: zodResolver(schema)
  });

  const onSubmit = async (data) => {
    await fetch('/api/register', {
      method: 'POST',
      headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
      body: JSON.stringify(data)
    });
  };

  return (
    <form onSubmit={handleSubmit(onSubmit)}>
      <div>
        <input {...register('email')} placeholder="Email" />
        {errors.email && <span>{errors.email.message}</span>}
      </div>
      <div>
        <input {...register('password')} type="password" placeholder="Password" />
        {errors.password && <span>{errors.password.message}</span>}
      </div>
      <div>
        <input {...register('confirmPassword')} type="password" placeholder="Confirm" />
        {errors.confirmPassword && <span>{errors.confirmPassword.message}</span>}
      </div>
      <button type="submit" disabled={isSubmitting}>Register</button>
    </form>
  );
}

That's three npm packages (react-hook-form, @hookform/resolvers, zod), spread operators on inputs, and resolver configuration. It works, but there's a lot happening.

Blazor (with built-in DataAnnotations):

@page "/register"
@inject HttpClient Http

<EditForm Model="model" OnValidSubmit="HandleSubmit">
    <DataAnnotationsValidator />

    <div>
        <InputText @bind-Value="model.Email" placeholder="Email" />
        <ValidationMessage For="() => model.Email" />
    </div>
    <div>
        <InputText @bind-Value="model.Password" type="password" placeholder="Password" />
        <ValidationMessage For="() => model.Password" />
    </div>
    <div>
        <InputText @bind-Value="model.ConfirmPassword" type="password" placeholder="Confirm" />
        <ValidationMessage For="() => model.ConfirmPassword" />
    </div>

    <button type="submit" disabled="@isSubmitting">Register</button>
</EditForm>

@code {
    private RegisterModel model = new();
    private bool isSubmitting = false;

    private async Task HandleSubmit()
    {
        isSubmitting = true;
        await Http.PostAsJsonAsync("/api/register", model);
        isSubmitting = false;
    }

    public class RegisterModel
    {
        [Required, EmailAddress]
        public string Email { get; set; } = "";

        [Required, MinLength(8, ErrorMessage = "Password must be at least 8 characters")]
        public string Password { get; set; } = "";

        [Required, Compare(nameof(Password), ErrorMessage = "Passwords don't match")]
        public string ConfirmPassword { get; set; } = "";
    }
}

Zero additional packages. The validation attributes are built into .NET. EditForm handles the submit flow. DataAnnotationsValidator wires up validation automatically. The model class is reusable on your API too.

Data Fetching

React (with useEffect - the footgun everyone steps on):

import { useState, useEffect } from 'react';

export default function UserList() {
  const [users, setUsers] = useState([]);
  const [loading, setLoading] = useState(true);
  const [error, setError] = useState(null);

  useEffect(() => {
    let isMounted = true;  // Cleanup flag to prevent state updates after unmount

    const fetchUsers = async () => {
      try {
        const response = await fetch('/api/users');
        if (!response.ok) throw new Error('Failed to fetch');
        const data = await response.json();
        if (isMounted) {
          setUsers(data);
          setLoading(false);
        }
      } catch (err) {
        if (isMounted) {
          setError(err.message);
          setLoading(false);
        }
      }
    };

    fetchUsers();

    return () => { isMounted = false; };  // Cleanup
  }, []);

  if (loading) return <div>Loading...</div>;
  if (error) return <div>Error: {error}</div>;

  return (
    <ul>
      {users.map(user => (
        <li key={user.id}>{user.name}</li>
      ))}
    </ul>
  );
}

Notice the cleanup pattern with isMounted. Forget this and you get the classic "Can't perform a React state update on an unmounted component" warning. Every. Single. Time.

