The .NET ecosystem is a developer's playground, offering a versatile framework for creating anything from desktop applications to cloud-based services. Known for its strong performance, flexibility, and extensive library support, .NET supports multiple languages, including the favored C#. It’s a top choice for many looking to develop applications that can natively run on any OS.

Among the many powerful tools in the .NET arsenal—like libraries for UI, security, and data access—datagrids are particularly crucial for organizing and presenting complex data in applications. This comparison will spotlight five C# .NET datagrids, including ComponentOne FlexGrid, DevExpress, Telerik, Infragistics, and SyncFusion. We'll take a closer look at what each datagrid brings to the table across various .NET platforms like WinForms, WPF, Blazor, and more.

ComponentOne FlexGrid from MESCIUS

If you're on the hunt for a powerful and flexible datagrid for your .NET projects, the ComponentOne FlexGrid from MESCIUS is a top contender. It brings that Excel-like experience you are already familiar with, making it straightforward and user-friendly. The same .NET FlexGrid is now fully supported across a wide range of .NET platforms, including WinForms, WPF, WinUI, UWP, Blazor, ASP.NET Core, ASP.NET MVC, Xamarin, and .NET MAUI. This means you can count on delivering the same great functionality no matter where you're deploying your application. There’s even a JavaScript version if you need to go full client-side.

FlexGrid comes packed with features that make it simple for you to highlight important information and tailor the user interface to your needs:

• Conditional formatting
• Custom cells
• Built-in editors
• Excel-like filtering
• Search and highlight capabilities
• Grouping and summaries
• Cell merging
• Column bands
• Subtotals and aggregates
• Instant Search
• Excel-like cell selection
• Frozen columns/rows
• Stylish themes
• Exporting to common formats

With FlexGrid, you'll experience up to 10 times faster loading and scrolling, which is especially valuable when working with large datasets. The extensible API allows you to customize every aspect of the grid so you can meet all your specific project needs without any compromise.

Whether you want to quickly set up data binding to .NET data sources or prefer the granular control of unbound mode, FlexGrid adapts to suit your needs, making it easy to manage diverse data scenarios.

Platform-Specific Features

ComponentOne FlexGrid also offers a broad spectrum of features built with the specific needs of different C# .NET platforms in mind – more than any other competitor:

WinForms

• Rich design-time tools, including Smart Tags and a visual designer for easy setup and configuration
• Robust event model with essential customization event hooks
• Transform the grid into a TreeGrid or Transposed display
• Office-inspired themes, so you can swap out the boring gray for clean light and dark themes

WPF & WinUI

• UI virtualization and cell recycling for optimal performance
• Deep customization with XAML cell templates and C# cell factories
• Super flexible filtering options, including full-text (search box), filter row, Excel-style filter menus, and separate filter panels and dialogs
• Modern-looking default style plus WPF themes to customize it further
• On-demand data loading

ASP.NET Core/MVC

• Supports real-time updates with SignalR
• Easy JSON data binding
• Robust accessibility features
• Shares feature set and client-side API exactly with the JavaScript version

Blazor

• Optimized for both server-side and client-side WebAssembly
• Super flexible filtering options, including full-text (search box), filter row, Excel-style filter menus, and separate filter panels and dialogs
• Responsive layouts for columns for browser resizing

UWP

• Adaptive layouts and seamless integration with Windows 10 features
• Flexible data binding to IEnumerable and ObservableCollection
• Advanced interactions, including checklist mode and direct printing capabilities

Xamarin & .NET MAUI

• Pull-to-refresh interactivity
• Adaptive layouts for columns for different screen sizes
• Row Details to help display many columns in a small space

DevExpress

The DevExpress DataGrid works with a variety of platforms, including Blazor, ASP.NET MVC, Xamarin, MAUI, WinForms, WPF, and WinUI, so you have plenty of options depending on your project needs. It’s worth noting that DevExpress no longer offers support for UWP C# .NET controls. As the industry shifts toward more modern frameworks, DevExpress has decided to focus its resources on maintaining support for newer technologies.

It provides all the essentials with features similar to ComponentOne FlexGrid. These tools give you the flexibility to present data clearly and interactively, making it easy to offer data management and analysis in your applications:

• Excel-like filtering
• Master-detail views
• Custom edit forms
• Grouping
• Conditional formatting
• Custom cell editors
• Custom sorting
• Instant Search
• Extensive theme options

DevExpress DataGrid is designed to handle large datasets efficiently, offering fast data processing and rendering. Its architecture is optimized for high performance, making it ideal for enterprise-level applications that demand quick and responsive data interactions.

DevExpress also provides robust data binding features, enabling your users to effortlessly connect controls to a variety of data sources, including SQL, JSON data, and more. This allows for easy data display from databases and other sources. To keep data current, implement simple methods like a refresh button or a timer.

Platform-Specific Highlights

Below is a breakdown of the features you can expect from DevExpress on different .NET platforms.

WinForms

• View-based architecture with various data views, like GridView, Tile View, and Card View
• HTML & CSS markup support and customizable themes/skins

WPF

• Server-side data processing for large dataset handling
• Full MVVM support with auto-generation of UI elements
• Adaptive data views, including Table and Tree-List Views

ASP.NET MVC

• Batch editing to minimize server interactions
• Mobile-friendly customization dialog for touch devices

Blazor

• Real-time data updates with observable data collections

Xamarin

• Pull-to-refresh, swipe support, and infinite scrolling.
• Customizable appearance with Light and Dark themes

Telerik

While Telerik is missing some of the more complex controls and unique platform-specific features present in DevExpress and ComponentOne, the basics are covered. Datagrid features include:

• CRUD operations
• Built-in data validation
• Custom editors and templates
• Multi-column sorting
• Advanced filtering
• Exporting to common formats

From a performance perspective, Telerik’s DataGrid handles large data sets without problem. It offers quick sorting, filtering, and grouping, and the UI virtualization ensures smooth scrolling and interaction by rendering only visible elements.

