Yes. DNN Platform is a free, open-source CMS under the MIT License.

What is the tech stack for DNN?

DNN runs on ASP.NET (.NET Framework 4.8+) with Microsoft SQL Server (2017+ or Azure SQL).

DNN Platform is community-led and a member project of the .NET Foundation.

What’s the difference between DNN and Evoq?

DNN Platform is the open-source core that's been wildly popular and adopted for over 20 years. Evoq is a commercial offering maintained by DNN Software (IgniteTech) that builds on DNN.

DNN Blogs

Written for the Community, by the Community

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Sponsoring Open Source Maintainers Works - Here’s Proof

Open source isn’t truly “free”, it’s only free to use. The real cost lies in maintenance, which depends almost entirely on volunteers donating their time, expertise, and energy. DNN is a perfect example: despite being old enough to share a timeline with MapQuest printouts and MySpace profiles, it’s still alive because dedicated contributors keep it alive. Yet many modules were created by developers who have long since moved on, leaving behind essential but aging pieces that block upgrades and require significant, often tedious modernization work.

That’s why sponsorships matter. And it works!

Daniel Valadas
2025-11-20

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Security in Open Source: Challenges, Responsibility, and Progress in the DNN Community

When you’re running an open-source platform like DNN, security is never “done.” It’s an ongoing process. The same openness that makes open source powerful—shared code, community collaboration, peer review—also means that vulnerabilities can be easier to find and exploit. That’s why the DNN Community takes security so seriously.

David Poindexter
2025-10-08

4
DNN SecuritySecurity

The DNN Community is made of all kinds of people across the world and is not an organization. As such, any opinions, endorsements, and claims made in the articles and comments here are those of the individual and do not represent the community as a whole.