GitHub Copilot app modernization vs AWS Transform vs a modernization partner
Published 22 October 2026 · dotNew Labs
Microsoft and AWS both offer AI tools that upgrade .NET code, and they are good. If you have a capable .NET team, they may be all you need. Here is an honest way to decide.
What each option typically covers. The code tools are strong at the code step; the rest is still yours or a partner's.
What each tool does well
Tool
Good at
Leaves to you
GitHub Copilot app modernization
Upgrading projects to current .NET inside Visual Studio, fixing build errors, preparing apps for Azure
Deciding what to upgrade, testing behavior, data, cutover
AWS Transform for .NET
Porting .NET Framework code to cross-platform .NET at scale, aimed at running on Linux in AWS
The same, plus anything outside the code it can convert
Your own developers with an AI assistant
Anything, if they know the app and have the time
Time taken away from other work
When doing it yourself is enough
You have developers who know the app and can spare the weeks.
The app has automated tests, so you will notice if behavior changes.
It is mostly a version upgrade, for example from .NET 8 to the current release.
Nobody outside IT needs a signed record of what changed.
When you need more than a code tool
Nobody knows all the rules. The original developers have left, and the app is the only documentation.
It is a rebuild, not an upgrade. WebForms, WCF hosting or WinForms screens have no one-click path.
You must prove nothing changed. Auditors, compliance or business owners want evidence, not "it compiles".
The hard parts are outside the code. Data migration, logins, reports, scheduled jobs and a rollback plan.
You have no spare .NET team. The work competes with everything else on the roadmap.
What a partner should add
Any partner worth hiring uses these tools too. What you pay for is the method around them: writing down what the app does before changing it, testing old against new, running the cutover with a way back, and standing behind the result. Ask any partner to show you that evidence on a small piece of your own app before you sign anything bigger.
Not sure where your apps stand?
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