5 Performance Improvement Tips for ASP.NET core Web Applications

Performance is the major factor for the success of any web application development. ASP.NET Core is one of the best platforms for high-performance web application development. In this article, I am going to share 5 tips that can help your web application perform better.

Improving ASP.NET Core performance optimization is essential for scalable, secure, and fast web applications. Whether you are working on speeding up ASP.NET Core applications, fixing slow response times, or applying ASP.NET Core performance best practices, the following guide will help you implement proven strategies to optimize ASP.NET Core web applications.

1. Use Asynchronous Database Operations with Entity Framework Core

Modern C# language features provide powerful support for asynchronous programming through keywords like async and await. Asynchronous programming helps improve application responsiveness by preventing request blocking during heavy I/O operations like database access.

Entity Framework Core includes several asynchronous extension methods that improve EF Core performance. Most LINQ query operations now support async equivalents such as ToListAsync(), and saving data can be done using SaveChangesAsync(). These help reduce bottlenecks caused by synchronous blocking queries—a common cause of slow-performing applications.

Synchronous method example:

public List Posts()
{
    return db.Posts.ToList();
}

Improved asynchronous version:

public async Task<List> Posts()
{
    return await db.Posts.ToListAsync();
}

Switching to async programming may require slight learning curves, but it is a foundational step toward high-performance ASP.NET Core applications.

2. Follow Entity Framework Core Data Access Best Practices

Database performance directly affects web application performance. Following database indexing and query optimization techniques and EF Core best practices can significantly improve execution time and reduce unnecessary database load.

Key EF Core Optimization Practices:

• Project only required properties using Select() and Where() to prevent large result sets.
• Use AsNoTracking() for read-only queries — it can improve execution up to 30%.
• Delay loading data until it's truly needed to avoid wasted calls.
• Use indexing where necessary — it drastically improves data retrieval performance.

Applying these techniques is part of an effective ASP.NET Core optimization checklist for faster and more efficient data-access operations.

3. Monitoring and Optimizing Queries

Monitoring plays a crucial role in performance tuning in ASP.NET Core. EF Core provides built-in tools to diagnose SQL query execution, performance bottlenecks, and detailed runtime behavior.

Enable simple logging (EF Core 5+):

protected override void OnConfiguring(DbContextOptionsBuilder optionsBuilder)
    => optionsBuilder.LogTo(Console.WriteLine);

You may also enable:

• EnableSensitiveDataLogging()
• EnableDetailedErrors()

These will help developers understand execution statistics and improve query performance. Tools like Application Insights, performance profilers, and database command logging help identify why an ASP.NET Core app may feel slow.

4. Use Caching

Implementing caching is one of the quickest ways to improve ASP.NET Core performance. The more frequently accessed and stable the data, the greater the benefit of caching.

Types of caching:

• In-memory cache — Fast, ideal for single-instance environments.
• Distributed caching — Works across multiple servers; Redis is the most popular choice.

Example use cases include caching list-of-countries, currencies, or heavy external API responses. Always implement cache invalidation rules to avoid outdated or inconsistent stored results.

5. Switch to Background Processing

Some operations don’t need to run during the main response lifecycle. Offloading them helps fix slow ASP.NET Core websites and improves page responsiveness.

Example: During user registration, instead of blocking the response while sending a verification email, queue the email process in the background and respond instantly.

ASP.NET Core supports background services, and advanced tools like:

• Hangfire
• Quartz.NET
• Azure Service Bus
• AWS SQS

These tools provide dashboards, scheduling, retry mechanisms, and detailed performance logs.

Conclusion

By implementing these ASP.NET Core performance tips — async EF operations, optimized data access, query monitoring, caching, and background processing — you can greatly enhance application speed and scalability.

Whether you’re optimizing microservices, improving IIS hosting, using server-side rendering performance tactics, or applying .NET runtime optimization, these strategies form the foundation to achieve a high-performance ASP.NET Core application.