EF Core vs Dapper in .NET 10

Introduction

In the .NET ecosystem, Entity Framework Core (EF Core) and Dapper are two of the most popular data access technologies.
Both are powerful, but they serve different purposes.

In this article, we’ll cover:

What EF Core is
What Dapper is
Key differences between EF Core and Dapper
.NET 10 code examples for both
When to use which (real-world guidance)

What is EF Core?

Entity Framework Core is a full-featured ORM (Object Relational Mapper).
It allows developers to work with databases using C# objects instead of raw SQL.

Key Features of EF Core

✔ LINQ-based querying
✔ Change tracking
✔ Migrations
✔ Relationship management
✔ Faster development for CRUD apps

When EF Core is a Good Choice

Business applications
CRUD-heavy systems
Rapid application development
Applications with complex relationships

What is Dapper?

Dapper is a Micro ORM developed by Stack Overflow.
It is essentially a high-performance wrapper over ADO.NET.

Key Features of Dapper

✔ Extremely fast
✔ Full SQL control
✔ Excellent support for stored procedures
✔ Minimal abstraction

When Dapper is a Good Choice

High-performance systems
Banking or financial applications
Stored procedure–based databases
Read-heavy applications

Feature	EF Core	Dapper
Type	Full ORM	Micro ORM
Performance	Moderate	Very High
SQL Control	Limited	Full
Learning Curve	Medium	Low
Stored Procedures	Supported	Excellent
Change Tracking	Yes	No
Best Use Case	Business apps	Performance-critical apps

EF Core Example

public class Customer
{
    public int Id { get; set; }
    public string Name { get; set; } = string.Empty;
    public decimal Balance { get; set; }
}

DbContext

public class AppDbContext : DbContext
{
    public DbSet<Customer> Customers => Set<Customer>();

    public AppDbContext(DbContextOptions<AppDbContext> options)
        : base(options) { }
}

Program.cs

builder.Services.AddDbContext<AppDbContext>(options =>
    options.UseSqlServer(builder.Configuration.GetConnectionString("Default")));

Query Using EF Core

app.MapGet("/customers", async (AppDbContext db) =>
{
    return await db.Customers
                   .Where(c => c.Balance > 1000)
                   .ToListAsync();
});

Pros

Clean and expressive
Easy to maintain

Cons

Slight performance overhead for large datasets

Dapper Example

Repository

public class CustomerRepository
{
    private readonly IDbConnection _db;

    public CustomerRepository(IConfiguration configuration)
    {
        _db = new SqlConnection(configuration.GetConnectionString("Default"));
    }

    public async Task<IEnumerable<Customer>> GetCustomersAsync()
    {
        var sql = """
                  SELECT Id, Name, Balance
                  FROM Customers
                  WHERE Balance > @Balance
                  """;

        return await _db.QueryAsync<Customer>(
            sql,
            new { Balance = 1000 }
        );
    }
}

Register Service

builder.Services.AddScoped<CustomerRepository>();

Minimal API Endpoint

app.MapGet("/customers-dapper", async (CustomerRepository repo) =>
{
    return await repo.GetCustomersAsync();
});