Blazor:

@page "/users"
@inject HttpClient Http

@if (users == null)
{
    <div>Loading...</div>
}
else if (error != null)
{
    <div>Error: @error</div>
}
else
{
    <ul>
        @foreach (var user in users)
        {
            <li>@user.Name</li>
        }
    </ul>
}

@code {
    private List<User>? users;
    private string? error;

    protected override async Task OnInitializedAsync()
    {
        try
        {
            users = await Http.GetFromJsonAsync<List<User>>("/api/users");
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {
            error = ex.Message;
        }
    }
}

No cleanup needed-Blazor handles component lifecycle properly. No dependency array to forget. OnInitializedAsync runs once when the component loads. Done.

Component Communication (Parent to Child, Child to Parent)

React:

// Parent
function Parent() {
  const [selectedItem, setSelectedItem] = useState(null);

  return (
    <div>
      <ItemList
        onItemSelected={setSelectedItem}
        highlightedId={selectedItem?.id}
      />
      {selectedItem && <ItemDetail item={selectedItem} />}
    </div>
  );
}

// Child
function ItemList({ onItemSelected, highlightedId }) {
  const items = [...];

  return (
    <ul>
      {items.map(item => (
        <li
          key={item.id}
          className={item.id === highlightedId ? 'highlighted' : ''}
          onClick={() => onItemSelected(item)}
        >
          {item.name}
        </li>
      ))}
    </ul>
  );
}

Blazor:

@* Parent *@
<ItemList @bind-SelectedItem="selectedItem" />

@if (selectedItem != null)
{
    <ItemDetail Item="selectedItem" />
}

@code {
    private Item? selectedItem;
}

@* ItemList.razor *@
<ul>
    @foreach (var item in items)
    {
        <li class="@(item.Id == SelectedItem?.Id ? "highlighted" : "")"
            @onclick="() => SelectedItem = item">
            @item.Name
        </li>
    }
</ul>

@code {
    private List<Item> items = [...];

    [Parameter]
    public Item? SelectedItem { get; set; }

    [Parameter]
    public EventCallback<Item?> SelectedItemChanged { get; set; }
}

The @bind-SelectedItem syntax automatically wires up two-way binding between parent and child. Convention over configuration.

The Ceremony Comparison

Task	React	Blazor
Two-way binding	value + onChange handler	@bind
Form validation	3rd party library + schema	Built-in attributes
Data fetching	useEffect + cleanup + deps array	OnInitializedAsync
State management	useState / Redux / Zustand / etc.	Fields + StateHasChanged()
Dependency injection	Context API or 3rd party	Built-in @inject
Parent-child binding	Props + callback functions	@bind-PropertyName

The pattern is consistent: Blazor achieves the same result with less ceremony, fewer dependencies, and more intuitive syntax.

---

Why Blazor Actually Works for Me

One Language to Rule Them All

This is the killer feature. With Blazor, I write C# on the frontend and C# on the backend. Same language. Same type system. Same patterns.

// Shared model used by both frontend and backend
public record CreateOrderRequest(
    string CustomerId,
    List<OrderItem> Items,
    ShippingAddress Address
);

// API endpoint
[HttpPost]
public async Task<ActionResult<Order>> CreateOrder(CreateOrderRequest request)
{
    // Validate, process, return
}

// Blazor component calling the API
var order = await Http.PostAsJsonAsync<Order>("api/orders", request);

No serialization mismatches. No "I updated the API but forgot to update the TypeScript types." The compiler catches everything.

Type Safety That Actually Means Something

C# is statically typed. Not "we added types later and hope you use them" typed. The compiler is your friend, and it will tell you about problems before your users find them.

// This won't compile. Period.
int count = "five"; // Error CS0029

// Pattern matching catches nulls at compile time
if (user is { Email: var email })
{
    SendWelcomeEmail(email); // email is guaranteed non-null here
}

As Emergent Software notes, "combining these tools with the type safety of the language allows developers to write code with a lot more confidence up-front, not having to worry about runtime errors like unexpected nulls."

SOLID Principles Are First-Class Citizens

.NET was designed with dependency injection and interface-based programming in mind. Implementing SOLID principles isn't fighting the framework-it's using it as intended.

