I regret to say that my experience with Telerik UI for WinForms has been extremely disappointing. I purchased this product expecting high-quality controls and performance for my applications, but it has failed to meet even basic expectations.
Key Issues:
Severe Performance Problems:
The application built with Telerik UI for WinForms suffers from severe slowness, especially when working with large datasets or complex controls like grids. Virtualization and optimization options provided by Telerik are either ineffective or insufficient for real-world use cases.Poor User Experience:
The slow responsiveness of Telerik controls has led to constant client complaints. This directly impacts my business as my clients are frustrated with the application's usability.No Solutions from Telerik:
Despite searching extensively in forums and documentation, there are no practical solutions to the performance issues. Even technical support responses lack clarity and effectiveness.Waste of Money:
Considering the price of the Telerik license, the performance and value provided are far below expectations. My clients are losing faith in my software, and I am unable to justify renewing or continuing with Telerik products.
Conclusion:
I strongly advise others to reconsider investing in Telerik UI for WinForms if performance and user experience are critical for your applications. The cost does not match the value provided. I will not be renewing my license and am exploring alternative UI frameworks like DevExpress or Syncfusion.
1 Answer, 1 is accepted
Hello Safwan,
By means of introduction, my name is Plamen Mitrev and I am a Support Lead at Telerik.
First of all, thank you for sharing your experience with Telerik UI for WinForms. Your feedback is invaluable, and I'm truly sorry to hear about the challenges you've faced. We have put a lot of effort throughout the years to improve the quality, stability and performance of our components. We will definitely continue to do just that with every release.
I spent a few hours exploring your full support history and discussing it with the WinForms support team. It looks like you are working on a large scale application with complex scenarios. I noticed two things from previous support interactions.
First, the support team was trying their best to help you and even organized complimentary remote web assistance meetings that are not included in your support plan.
Second, I see that despite the support team's efforts, in most cases the communication stopped abruptly after the first reply from our side. You are working on a large project and troubleshooting it is more complicated. That is why every piece of information that you give us might be helpful. It is very important for us to hear back, if the suggested approach worked or not, so we can support your better.
The decision to move away from Telerik and look for alternative vendors is yours. I know how important it is to find the right solution for your business needs. I sencerely hope that the software you build satisfies your clients' requirements and you can regain their trust.
If you reconsider your decision to work with us, we will be happy to work with you again.
Regards,
Plamen Mitrev
Progress Telerik
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Rank 1
Dear Plamen Mitrev,
Thank you for your message and for taking the time to review my support history. I appreciate the efforts Telerik has made to improve the quality, stability, and performance of your products, and I value the support you have provided so far.
Regarding the performance concerns I’ve raised, I want to clarify that the performance of the Telerik UI for WinForms package remains a critical issue for my clients. As mentioned before, the application has been running slower than expected, and several clients have raised concerns about its speed compared to other solutions such as Syncfusion and DevExpress. This has made it difficult to deliver the user experience we aim for.
Currently, our license has expired, and I would like to know if there have been any significant improvements in performance with the newer releases. I’m considering renewing the license, but I need to be assured that the performance issues have been addressed or that there are concrete plans for improvements in the near future.
Also, it would be helpful to know if there are any additional benefits or new features that would come with renewing the license, as I want to ensure that our project’s needs are fully met moving forward.
I look forward to your insights on this matter, as I would like to continue working with Telerik, provided the performance concerns can be resolved.
Hi Safwan,
I believe you are currently using the 2024 Q1 release of Winforms and to be completely honest with you, we have not release major performance improvements in the last few versions. Frankly, there were not outstanding issues that we have properly identified and reproduced. I know that you are experiencing some with the grid and we will be happy to look into that. However, it is quite difficult to handle such issues without stable reproduction.
I would suggest two things to consider. One is to go through all release notes after your current version. This will give you a good idea of the new features, fixes and overall improvements to the product. Second thing is to start a new trial and test the latest version of WinForms on your end. In case there is still unexpected behavior in the grid or other components, you can submit a ticket with a sample project that showcases the issue. Our support team will take it from there.
You also showed some interest in Telerik Reporting. I believe a DevCraft trial will be the best fit for you, as this gives you access to the latest version of WinForms and Reporting. The trial is active for 30 days and it has the same feature set as the paid version of the product. Please note that we have introduced new licensing mechanism in 2025 Q1 and you will need to go throught the steps described in each respective product's documentation. For Winforms it`s here and for Reporting it`s here.
I hope we can work together to smooth out any performance issues, so you can deliver feature rich and fast applications to your clients.
I have had the opposite experience. The support I've received has been nothing short of stellar. The feature set available in this library has allowed me to offer a much higher level of user experience. There have been times when I had performance concerns and I received practical guidance. The fact is that nothing is free. Every bell and every whistle has code to make it possible. When you put many controls or thousands of records into a system where each element must be supported by code to enhance the user experience, there is going to be an impact. A programmer's job is to determine where and when to make tradeoffs. The support staff at Telerik has been with me the last few years and helped me make those decisions within the context of my projects.
Good luck in your exploration of alternatives. I did that exploration and landed here and I am sure I made the right decision.