If you're a C# developer watching from the sidelines, you might wonder: where's our version of this?
It exists. Ivy is a C# framework that follows the same philosophy - write pure backend code, get a production-ready web app. Here are five features Streamlit developers love that work the same way (or better) in Ivy.
1. One Language, No Frontend
Streamlit's biggest draw is eliminating the frontend entirely. No React, no templates, no build tooling. You write Python, and the framework renders a UI.
Ivy does the same for C#:
[App]
class MyApp : ViewBase
{
public override object? Build()
{
var name = UseState("World");
return Layout.Vertical()
| Text.H1($"Hello, {name.Value}!")
| name.ToTextInput(placeholder: "Your name");
}
}
That's a complete interactive app. A text input bound to a heading, updating in real time. No Razor syntax, no JavaScript interop, no StateHasChanged() calls. If you've fought with Blazor's ceremony, this will feel like a relief.
2. Hot Reload That Actually Works
Streamlit developers love the instant feedback loop. Save a file, and the browser reflects your changes immediately. It makes prototyping feel conversational - change something, see the result, adjust.
Ivy uses dotnet watch under the hood, giving you the same experience. Run ivy run, edit your .cs file, save, and your app updates in the browser. No manual rebuild, no waiting for compilation. The iteration speed matches what Streamlit developers are used to.
3. Reactive State Without the Headaches
This is where Ivy actually pulls ahead. Streamlit's st.session_state works, but it comes with a well-known pain point: every interaction re-runs the entire script from top to bottom. For small apps, that's fine. For anything with database queries or expensive computations, you end up wrestling with st.cache_data and careful variable placement.
Ivy uses React-style hooks that update only the affected components:
var count = UseState(0);
var filter = UseState("all");
return Layout.Vertical()
| Text.P($"Count: {count.Value}")
| new Button("+1", onClick: _ => count.Set(count.Value + 1))
| filter.ToSelectInput(new Option<string>[] {
new("all", "All Items"),
new("active", "Active Only")
});
When you click the button, only the counter text re-renders. The select input doesn't re-evaluate. No full-page reruns, no caching workarounds. State management scales naturally as your app grows.
4. A Widget Library You Don't Outgrow
Streamlit ships 30+ built-in widgets. Ivy has over 70 - inputs, cards, charts, data tables, a kanban board, and even a chat widget. The basics work similarly to Streamlit's one-liner approach:
var enabled = UseState(false);
var date = UseState(DateTime.Now);
enabled.ToBoolInput(); // Toggle switch
date.ToDateInput(); // Date picker
But Ivy's DataTable is where things get interesting. Point it at a database query, and you get sorting, filtering, and pagination - including AI-powered natural language filtering:
var db = UseService<AppDbContext>();
db.Employees.ToDataTable(e => e.Id)
.Header(e => e.Name, "Name")
.Header(e => e.Email, "Email")
.Config(c => {
c.AllowSorting = true;
c.AllowFiltering = true;
});
Type "employees older than 30" into the filter, and it generates the correct query. Streamlit's st.data_editor is good for smaller datasets, but Ivy's DataTable is built for production-scale data from day one.
5. Direct Database Access (No API Layer)
Streamlit has st.connection and works well with pandas. But once you need a real database integration - transactions, migrations, relationships - you're stitching together SQLAlchemy, connection pools, and session management yourself.
Ivy integrates EF Core directly. You register your database context and query it from any component:
var db = UseService<AppDbContext>();
return db.Invoices.ToDataTable(i => i.Id)
.Header(i => i.Customer, "Customer")
.Header(i => i.Total, "Total")
.Header(i => i.Status, "Status");
Nine database systems supported out of the box - SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite, BigQuery, Snowflake, and more. Migrations, relationships, and transactions all come from EF Core, the most battle-tested ORM in the .NET ecosystem.
Where Ivy Goes Further
These five features match Streamlit's core appeal. But Ivy also solves pain points that Streamlit developers hit as they scale:
- Enterprise authentication - five providers built in (Entra ID, Auth0, Clerk, Supabase, Ivy Auth). No
streamlit-authenticatorworkarounds. - One-click deployment -
ivy deploy azure,ivy deploy aws, orivy deploy gcp. No Docker knowledge required. - AI scaffolding -
ivy db generatecreates a complete CRUD app from your existing database schema.
Streamlit is an incredible tool for Python developers. If you're in the .NET ecosystem and want that same simplicity - without giving up type safety, enterprise auth, or production readiness - Ivy is worth a look.
