The short answer
Choose MauiWeb when the app is a website people find through search and should open at once: the first response is finished HTML, your C# stays on your server and can reach your databases directly. Choose Avalonia's MAUI backend when you want static hosting, offline use after the first load, or a Linux desktop build, and can work with a preview: the browser downloads the .NET runtime and your app, then draws the controls on a canvas.
Side by side
| Question | MauiWeb | Avalonia MAUI backend (WebAssembly) |
|---|---|---|
| Where your C# runs | On your ASP.NET Core server, one app per browser tab | In the visitor's browser, as WebAssembly |
| How controls appear | HTML elements, in a web or iOS look | Drawn by Avalonia with Skia onto a WebGL canvas |
| Your pages and view models | Unchanged | Unchanged; Avalonia supplies the handlers |
| What you add | A web project, the AppMare.MauiWeb package, MapMauiWeb and UseMauiWeb | The Avalonia backend package, a net11.0 target and one builder call |
| First visit | Finished HTML in the first response: about 17.5 KB for a 60-control page | The runtime and app download before the first frame: about 13 MB after Brotli for Avalonia's five-control demo |
| After the page loads | Each tap is a round trip to your server: 1.8 ms of server time with 100 visitors, plus the visitor's network time | Taps are handled in the browser, with no network trip |
| Search engines | Read the content in the first HTML; each registered page has its own address | Not by default: the first HTML is a loading page and the content is drawn on a canvas |
| Screen readers and page text | Real HTML text and semantics | Avalonia mirrors the control tree into ARIA; its docs rate this "partial support" |
| Essentials | 36 APIs through the visitor's browser | Still being written, according to Avalonia |
| Your code and secrets | Stay on your server; the app can call your database and private APIs directly | Ship to the browser; private data needs a separate API |
| Hosting | Any ASP.NET Core host with WebSockets; sticky sessions with more than one instance; about 0.5 to 1.3 MB of server memory per visitor | Static files on any static host, with .wasm served as application/wasm |
| Offline | No, it needs a live connection | Yes, once loaded |
| Other targets | Web only; your phone and desktop heads stay native MAUI | Also Linux desktop and embedded Linux |
| Status | Released (1.0), built and tested on .NET MAUI 11 | Preview since March 2026; stable planned alongside .NET 11 |
| Price | Free for development; from $249 a year per live domain | Free; Avalonia is MIT licensed and the backend preview is public |
When MauiWeb fits better
- The site has to be found. Product pages, shops, bookings and content pages need text search engines can read on the first request.
- Visitors arrive on phones and slow networks. The page appears with the first response instead of after a multi-megabyte download.
- The app talks to private systems. Your C# runs next to your database and keeps keys and business rules off the visitor's device.
- You need browser features today. File and media pickers, geolocation, clipboard, share and preferences work now.
When Avalonia fits better
- No server. You want to put static files on a CDN and pay nothing per visitor.
- Offline or heavy local work. Once loaded, the app keeps running without a connection, and drawing-heavy screens never wait for the network.
- Linux desktop. The same backend also builds your MAUI app for Linux.
- An internal tool where search engines do not matter and visitors load it once and keep it open.
Can you use both?
They do not exclude each other. Both take the same MAUI pages and view models, each from its own head project, so a team could ship a Linux desktop build with Avalonia and the public website with MauiWeb from one codebase.
Questions
Does MauiWeb use WebAssembly?
No. Your app runs on your server and the browser receives HTML, with a small script that sends taps and typing over a WebSocket.
Is Avalonia's MAUI backend free?
Avalonia says the framework is MIT licensed and the backend preview is public. It sells professional tools and premium components separately.
Which one loads faster?
On the first visit, MauiWeb: the finished page arrives in the first response, while a WebAssembly app downloads the runtime first. After loading, a WebAssembly app answers taps without a network trip, while MauiWeb's speed depends on the visitor's distance from your server.
Which is better for SEO?
MauiWeb, because each page's content and title are in the HTML that search engines fetch. A canvas-drawn WebAssembly app shows a loading page to a crawler that does not run it.
Is Avalonia's backend ready for production?
Avalonia calls it a preview and plans a stable release alongside .NET 11. Check its repository for the current state before you commit to it.
Sources
- Avalonia vs .NET MAUI, Avalonia UI: backend setup, licence, status and roadmap.
- Avalonia UI for WebAssembly: rendering, hosting, accessibility and the 13 MB demo (measured by Avalonia on 23 August 2026).
- MAUI Avalonia Preview 1, Avalonia UI blog, 16 March 2026.
- AvaloniaUI/Avalonia.Controls.Maui on GitHub.
- MauiWeb performance measurements, 25 October 2026.
Something here out of date? Email [email protected] and we will correct it. See also the four-way comparison with Uno Platform and Blazor.