---
title: "Difference between Web service and WCF service"  
description: "In this blog, I’m explaining difference between web service and WCF service.Web service:1.It can be hosted in IIS.2.It can only be invoked by HTTP.3.W"  
author: "priyanka kushwaha"  
published: 2015-03-17  
updated: 2018-02-19  
canonical: https://www.mindstick.com/blog/10840/difference-between-web-service-and-wcf-service  
category: ".net"  
tags: ["wcf"]  
reading_time: 1 minute  

---

# Difference between Web service and WCF service

In this blog, I’m explaining [difference between web](https://www.mindstick.com/forum/55095/what-is-difference-between-web-service-and-dot-net-remoting) service and WCF service.

##### Web service:

1. It can be hosted in IIS.

2. It can only be invoked by HTTP.

3. [Web services](https://www.mindstick.com/articles/942/basics-of-asp-dot-net-web-services) in Asp.net have “.asmx” [file extension](https://www.mindstick.com/forum/23173/getting-a-mime-type-from-a-file-extension-in-asp-dot-net-4-5).

4. It does not support multi-threading.

5. Web services are slower than WCF.

6. It use [[WebService](https://www.mindstick.com/forum/166/webservice-method)] and [WebMethod] attributes.

7. Using webService only public fields/[properties](https://www.mindstick.com/articles/23331/nootropics-7-different-types-and-their-unique-properties) can be serialized and it cannot serialized [Hash table](https://www.mindstick.com/forum/157906/what-is-the-difference-between-a-hash-table-and-an-array-when-would-you-use-one-over-the-other).

##### WCF service:

1. It can be hosted in IIS, WAS (window [Activation](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/50460/how-to-fix-apple-iphone-x-that-shows-imessage-waiting-for-activation-error) service), Window service ,self hosting.

2. It can be accessed through Http, TCP, MSMQ, Message Queuing and point to point.

3. WCF have “.svc” file extension.

4. It supports multi-threading using “ServiceBehavior” class.

5. It is faster than [Web service](https://www.mindstick.com/articles/895/web-service-introduction).

6. It use [ServiceContract] and [serviceContract] attributes.

7. It can serialize public/private fields [as well as](https://www.mindstick.com/interview/2481/can-you-write-a-java-class-that-could-be-used-both-as-an-applet-as-well-as-an-application) Hash table.

---

Original Source: https://www.mindstick.com/blog/10840/difference-between-web-service-and-wcf-service

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