Scriban review
A .NET template engine with async rendering and controlled runtime access.
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
Scriban is an open-source .NET text-templating engine and scripting language for developers building applications that generate text or markup. It fits teams that need programmable templates, Liquid compatibility, asynchronous rendering, and control over which objects, members, and functions are exposed during execution. The project is maintained by Alexandre Mutel, distributed as a NuGet package, and available for Windows, Linux, and macOS through self-hosted deployment.
Its standout capability is the configurable runtime context. Developers can set execution limits, define custom functions, integrate .NET objects, and work with a visitable abstract syntax tree that supports AST-to-text formatting. The engine also includes array, date, HTML, math, object, regex, string, and timespan functions. Template.RenderAsync provides asynchronous rendering, while compatibility with Liquid syntax can ease adoption of existing template styles. These features make Scriban suitable for applications that need more control than a basic text substitution library.
Scriban is free and open source under the BSD-2-Clause license, so the published model does not add paid feature tiers. Its runtime controls regulate exposure and execution, but the documentation states that they are not a process-level sandbox or a security boundary around arbitrary .NET objects. Rendering occurs inside the host application, and deployment is self-managed. Teams seeking a .NET-native engine with async support and deliberate runtime restrictions should consider Scriban; projects requiring a process-isolated security boundary, managed hosting, or a broader support operation should look for an alternative.
Scriban pros and cons
- Where it wins
- Async rendering through Template.RenderAsync
- Runtime limits and access controls for objects, members, and functions
- Scriban and Liquid-compatible syntax with .NET integration
- Where it doesn't
- Runtime controls are not a process-level sandbox or security boundary
- Self-hosted deployment places hosting responsibility on your team
- No AI features and documentation is the listed support channel
Scriban fact sheet, pricing and score →
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