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so client services cannot consume the wcf if thry are in different frsmeworks?

Flossy Veronica 20 Reputation points
2025-11-18T18:45:21.34+00:00

As long as we use .net Framework we can continue with WCF ...but when it comes to .NET Core and .NET 5+, hosting WCF services is not supported because the server components were never implemented outside of the .NET Framework. While client libraries for WCF do exist in .NET Core, allowing us to consume WCF services, we will not be able to host WCF services if we want to move to .NET Core or .NET 5+...Also to benefit the perfromance, security or cross platform capabilities we should consider gRPC or other alternatives.... is thst mesn that client services cannot consume the wcf if thry are in different frameworks?

Developer technologies | .NET | Other

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  1. Q&A Assist
    2025-11-18T18:45:37.3066667+00:00
    AI generated content. This question contains an answer created with AI from Q&A Assist. Learn more

    Client services can consume WCF services even if they are in different frameworks, as long as the client libraries for WCF are compatible with the framework being used. While WCF services can be hosted in the .NET Framework, the server components are not implemented outside of it, meaning that hosting WCF services in .NET Core or .NET 5+ is not supported. However, client libraries for WCF do exist in .NET Core, allowing those clients to consume WCF services. Therefore, while you can consume WCF services from different frameworks, hosting those services requires the .NET Framework.

    To benefit from performance, security, and cross-platform capabilities, it is recommended to consider alternatives like gRPC for new developments.

    References:

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  2. Varsha Dundigalla(INFOSYS LIMITED) 3,725 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff
    2025-11-19T09:53:46.04+00:00

    Thank you for reaching out.
    That’s not the case. WCF clients and services can work across different frameworks as long as the service is hosted on .NET Framework. The limitation is only on hosting you cannot host WCF services on .NET Core or .NET 5+ because server-side components were never implemented there.

    However, client libraries for WCF are available in .NET Core and .NET 5+, so applications built on these newer frameworks can still consume WCF services hosted on .NET Framework.

    If you’re planning for future improvements like better performance, security, or cross-platform support, it’s a good idea to look at alternatives such as gRPC or REST APIs, since WCF is in maintenance mode.

    Please let us know if you require any further assistance, we’re happy to help.

    If you found this information useful, kindly mark this as "Accept Answer".

  3. Bruce (SqlWork.com) 81,971 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2025-11-20T22:02:17.5233333+00:00

    There is wcf server support (CoreWCF.Http package) for core, but like the client it’s open source. I believe CireWcf is the only option if you want the server or client support of SOAP.

    .net 4.8 has fair support for openapi (webapi) an gRPC. If you want a binary transport then gRPC is your option. While open api has xml support, it does not have SOAP support, so you would need hand code the envelope processing and dispatcher and WSDL files.

    Note: WCF core also supports .netstandard 2.0, so you could switch to it, and have the code compatible for .net core migration. The main difference is the configuration binding are done in code rather than settings file, though of course you code can read the settings file.

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