// Program.cs - Clean DI registration
builder.Services.AddScoped<IOrderRepository, SqlOrderRepository>();
builder.Services.AddScoped<IPaymentService, StripePaymentService>();
builder.Services.AddScoped<OrderService>();

// Component receives dependencies automatically
@inject OrderService Orders
@inject NavigationManager Navigation

@code {
    private async Task SubmitOrder()
    {
        var result = await Orders.CreateAsync(currentOrder);
        if (result.IsSuccess)
        {
            Navigation.NavigateTo($"/orders/{result.Value.Id}");
        }
    }
}

Try achieving this level of clean dependency injection in React without a third-party library and a configuration ceremony.

Debugging That Doesn't Make You Cry

Visual Studio's debugger with Blazor is chef's kiss. Breakpoints work. Step-through works. Watch expressions work. The call stack makes sense.

I can set a breakpoint in my Blazor component, step through my business logic, and trace execution all the way to the database and back. Same debugger, same tools, same experience as debugging any other C# application.

private async Task LoadOrders()
{
    // Set a breakpoint here
    var orders = await OrderService.GetRecentAsync(customerId);

    // Inspect 'orders' in the debugger
    // See the actual types, not 'object Object'

    this.orders = orders;
}

Compare this to debugging React where you're juggling browser DevTools, React DevTools, Redux DevTools, and occasionally console.log because nothing else is working.

The .NET Ecosystem is Stable (Boringly So)

The .NET ecosystem moves slowly and deliberately. This is a feature, not a bug.

• NuGet packages tend to have long-term support
• Breaking changes are documented and migration paths provided
• Microsoft actually maintains backwards compatibility
• The standard library is comprehensive-you don't need a package to left-pad strings

When I upgrade from .NET 7 to .NET 8, I get a documented list of breaking changes and clear migration guidance. When React moves from class components to hooks to server components, the community collectively scrambles to relearn everything.

---

Real-World Advantages

Code Sharing is Trivial

Got validation logic? Write it once in a shared library.

// Shared.Validation/OrderValidator.cs
public class OrderValidator : AbstractValidator<Order>
{
    public OrderValidator()
    {
        RuleFor(x => x.Items).NotEmpty();
        RuleFor(x => x.Total).GreaterThan(0);
        RuleFor(x => x.ShippingAddress).NotNull();
    }
}

// Use in Blazor component
// Use in API controller
// Use in background service
// Same validation, everywhere

The Component Model is Familiar

If you know Razor syntax from MVC or Razor Pages, Blazor components will feel natural. The learning curve for .NET developers is measured in days, not months.

// Component with parameters - looks like any other C# class
@code {
    [Parameter]
    public Order Order { get; set; } = default!;

    [Parameter]
    public EventCallback<Order> OnOrderUpdated { get; set; }

    [CascadingParameter]
    public UserContext? User { get; set; }
}

Performance Has Improved Dramatically

Early Blazor WebAssembly had legitimate performance concerns. Those days are largely behind us-each .NET release has brought major improvements.

.NET 8 introduced:

• Jiterpreter: Partial JIT compilation in the browser, replacing slow interpreter bytecodes with optimized WebAssembly
• SIMD by default: WebAssembly Single Instruction, Multiple Data for vectorized computations
• AOT compilation: Compile C# directly to WebAssembly for near-native performance on CPU-intensive tasks

.NET 9 added:

• WasmStripILAfterAOT: Removes IL after AOT compilation, significantly reducing bundle size
• Improved lazy loading: Better assembly deferral for faster initial loads
• WebSocket compression: Enabled by default for Interactive Server components

.NET 10 delivers:

• Framework asset preloading: Static assets preloaded via Link headers before the page renders
• High-priority resource scheduling: Browser downloads and caches critical assets earlier
• Performance profiling counters: New diagnostic tools for WebAssembly apps
• Automatic memory pool eviction: Better memory management in long-running apps

The bottom line: With Static SSR, Blazor can outperform React on initial load-you're serving pre-rendered HTML with zero JavaScript hydration overhead. With AOT compilation, WebAssembly apps achieve near-native performance. Pick the right rendering mode for each scenario.