For data binding, Telerik easily connects to various sources, including local data, remote APIs, and dynamic collections. Whether you're using ADO.NET, Entity Framework, or another ORM, it's easy to connect and manage data.

Like DevExpress, Telerik has also discontinued the availability of UWP controls for new purchases and critical fixes, which ends on December 1st, 2024.

Platform-Specific Highlights

Telerik's doesn’t offer much in the way of specialized tools for specific C# .NET platforms, compared to other competitors:

WinForms

• Design-time data layer integration for simple setup and data binding
• Navigate through keyboard shortcuts and integrated search

WPF

• Integrated DataPager for easy navigation

ASP.NET Core

• The compact grid displays more data by minimizing padding
• Define custom aggregate functions

WinUI

• Built-in async export to prevent UI lag
• Data validation API

Blazor

• Render only visible rows with grid virtual scrolling
• Dynamic ExpandoObject support handles flexible, weakly-typed data

Xamarin

• MVVM support

Infragistics

Infragistic’s DataGrid is available for all the major C# .NET platforms, including WinForms, ASP.NET Web Forms, Xamarin, MAUI, UWP, Blazor, and WPF. It comes with a range of controls to customize and edit the DataGrid:

• Column sorting and filtering
• Cell merging
• Form editor
• Column management (resizing, moving, hiding, fixing)
• Paging
• Grouping
• Tooltips
• Exporting to common formats
• Data validation
• Themes and customization
• Drag and drop

If you're aiming to reach touch device users, Infragistics' DataGrid offers valuable features like responsive touch metrics, vertical and multidirectional panning, and multi-gesture functionality. These capabilities improve the user experience on tablets and other smartphones, making your applications more accessible to a broader audience.

Platform-Specific Highlights

If you're looking into unique platform features, Infragistics offers a few useful ones across different C# .NET platforms. They're not extensive, but they do add some nice touches to the DataGrid experience:

WinForms

• Gestures like tap, double tap, and panning
• Advanced business intelligence capabilities with OLAP Pivot Grid
• AppStylist for DataGrid style customization

WPF

• Data Grid Configurator is a visual tool to set up the grid without coding
• Automatically highlights cells or rows based on in-the-moment data changes

ASP.NET WebForms

• Batch updating
• Multi-column headers and footers

Blazor

• Outlook-style intuitive data grouping

UWP

• Real-time live data streaming
• Template columns

Xamarin

• Responsive layouts
• Live scrolling fetches data as users scroll
• Advanced data grouping with split headers

SyncFusion

Syncfusion's DataGrid is built for speed, handling millions of records without a hitch. It connects with different data sources, for example, the Blazor DataGrid can bind to RESTful services, OData, and more. The grid is responsive, working well on any device whether it's a desktop, tablet, or smartphone. Datagrid controls include:

• Column sorting and filtering
• Cell merging
• Row and column customization
• Conditional formatting
• Localization
• Clipboard operations
• Master-detail views
• Grouping
• Exporting to common formats
• Data validation
• Themes and customization
• Preview rows

Synfusion supports many .NET platforms, including ASP.NET Core, ASP.NET MVC, Xamarin, WinForms, WPF, Blazor, WinUI, and even UWP.

Platform-Specific Highlights

Syncfusion offers a broader range of specific features for different .NET platforms than both Infragistics and Telerik. However, what really sets them apart is their team licensing. For small development teams, Syncfusion offers a reduced pricing option, making it an attractive choice for budget-conscious projects.

WinForms

• Provides a nested grid setup for representing complex data relationships
• Displays rows not bound to the data source

WPF

• Compatible with automation tools like Coded UI and UFT
• Provides an expanded view of row data with customizable templates

ASP.NET Core

• Displays a shimmer effect as a loading indicator

ASP.NET MVC

• Built-in support for data annotations
• Customization options for the loading indicator

Blazor

• Extensive customization for a range of templates
• Responsive layouts
• Drag and drop rows within the grid or between different grids

UWP

• Loads data incrementally as the user scrolls
• Supports nested grids, representing master-detail relationships

Xamarin

• Pull to refresh
• Supports columns and rows not directly bound to the data source for custom calculations and displays

WinUI

• Parallel LINQ for efficient data operations like sorting, filtering, and grouping
• Detailed control over gridline visibility, including horizontal, vertical, both, or none

Conclusion

ComponentOne FlexGrid by MESCIUS is the top pick for all your C# .NET DataGrid needs. It’s not just quick – it’s the fastest out there, capable of handling millions of records while still offering a super-responsive user experience. But speed is just the start. FlexGrid is fully featured and packed with a core set of controls like conditional formatting, custom cell templates, advanced filtering, and more, no matter which .NET platform you’re working with.

FlexGrid also offers the most extensive list of platform-specific features, catering to your unique needs on various .NET platforms, from WinForms to Xamarin. For instance, in WinForms, you have rich design-time tools and a visual designer that simplifies setup and configuration. In WPF, FlexGrid provides deep customization with XAML, along with advanced filtering and multi-column filtering dialogs. Unlike some competitors, FlexGrid continues to support UWP, offering adaptive layouts and seamless Windows integration. There’s even an ActiveX and JavaScript version, although these are not technically .NET.

And then, there’s the extensibility! If you need a feature that isn’t included out-of-the-box, FlexGrid's flexible API allows you to create it. Whether you need custom editors, unique data bindings, or specific formatting, you can tailor the grid perfectly to your project.