Hire .NET Developers: Skills, Rates and Questions

To hire .NET developers who will build a secure, maintainable system, look for strong C#, current experience with modern cross-platform .NET and ASP.NET Core, solid database skills with Entity Framework Core or SQL, automated testing and practical cloud experience, often on Azure. Trusted IT Firms lists 122 .NET development companies, more than for any other back-end technology in the directory. Every profile is approved by an editor, reviews are moderated and contacting companies is free.

What .NET developers build

.NET is Microsoft's open-source developer platform. Companies use it for:

• Enterprise web applications, portals and line-of-business systems.
• APIs and microservices that power web and mobile front ends.
• Integrations with Microsoft 365, Dynamics, SharePoint and other business systems.
• Cloud applications on Azure, including serverless functions and background services.
• Desktop and cross-platform apps, and interactive web interfaces with Blazor.
• Modernisation of older .NET Framework applications to current .NET.

Know which .NET you need

The name covers several generations of technology, and companies list them separately:

For new projects, look for companies with current .NET Core and ASP.NET experience. If you run an older .NET Framework system, look for proven migration work as well, because moving to modern .NET is a project of its own.

.NET skills to look for

• C# and object-oriented design. Async programming, LINQ, dependency injection and clean, testable code. Search for C# companies if the language matters most to you.
• ASP.NET Core. Minimal APIs or controllers, middleware, authentication and authorisation, and configuration across environments.
• Data access. Entity Framework Core or Dapper, SQL Server or PostgreSQL, migrations and query performance.
• Cloud. App Service, Functions, storage, messaging and monitoring on Azure, or equivalent services on another cloud.
• Testing and delivery. Unit and integration tests, and automated build and release pipelines.
• Security. Identity platforms, secrets management, input validation and protection of personal data.

Microsoft offers role-based certifications for developers and cloud engineers. They are not a requirement, but they show a team invests in keeping its skills current.

Where to hire .NET developers

.NET companies on Trusted IT Firms are spread mainly across these countries:

• .NET companies in the United States: 52 listed
• .NET companies in India: 47 listed
• Pakistan and Australia: 5 each
• Canada: 4 listed

.NET is common in enterprise and public sector organisations, where security reviews, data location and vendor checks can be strict. If that applies to you, ask early whether a company has passed similar reviews and where its team and data will be.

.NET developer rates in the directory

.NET companies are often larger firms: 8 have 1 to 10 people, 48 have 10 to 50, 45 have 100 to 250 and 20 have 250 to 1000. Larger teams can supply architects, developers, testers and DevOps engineers for long programmes. Smaller teams can be a good fit for a focused API or a single application.

Questions to ask .NET developers

1. Which .NET version would you use for our project, and how will you keep it on a supported release?
2. Show us an ASP.NET Core application or API you built. How is it structured, and why?
3. How do you handle authentication, roles and permissions?
4. Which database and data access approach do you recommend, and how do you manage schema changes?
5. How do you test, build and deploy, and how long does a typical release take?
6. How would you migrate our existing .NET Framework application, step by step?
7. How do you monitor the application and control cloud costs after launch?

Modernising an older .NET system

Many businesses run important systems on older .NET Framework versions. A rewrite from scratch is risky. Good partners usually propose a step-by-step approach: audit the code, add tests around the most important behaviour, move shared libraries first, then migrate parts of the application one at a time while the old system keeps running. Ask each company for a migration plan with clear milestones and a way to roll back if something goes wrong.

Red flags when hiring .NET developers

• New projects proposed on outdated .NET Framework versions without a good reason.
• Business logic placed in database stored procedures and UI code with no tests.
• Passwords and connection strings stored in source code.
• Manual deployments copied to servers by hand.
• Cloud resources created in the agency's subscription instead of yours.

Prepare a brief .NET teams can quote on

.NET projects often sit inside a wider Microsoft environment, so context matters. Tell shortlisted companies which systems the new application must work with, such as Microsoft 365, Dynamics, SharePoint or an existing SQL Server database, and how your users sign in today. Explain your hosting rules: on your own servers, in your Azure subscription or wherever the supplier recommends. List any security, audit or accessibility requirements, the number of users you expect and the date that matters. With that information, companies can propose a realistic architecture and estimate instead of guessing, and you can compare their answers side by side.

Finally, ask who will own and run the application after launch. If your internal IT team will take over, ask the company to include documentation, a handover period and training in its proposal. If the company will keep supporting it, agree response times, monthly hours and how upgrades to new .NET versions will be scheduled and priced.

Hire .NET developers through Trusted IT Firms

Open the .NET page, filter by country, rate and team size, and read past projects and reviews. Send the same brief to three to five companies, including your current systems, hosting rules and timeline, and compare their technical approach. You can also search the full company directory.