---

Blazor's Rapid Evolution: .NET 8, 9, and 10

One thing that impressed me about Blazor is how aggressively Microsoft has been improving it. This isn't a side project-it's a first-class citizen in the .NET ecosystem.

.NET 8: The "Blazor United" Revolution

.NET 8 fundamentally changed how Blazor works with the introduction of unified rendering modes. Before .NET 8, you had to choose: Blazor Server or Blazor WebAssembly. Now you can mix and match per-component.

Static Server-Side Rendering (SSR) was the game-changer. Your components render as plain HTML on the server-no SignalR connection, no WebAssembly download. Just fast, SEO-friendly HTML.

// A static SSR page - renders as pure HTML
@page "/about"
@attribute [StreamRendering]

<PageTitle>About Us</PageTitle>

<article>
    <h1>About Our Company</h1>
    <p>This renders as static HTML. Search engines love it.</p>
</article>

The new Blazor Web App template defaults to SSR, with interactivity as an opt-in enhancement. This is a fundamental shift in philosophy-you start with the fastest, most SEO-friendly option and add interactivity only where needed.

.NET 9: Mixing Modes with Precision

.NET 9 doubled down on flexibility. The new [ExcludeFromInteractiveRouting] attribute lets you mark specific pages that must use static SSR-useful for pages that depend on HTTP cookies or the request/response cycle.

@page "/privacy-settings"
@attribute [ExcludeFromInteractiveRouting]

// This page always renders statically, even in an otherwise interactive app

Other .NET 9 improvements:

• WebSocket compression enabled by default for Interactive Server components
• Render mode detection at runtime via the new RendererInfo API
• Improved reconnection handling for Blazor Server apps

.NET 10: Performance and Polish

.NET 10 shipped with significant Blazor improvements:

Blazor script optimization: The Blazor script is now served as a static web asset with automatic compression and fingerprinting, significantly reducing payload size and improving caching.

Persistent component state: The new [PersistentState] attribute simplifies sharing data between pre-rendering and interactive renders:

@code {
    [PersistentState]
    public List<Movie>? Movies { get; set; }

    protected override async Task OnInitializedAsync()
    {
        // State is automatically restored from prerendering
        Movies ??= await MovieService.GetMoviesAsync();
    }
}

Better 404 handling: NavigationManager.NotFound() now works seamlessly across all render modes. New project templates include a default NotFound.razor page.

Improved diagnostics: Server circuits now expose traces as top-level activities, making observability in Application Insights much cleaner.

The trajectory is clear: Blazor is getting faster, more flexible, and more production-ready with every release.

---

When React Still Makes Sense

I'm not here to tell you React is garbage. It's not. There are legitimate reasons to choose React:

Choose React When...	Choose Blazor When...
Your team is JavaScript-native	Your team is .NET-native
You need the largest ecosystem	You value ecosystem stability
You're building a startup MVP fast	You're building enterprise software
You need extensive third-party UI libraries	You want Microsoft's long-term support
You need maximum hiring pool flexibility	You want one language across the entire stack

React's ecosystem is massive. If you need an obscure component, someone has probably built it. That's genuinely valuable.

---

Getting Started with Blazor

If you're curious, here's the quickest path to a running Blazor app:

# Create a new Blazor Web App (.NET 8+)
dotnet new blazor -o MyBlazorApp
cd MyBlazorApp
dotnet run

That's it. No npm install that takes three minutes. No node_modules. No configuration files to edit before you can see "Hello World."

The official Blazor documentation is comprehensive and actually well-written (I know, shocking for Microsoft).

---

FAQ: Common Concerns About Blazor

I've heard every objection in the Blazor vs React debate. Let me address them honestly.

Is Blazor WebAssembly bundle size too large?

This was a legitimate concern in 2020. It's 2025 now.

