--- title: Entity Framework Core Reviews meta\_title: 'Entity Framework Core Reviews 2026: Details, Pricing, & Features | G2' meta\_description: Filter 26 reviews by the users' company size, role or industry to find out how Entity Framework Core works for a business like yours. aggregate\_rating: rating\_value: 4.5 review\_count: 26 scale: '5' date\_modified: '2026-08-09' parent\_category: name: DevOps url: https://www.g2.com/categories/devops --- # Entity Framework Core Reviews & Product Details Entity Framework Core is a lightweight, extensible, open-source, and cross-platform version of Microsoft's popular Entity Framework data access technology. It serves as an object-relational mapper , enabling .NET developers to interact with databases using .NET objects, thereby eliminating much of the boilerplate code typically required for data access. EF Core supports multiple database engines, making it a versatile choice for various applications. Key Features and Functionality: - Cross-Platform Support: EF Core runs on .NET Core, allowing applications to operate seamlessly across different operating systems, including Windows, Linux, and macOS. - Modular and Lightweight: Designed with a modular architecture, EF Core provides only the necessary components for object-relational mapping, with the flexibility to extend functionality as needed. - LINQ Integration: Developers can utilize Language Integrated Query to perform database operations, enabling expressive and type-safe queries directly within C# code. - Change Tracking: EF Core automatically tracks changes made to entities, simplifying the process of updating the database with modified data. - Migrations: The framework supports code-based migrations, facilitating the evolution of the database schema alongside the application's data model. - Lazy Loading: EF Core provides lazy loading capabilities, allowing related data to be loaded from the database only when explicitly requested, which can improve application performance by fetching only the necessary data. - Support for Multiple Database Providers: EF Core is compatible with various database engines, including SQL Server, SQLite, PostgreSQL, and more, offering flexibility in database selection. Primary Value and Problem Solved: EF Core streamlines data access in .NET applications by abstracting the complexities of database interactions. It allows developers to work with databases using object-oriented principles, reducing the need for extensive data-access code. This abstraction enhances developer productivity, ensures type safety through LINQ queries, and provides a consistent approach to data access across different platforms and database systems. By managing tasks such as change tracking and migrations, EF Core enables developers to focus more on business logic rather than the intricacies of database operations. * * * Seller [Microsoft](https://www.g2.com/sellers/microsoft) Discussions [Entity Framework Core Community](https://www.g2.com/products/entity-framework-core/discuss) Solution Type Best-of-Breed Show More ## Top-Rated Alternatives [ ![Harness Platform](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Harness Platform") Harness Platform 4.6/5(321) ](https://www.g2.com/products/harness-platform/reviews) [ ![DbVisualizer](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "DbVisualizer") DbVisualizer 4.7/5(269) ](https://www.g2.com/products/dbvisualizer/reviews) [ ![Liquibase](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Liquibase") Liquibase 4.5/5(30) ](https://www.g2.com/products/liquibase/reviews) [ View All Alternatives ](https://www.g2.com/products/entity-framework-core/competitors/alternatives) ## User Insights Average based on 26 real user reviews. [Log in to unlock pricing and user insights](/login) ![Verified User in Computer Software](/assets/icons/anonymous-avatar-purple-4ae1032bdb50ee5682003170c8184aee790d25958bd397abbd384ba52c596a7b.svg "Verified User in Computer Software") CC Verified User in Computer Software Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) 5/5/2026 "Entity Framework Core: Fast, Intuitive, and Type-Safe Data Access with LINQ" 4/5 What do you like best about Entity Framework Core? Entity Framework Core is a phenomenal tool for .NET developers because it smoothly bridges the gap between object-oriented programming and relational databases through LINQ. It offers an intuitive, type-safe experience that can significantly speed up development, while still giving you the flexibility to manage complex migrations and support high-performance data operations across multiple platforms. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about Entity Framework Core? As much as I love EF Core for the speed it gives me, it definitely has a few quirks that make me want to pull my hair out sometimes. One of the biggest headaches is the "Magic SQL" problem. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is Entity Framework Core solving and how is that benefiting you? Entity Framework Core reduces the “cognitive friction” that comes from constantly switching between C# and SQL. For me, it’s really about staying in “code mode” while still tapping into the full power of the database, without feeling like I’m giving anything up. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More 5/7/2026 Current UserValidated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Rahul T.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Rahul T.") RT Rahul T. Full Stack Developer Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) 1/5/2024 "EF Core Best ORM in .NET" 4.5/5 What do you like best about Entity Framework Core? The best thing about it is that you can directly define and manage database schema through your C# code, thus making development faster and less prone to human errors. And 2nd thing you can easily integrate it with any database, even without any prior knowledge of it. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about Entity Framework Core? The only thing I dislike about it is while working in a big team we sometimes face conflict errors which are a bit hard to track. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is Entity Framework Core solving and how is that benefiting you? Making it easy to write database schema and decreasing human error. We can also change our database at any point in time without making large changes. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More 12/2/2024 Current UserValidated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Nishedh J.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Nishedh J.") NJ Nishedh J. Senior Technology Manager / Lead .Net developer Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 3/24/2024 "Entity Framework Core Review" 5/5 What do you like best about Entity Framework Core? One of the best ORM for .Net as supports cross platform, supports code first, migrations, LINQ, can call direct stored procedure, etc. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about Entity Framework Core? May have issue with learning, at first it may take a bit time to learn. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is Entity Framework Core solving and how is that benefiting you? can integrate with .Net core, ORM, LINQ, can call stored procedure, abstraction etc. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Current UserValidated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Niraj O.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Niraj O.") NO Niraj O. Software Engineer IIA Enterprise (\> 1000 emp.) 10/16/2023 "Best ORM for.net development" 4/5 What do you like best about Entity Framework Core? Best ORM for development and easy to integrate with your data access layer with easily sync with your database changes from code to db and db to code. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about Entity Framework Core? It should be compatible with more db types Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is Entity Framework Core solving and how is that benefiting you? Code with db queries and code first approach with easily sync with db and we can manage migration to up to date db and also part of code due to code first approach. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More 4/17/2024 Validated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Anuj G.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Anuj G.") AG Anuj G. Developer Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) 1/31/2024 "Entity Framework Core works great with the .Net Apps" 4.5/5 What do you like best about Entity Framework Core? The way Entity Framework Core allows us to create applications and connect to the Database using the code first approach. It's easy to create the classes and then create the Database tables using those classes and the connectivity and data transfer is seamless. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about Entity Framework Core? Nothing in particular. Everything works very well. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is Entity Framework Core solving and how is that benefiting you? EF Core allows us to work with data on a higher level of abstraction by using objects of domain-specific classes. It eliminates the need for most of the data-access code that we need to write. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Validated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Verified User in Computer Software](/assets/icons/anonymous-avatar-purple-4ae1032bdb50ee5682003170c8184aee790d25958bd397abbd384ba52c596a7b.svg "Verified User in Computer Software") UC Verified User in Computer Software Enterprise (\> 1000 emp.) 10/7/2023 "Best ORM for .NET Core" 5/5 What do you like best about Entity Framework Core? Learning curve for EF Core is very less since it is a successor of legacy Entity Framework. It is much faster, secure and easy to use .NET Core ORM that works with SQL Server, MySQL & PostgreSQL databases. It's huge community adoption has proved that it is reliable and performant on production application as well. Since it is backed by Microsoft, there are no further questions. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about Entity Framework Core? Honestly, there is no point to dislike this framework. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is Entity Framework Core solving and how is that benefiting you? Entity Framework Core helps us in writing the datalayer while building an application. We can use either Database First or Code First approach with EF Core. With EF Core, we can build apps in .NET Core that can run on Linux, saving us a lot of money on Windows licencing. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Current UserValidated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Kashif F.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Kashif F.") KF Kashif F. Chief Technology Officer Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) 2/7/2024 "Powerful and Flexible ORM" 4/5 What do you like best about Entity Framework Core? support mutlipe databases and large set of APIs Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about Entity Framework Core? difficult to handle Migration in many clients for single codebase Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is Entity Framework Core solving and how is that benefiting you? Create, and manage databases Seeding Initial Data, Object Mapping Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Current UserValidated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Verified User in Computer Software](/assets/icons/anonymous-avatar-purple-4ae1032bdb50ee5682003170c8184aee790d25958bd397abbd384ba52c596a7b.svg "Verified User in Computer Software") UC Verified User in Computer Software Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) 10/10/2023 "EF Core is intuitive and flexible." 5/5 What do you like best about Entity Framework Core? Entity Framework core allows you to either create database access that is code first or database first. It is very easy to set up if you want to go database first or if you put in the work to set up classes and entities it is very nice to have your database created and migrations managed by ef core. It is very simple to integrate into a dotnet core app with an existing DB if you want an easier to write database queries with the power of Linq. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about Entity Framework Core? Not a lot of downsides, sometimes queries will not be optimised out of the box. Sometimes you will get conflict errors with updates or inserts when you don't know how ef core tracks entities. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is Entity Framework Core solving and how is that benefiting you? I use it to manage database access in dotnet core apps, but primarily it's to allow easy writing of complex queries for updates, inserts, and even as simple as gets. As long as it can be translated to sql it makes it very easy to use. It also makes understanding table relationships very easy for developers when writing queries. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Validated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![Shivam S.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "Shivam S.") SS Shivam S. Software Engineer Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) 9/13/2023 "Entity Framework Core" 4/5 What do you like best about Entity Framework Core? Entity Framework's Code-First approach stands out as a remarkable feature. It empowers developers to define and manage the database schema directly within their C# code, simplifying the development process and fostering a more intuitive workflow. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about Entity Framework Core? Azure DevOps pipeline lacks full support for database migrations. It would be highly beneficial to have a tool within the DevOps Pipeline that can apply migrations when necessary, all configured through YAML. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is Entity Framework Core solving and how is that benefiting you? It acts as an open-source ally, streamlining database connectivity and querying processes, thus alleviating the necessity of crafting extensive, often repetitive, code structures that could span over a hundred lines. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Validated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ![SRIRAM M.](/assets/transparent-ad5be28fbcd25b7b08d2cebe1d957125437fb5407d75ee717965ad22c8808791.gif "SRIRAM M.") SM SRIRAM M. Software Developer Enterprise (\> 1000 emp.) 11/17/2022 "Connect directly with any DB and execute" 4/5 What do you like best about Entity Framework Core? It gives me a good advantage in handling multi-threading and multi-connections from the same application. It also helps me maintain the loosely coupled code from an application standpoint. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What do you dislike about Entity Framework Core? Some of the errors while executing queries may be difficult to debug. The error description will be so generic, and I feel like the error description can be improved. More details documents can be provided for the initial setup. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. What problems is Entity Framework Core solving and how is that benefiting you? The conventional way of connection gives me a hard time while coding or developing a large-scale application. Despite any type of database, we can write our structure with the entity framework. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com. Show More Current UserValidated ReviewerIncentivizedSource: G2 invite ##### Pricing Pricing details for this product isn’t currently available. Visit the vendor’s website to learn more. 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