System.Text.Json
Ranked 3 of 3 JSON libraries by recommenders
Built into .NET and widely chosen as the default JSON library, with better ASP.NET integration. Critics say it lacks Newtonsoft.Json's feature parity, debugging ease and mutable JObject.
Built into .NET and widely chosen as the default JSON library, with better ASP.NET integration. Critics say it lacks Newtonsoft.Json's feature parity, debugging ease and mutable JObject.
9 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 5
- criticize it
- 4
- approval share
- 56%
Recommended in 2 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 5 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 1.2 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 2 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Built into .NET, the go-to choice
“The go-to nowadays is System.Text.Json, developed by the same person as Newtonsoft.Json, built in to .NET.”
Comment from 12 Nov 2025 in “.NET 10” “The built in one is much better these days and plays well with other subsystems in aspnet.”
Comment from 12 Nov 2025 in “.NET 10”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Lacks easy debugging like Newtonsoft
“Years later, it lacks feature parity, including an easy way to debug like Newtonsoft did.”
Comment from 24 May 2026 in “dotNET (OK, C#) gets union types” “Or being able to debug exceptions as easily as in Newtonsoft.Json.”
Comment from 24 May 2026 in “dotNET (OK, C#) gets union types” Serialization support missing, ignores System.Runtime.Serialization
“they stubbornly insisted on reinventing the wheel and ignoring everything in System.Runtime.Serialization”
Comment from 12 Nov 2025 in “.NET 10” “Shame it'll be like 3 years until System.Text.Json sees support for serialization”
Comment from 24 May 2026 in “dotNET (OK, C#) gets union types”
Other JSON libraries people recommend
The two most recommended other JSON libraries, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| simdjson | 12 | 1 | 92% | 7 | — | Approved |
| Jackson FasterXML | 6 | 4 | 60% | 4 | — | — |
| System.Text.JsonThis page | 5 | 4 | 56% | 2 | — | — |
What people said
All 10 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Or being able to debug exceptions as easily as in Newtonsoft.Json.”
“Years later, it lacks feature parity, including an easy way to debug like Newtonsoft did.”
“Shame it'll be like 3 years until System.Text.Json sees support for serialization”
“Their JSON even does cross-platform SIMD”
“It's a small redundancy in the BCL, but it's still just”
“they stubbornly insisted on reinventing the wheel and ignoring everything in System.Runtime.Serialization”
“The built in one is much better these days and plays well with other subsystems in aspnet.”
“The go-to nowadays is System.Text.Json, developed by the same person as Newtonsoft.Json, built in to .NET.”
“then in System.Text.Json I couldn't find an equivalent of mutable JObject”
“The official JSON library leaves so much to be desired”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.