.NET 8+ brought serious improvements:

• AOT compilation reduces runtime size significantly
• IL trimming removes unused code
• Lazy loading lets you defer non-critical assemblies
• The Blazor script now uses automatic compression and fingerprinting in .NET 10

But here's the real answer: Use Static SSR for your landing pages and marketing content. Zero WebAssembly download. Use Interactive Server for authenticated app sections. WebAssembly only where you need offline capability or client-side compute.

You're not forced into one mode anymore. Pick the right tool for each page.

Are JavaScript developers easier to hire than Blazor developers?

This assumes you need JavaScript developers. With Blazor, you need .NET developers-and there are millions of them.

Consider this: a senior C# developer can be productive in Blazor within a week. The component model is intuitive, the syntax is familiar, and they already know the language. Meanwhile, hiring a "React developer" often means hiring someone who learned React 3 years ago and now needs to catch up on Server Components, the new use hook, and whatever meta-framework is trending.

The .NET talent pool is:

• Large (decades of enterprise adoption)
• Stable (skills don't deprecate every 18 months)
• Full-stack capable (same developer can work on API and UI)

Does React have more third-party components than Blazor?

True. React's ecosystem is massive. But let's be honest about what that means.

For every high-quality React component library, there are dozens of abandoned packages with security vulnerabilities, incompatible peer dependencies, and README files that say "TODO: add documentation."

Blazor's ecosystem is smaller but more curated:

Library	What It Offers
MudBlazor	Material Design components, free, actively maintained
Radzen Blazor	70+ components, free tier available
Telerik UI for Blazor	Enterprise-grade, paid, excellent support
Blazorise	Multiple CSS framework support
Syncfusion Blazor	80+ components, free community license

And when you absolutely need a JavaScript library? IJSRuntime lets you interop cleanly:

@inject IJSRuntime JS

@code {
    private async Task InitializeChart()
    {
        await JS.InvokeVoidAsync("Chart.bindings.init", chartElement, chartData);
    }
}

You're not locked out of the JavaScript ecosystem. You just don't depend on it.

Is Blazor good for SEO?

I'll say it again because this myth won't die: Blazor with Static SSR is excellent for SEO.

Your pages render as plain HTML on the server. No JavaScript required for the initial content. Search engine crawlers see fully-rendered markup. This is identical to what Next.js does with SSR-except you're writing C# instead of JavaScript.

@page "/blog/{slug}"
@attribute [StreamRendering]

<PageTitle>@post.Title</PageTitle>
<meta name="description" content="@post.Summary" />

<article>
    <h1>@post.Title</h1>
    @((MarkupString)post.HtmlContent)
</article>

That renders as pure HTML. Google loves it. Bing loves it. Your PageSpeed score loves it.

Can Blazor be used for mobile apps?

Blazor Hybrid exists. Write your components once, run them in:

• MAUI for iOS/Android/Windows/macOS
• WPF for Windows desktop
• Windows Forms (yes, really)

Same C# components, native app shell. It's not "write once, run anywhere" magic-but it's close enough for many use cases.

Is Blazor tooling as good as VS Code with React?

This is subjective, but I'll push back.

Visual Studio with Blazor gives you:

• Actual debugging (breakpoints, step-through, watch expressions)
• IntelliSense that understands your entire codebase
• Refactoring that works across components and services
• Hot Reload that (mostly) works
• Integrated testing, profiling, and diagnostics

VS Code with React gives you:

• Syntax highlighting
• Some IntelliSense (if TypeScript is configured correctly)
• A prayer that your launch.json is correct
• Multiple browser extensions that may or may not conflict

The debugging experience alone is worth the switch. Setting a breakpoint in a Blazor component and stepping through to the database and back-in one IDE, one language-is genuinely pleasant.

Does Blazor create Microsoft vendor lock-in?

.NET is open source (MIT license). Blazor is open source. You can run it on Linux, in Docker, on AWS, on Azure, wherever.

