5 Top .NET CMS for Businesses in 2024

.NET Content Management System: Features and Advantages

A .NET content management system is a web-based application on which anyone can create, manage, store, edit or publish massive amounts of content without any programming skills. One can easily edit content from anywhere, without relying on programmers to keep the website up to date. 
.NET CMS platforms are ideal for companies to manage their content by themselves. They simplify the process of adding new content, as well as editing it and changing layouts, making it easy for anyone to do the job. This minimizes expenses while freeing up the team to focus on more intensive tasks. While complex work will still need technical input, day-to-day site maintenance and content drops can be done by almost anyone on the team.
A good CMS platform offers things like visual editors with easy drag-and-drop editing, as well as plentiful templates to get the page started. This allows a company to establish and manage a sprawling website with ease. CMS is also bolstered by its integration with CRM systems, e-commerce platforms, and marketing automation tools. This creates a powerful ecosystem that nurtures the business and its success.
Before we proceed to pick the best .NET content management system, let’s discuss why it’s such a convenient platform in the first place. First, let’s start with the features.

Content Creation and Formatting

As you may expect from a content management app, a CMS platform will let you easily make new content from scratch. It’s also great for changing the content’s look, adjusting how it’s presented on the site, and adding media to make it more interactive.

Content Storage

Keeping all content, including archives, in one place helps manage it better. Sometimes, it prevents media from being lost due to hosting site crashes or domain changes, letting you preserve the look of your content the way you want it.

Publishing Tools

Pushing an article isn’t as easy as clicking a couple of buttons… unless you’re using a CMS app. These tools make the whole process as simple as possible and with custom CMS development, you can tailor it to fit your website. Users can schedule content to be published in the future weeks and months, set up an automatic chain of updates, and keep the site growing without manual input.

Workflow Management

With CMS, you can protect data from being changed erroneously, as well as delegate tasks more efficiently. You can easily attach specific content and rights to edit or delete it to a specific author, making it clear who’s responsible for what.
Then, it’s also important to mention these amazing advantages:

Advantage	Benefit
Faster startup	No need to concern yourself with code and onboarding content managers. You can start enriching your site immediately.
Separate sandboxes	Content managers can never interfere with the site’s code as it’s fully separate. This allows devs to focus on the site’s quality, while content creators don’t need to code to adjust the visual side of things.
Flexibility	Everything about your site’s content can be adjusted from one single screen. No need to constrain yourself with complicated menus and setup.

Now that you understand what a force CMS can be, let’s talk about the five best .NET CMS platforms out there. Alternatively, you can get a personalized consultation where we’ll help you choose the CMS or develop one for you. 

Top .NET CMS Platforms

We’ll list the top CMS platforms based on our own preferences, ranking them from good to great. This will take into account the platforms’ features, accessibility, and modernity by today’s standards.

5. DotNetNuke

DotNetNuke is a well known .NET - based CMS. This open-source solution used to be completely free but has since shifted to a free trial system. While the need to monetize is understandable, we docked some points for that.
DotNetNuke supports MVC (Model View Controller) and SPA (Single Page Application). Both are really helpful in building your site, especially as DNN also comes pre-configured with user roles and keeps an engineer separate from a content maker.
One powerful benefit of this platform is that you can create web API endpoints for simple data transfers.

• Scheduled Tasks

Plan ahead and manage your content for weeks to come.

• Multi-Channel Publishing

Push new content to multiple endpoints - from your own website to your company’s social media pages.

4. Sitecore

Sitecore powers many of the world's leading organizations, covering their websites, as well as email marketing and digital campaigns. It ranks among the most popular .NET CMS platforms.
Sitecore is an integrated platform that includes content management software, ecommerce email marketing and analytics tools. It makes it easy to run integrated marketing campaigns that are personalized for every visitor, covering multiple languages and territories.
This platform also includes analytics to understand audience behavior.  Additionally, Sitecore uses AI to optimize campaigns in real time. 
Sitecore’s security and scalability also make it a good match for enterprise use. The platform also seamlessly integrates with other software like CRM and DAM systems. It’s not the most affordable choice but certainly a powerful one. Recently named a leader in B2C digital commerce, Sitecore is among the best .NET CMS platforms for business.

• Multilingual CMS

Multilingual features of this CRM allows you to reach a wider audience.

• Headless Architecture

It offers separate frontend and backend, making this a powerful headless CMS.

• Personalization

With this CMS, delivering personalized content becomes very easy.

3. Orchard Core

Orchard Core is among the top ASP.NET CMS platforms, and for good reason. This open-source solution can not only be used for free but also offers enough features to easily rival paid competitors.
For example, this solution being open-source means your developers can modify it easily, opening up a world of possibility. You can integrate it with your own systems, add custom modules, or recruit CMS development services to pretty much turn it into a completely bespoke solution.
Orchard Core is great at data management, covering even custom metadata such as copyright. This makes it easy to build a media-rich site that doesn’t take ages to edit. Plus, Orchard Core supports a variety of languages with no restrictions on translation. This expands its potential user base beyond anything its competitors offer.
All of the above undoubtedly makes Orchard Core the best CMS for ASP.NET available for free. It’s a flexible, powerful system that deserves all the attention it can get.

