This blog post explores why many developers—especially those in the .NET ecosystem—are shifting toward .NET MAUI Blazor Hybrid instead of traditional XAML-based approaches for cross-platform development.
In the world of cross-platform development, the “Native vs. Web” debate has evolved. For years, if you wanted a performant app on Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android using .NET, XAML was the undisputed king. However, with the arrival of .NET MAUI Blazor Hybrid, the rules have changed.
If you are a .NET developer already comfortable with C# and Blazor, you might be wondering: Why should I bother with XAML when I can just use web technologies?
1. The Core Difference: Native UI vs. WebView UI
To understand the “why,” we first need to look at how these two technologies render what you see on the screen.
- Traditional .NET MAUI (XAML): Your UI is defined in XAML. At runtime, .NET MAUI maps these elements to the native controls of the platform (e.g., a
<Button>becomes aUIButtonon iOS and acom.google.android.material.button.MaterialButtonon Android). - Blazor Hybrid: Your UI is built using Razor components (HTML and CSS). These components run natively on the device (not in a browser) but are rendered inside a specialized control called the
BlazorWebView.
2. Why Choose Blazor Hybrid Over XAML?
Unified Styling Across All Platforms
One of the biggest headaches with native XAML is that a button looks different on every device. While “native look and feel” is often cited as a benefit, many modern brands want a consistent UI across web, mobile, and desktop. With Blazor Hybrid, your CSS is the source of truth. If it looks right on Chrome, it will look right on your Android and Windows app.
Extreme Code Reusability
If you already have a Blazor Web App, you can move your UI components into a Razor Class Library (RCL). This allows you to share the exact same UI code between your website and your installed mobile/desktop apps. XAML cannot be shared with the web (without complex workarounds like Uno Platform), creating a “silo” between your web and mobile teams.
The Web Developer Advantage
The ecosystem for web UI is massive. If you need a complex data grid, a specialized chart, or a modern animation library, the web ecosystem (Bootstrap, Tailwind, MudBlazor) is often years ahead of what is available for XAML.
3. The “Web UI” Stigma: Who Else Is Doing This?
A common concern is that “Web UI isn’t professional” or “it’s too slow.” However, some of the most successful applications in the world are built using web technologies wrapped in a native shell.
If you use any of the following apps, you are already using “Web UI” on your desktop or mobile:
| App | Technology | Why they chose it |
| Visual Studio Code | Electron (Web UI) | To allow a massive extension ecosystem based on JS/TS. |
| Discord / Slack | Electron (Web UI) | Rapid feature parity across Windows, Mac, and Linux. |
| Microsoft Teams | WebView2 / React | Deep integration of web-based collaborative tools. |
| Spotify | CEF (Chromium) | To maintain a consistent, dark-themed brand identity everywhere. |
| WhatsApp Desktop | Electron / Hybrid | (Transitioned to native recently on Windows, but used Web for years to scale). |
These companies didn’t choose web tech because they were “lazy”; they chose it because it allows them to ship features faster and maintain a single design language across all platforms.
4. Performance: Is It a Dealbreaker?
In 2025, the performance gap between a Blazor Hybrid app and a pure XAML app is virtually invisible for 95% of business applications. Unlike Blazor WebAssembly, Blazor Hybrid does not use WebAssembly. It runs your C# code at native speed on the device’s .NET runtime. The only “web” part is the rendering layer.
Unless you are building a high-intensity 3D game or a video editor with frame-by-frame manipulation, Blazor Hybrid provides more than enough “snappiness.”
Conclusion: Which Should You Pick?
- Choose XAML if you need the absolute highest performance, want a strictly “OS-native” look, or are already a master of WPF/Xamarin.
- Choose Blazor Hybrid if you want to share UI code with your website, prefer HTML/CSS over XAML, and want to reach Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android with a single, unified codebase.
For most modern .NET developers, the ability to stay within the Blazor ecosystem while gaining full access to native device APIs (like GPS, Camera, and File System) makes Blazor Hybrid the clear winner.