Is there ecosystem gravity toward Azure? Sure. But you're not contractually obligated to use it. I've deployed Blazor apps to AWS, DigitalOcean, and bare metal servers.

Compare this to React, which is technically open source but practically controlled by Meta's priorities. When Facebook decided class components were out, the entire ecosystem pivoted. When they pushed Server Components, everyone scrambled.

At least Microsoft publishes a roadmap.

Does Blazor Hot Reload work properly?

It was rough in early versions. It's genuinely good now-and .NET 10 made it even better.

.NET 9 improvements:

• Broader scenario support across desktop, web, and mobile
• More reliable change detection
• Faster application of edits without restart

.NET 10 improvements:

• Hot Reload enabled by default for Blazor WebAssembly in Debug builds
• Edit a .razor file, save, and see changes instantly-no manual configuration
• New WasmEnableHotReload MSBuild property for fine-grained control
• Visual Studio 2026 brings improved Hot Reload and Razor editing experiences

What's supported now:

• Changes to method bodies (adding, removing, editing variables and expressions)
• Adding new methods, properties, and fields to existing types
• Modifying Razor markup and component parameters
• CSS changes (instant)
• Lambda expression modifications
• Nested class changes

// Edit this method, save, see changes immediately
private void UpdateTotal()
{
    // Change this calculation, Hot Reload applies it
    Total = Items.Sum(x => x.Price * x.Quantity);
}

Is it as fast as Vite's HMR? Honestly, it's getting close. Blazor WebAssembly Hot Reload in .NET 10 is snappy enough that the difference is negligible for most workflows. Blazor Server still has some latency compared to client-side solutions, but it's measured in seconds, not minutes.

And when you do need a full rebuild, dotnet watch handles it automatically-no manual restart required.

---

Final Thoughts

Switching to Blazor hasn't solved all my problems. I still write bugs. I still make architecture mistakes. I still occasionally spend too long debugging something that turns out to be a typo.

But I've stopped spending mental energy on:

• Which state management library is "correct" this month
• Whether my TypeScript types actually match my runtime data
• Keeping seventeen npm packages updated and compatible
• Context-switching between two completely different languages

For me, the trade-off is worth it. One language. One ecosystem. One set of patterns that I've refined over years of .NET development.

Your mileage may vary. But if you're a .NET developer who's ever looked at your package.json with existential dread-Blazor might be worth an afternoon of your time.

---

What's Next?

Ready to try Blazor? Here are your next steps:

1. Get started now: Run dotnet new blazor -o MyFirstBlazorApp && cd MyFirstBlazorApp && dotnet run
2. Dive deeper: Check out Microsoft's Blazor tutorials
3. Join the community: The r/Blazor subreddit and Blazor Discord are active and helpful

Have questions about Blazor vs React? Drop a comment below or reach out on social media-I'm happy to discuss specific use cases.

---

About the Author

I'm a Systems Architect who is passionate about distributed systems, .NET clean code, logging, performance, and production debugging. I've mass-deleted node_modules folders more times than I'd like to admit.

• LinkedIn: Connect with me
• GitHub: mashrulhaque
• Twitter/X: @mashrulthunder

👉 Follow me here on dev.to for more .NET posts

---

Sources:

• The State of React and the Community in 2025
• If Not React, Then What?
• Why the Latest JavaScript Frameworks Are a Waste of Time
• Is Blazor Better Than JavaScript?
• Blazor vs React: A Comprehensive Comparison
• Debug ASP.NET Core Blazor Apps - Microsoft Learn
• Blazor in .NET 8: Server-side and Streaming Rendering
• The Benefits of Static Server-Side Rendering in Blazor
• What's New in .NET 10 - Microsoft Learn
• What's New in ASP.NET Core in .NET 10 - Microsoft Learn
• npm Supply Chain Attack - Palo Alto Networks
• Shai-Hulud 2.0 Supply Chain Attack - Wiz
• npm left-pad Incident - Wikipedia
• event-stream Malicious Package - Snyk
• The "Everything" Package Chaos - Socket