• Multi-Tenant

You can easily work on multiple sites from one instance of the solution.

• Modular Structure

Every single thing you add or enable can just as easily be turned off, letting you experiment easily and mix and match content.

2. Umbraco

Last but not least is Umbraco. Umbraco is a fully-featured open source CMS. Recently ranked among the top 20 best software companies, this solution is completely free and community-driven. The platform has more than 300 extensions, giving plenty of flexibility in using it.
In fact, Umbraco arguably has fewer restrictions than any other system. With this, you get way more control over your site’s look and the user experience. It’s also so simple that some compare it to building blocks. Any team member can pick up the solution and start building sites with it almost instantly.
Finally, the time factor matters a lot these days. With Umbraco, you can get one-click team management. You’ll be able to set up workflows that allow developers and content creators to work smoothly together. 
With automated upgrades you are always sure your sites have the latest bug and security fixes, freeing up time for you to provide even better value for your clients. The platform can help you to conduct both small and big campaigns as well as to handle brochure sites and complex applications. 
Compared with other platforms, Umbraco is easy to learn and use, which makes this platform an ideal choice for those seeking a simple yet powerful suite of features. We’d definitely rank it among the top ASP.NET CMS platforms and one of the best .NET open source CMS options out there.

• Highly Responsive    

This platform offers responsive design and architecture, making content management and editing a breeze.

• Strong Ecosystem

The platform can be easily combined with third-party tools to enhance its functionality.

1. Kentico

Kentico is an ASP.NET CMS platform that powers more than 15,000 websites in over 80 countries. It offers 70 ready-to-use modules for a quick start, while also supporting flexible editing and custom addons.
The platform offers an in-depth analysis of site visitor behavior, helping companies understand what can be improved for better retention. Similar tools are available for your marketing campaigns, showing clear data on their performance and giving ideas on improving it.
Kentico is also geared toward mobile-friendly sites, which are essential, considering that mobile makes up for 60% of web surfing worldwide. Thankfully, this platform’s ASP.NET core makes it highly optimized and easily adaptable.
It’s important to use the latest version of the solution, though, so if you need help migrating Kentico 12 to Kentico Xperience 13, get in touch with us. Our team has experience with Kentico and will gladly upgrade your site to experience Kentico’s new features.

• Cross-Platform

You can use Kentico from a variety of devices with equal simplicity. 

• Inline Editors

The inline editors make it easy to adjust your content on the fly.

• Widget Sections

With this you can better decide which layout sections must be preserved. 
Before moving on, we want to highlight that this list is based on our experience and preferences. This means that a different solution could be optimal for your unique needs. In fact, you might require some custom CMS development. To learn more about what will fit you best and receive professional help, get in touch with our experts.

Bits Orchestra Experience

As we said, the guide is based on our company’s knowledge of the market and our work with CMS solutions, including custom and headless CMS. However, before we end this article, we’d like to share some of that experience with choice cases from our portfolio.

First up, our case using ASP .NET CMS or, more precisely, providing Kentico development services, to rejuvenate an old site. We added interactive content managment features to the PJ Our Way website and boosted performance substantially, leaving the site able to host 50,000 users total and 5,000 concurrent ones. In addition to that, our team integrated it with external APIs such as Microsoft Dynamics NAV.
As a result, the The Harold Grinspoon Foundation was left with a much faster and modern site. It allowed the organization to attract more users and rely on expansive analytics to study their interactions and habits.
Next is Digitron Semiconductors, a similar project to breathe life into an old site. Without getting ahead of ourselves, we’ll just say that the site received a 136% traffic increase annually. However, the work was challenging here, more than just a PHP CMS pass, as we needed to expand the site’s functionality to allow the creation of new inventory categories.
There was also a request to boost the site’s performance and make sure users could get where they needed to within five clicks or so. The need to implement dynamic categories and speed up the site immediately highlighted Kentico as a good choice.
As we already said, the site received a huge spike in traffic after our redesign and the company expects that increase to continue. All that is just off the back of a high-quality CMS development service bolstering it.
In addition to the development work we did, our team prides itself on excellent communication and a personal approach to each client. You can test just how good we are by scheduling a consultation today.

Conclusion

Our guide on the top .NET - based CMS has highlighted how easy it is to manage your site’s content and enrich it. With the right solutions, you can edit your content, add interactive elements and media, and provide value to your users.
With this kind of dive, you should understand what a CMS can do for you and what exactly you can use it for. As a result of our overview of popular CMS solutions, you also know the baseline that a solution needs to reach to be competitive.
Although we’ve given five options of popular .NET CMS platforms, each with its own advantages and features, this isn’t the full extent of the CMS world. Some companies find that their unique business needs require a more tailored approach. In cases like that, it’s best to turn to a professional team for custom development. 
Bits Orchestra’s portfolio is full of relevant experience and our experts are ready to assist you with a consultation. So if you need a bit of extra help or a custom project, contact us today.