That's a great question!
Some people still debate this, so let's end the debate once and for all.
As the creator of Dapper Plus, I believe I'm in one of the best positions to answer it.
The answer is...
No and YES!
Oh no—now you're probably more confused.
But don’t worry, we’ll explore both answers together.
NO: Why Dapper Plus is not related to Dapper
Dapper Plus has no dependencies on Dapper. You can use Dapper Plus without ever using Dapper!
So obviously, that makes Dapper Plus not related to Dapper at all.
On my side, I’ve often considered adding Dapper as a dependency—but for what exactly?
I mean, I can already create and handle my own DbCommand. Adding Dapper would just bring a LOT of unnecessary complexity to the library. And that’s especially true since we also support EF Core through our Entity Framework Extensions library, which shares the same core code. It would be like making our codebase more complex just to please a few people... with absolutely ZERO benefits.
Now don’t get me wrong—Dapper is amazing. I’m one of Dapper’s biggest fans, and I use it in all my own projects, like ZZZ Code AI.
But using it inside Dapper Plus? Bah!
YES: Why Dapper Plus IS related to Dapper
Yes, the two libraries are definitely related!
- ✅ Sponsorship - Dapper: 30% of our revenue goes to sponsoring Dapper. That’s $4,500 USD every month.
- ✅ Sponsorship - Dapper Ecosystem: Around 10% of our revenue also goes toward sponsoring third-party libraries and content creators.
- ✅ Mindset: The goal behind Dapper Plus was to follow the same mindset as Dapper by extending
DbConnection. - ✅ Tutorials: Where do you go when you need Dapper info? Learn Dapper and Dapper Tutorial — both maintained by us.
🧾 Sponsorship - Dapper
We’re proud to be a major sponsor of Dapper.
In early 2024, we reached out directly to the Dapper team to offer financial support. They didn’t ask us — we contacted them.
Our sponsorship is directly related to the following NuGet packages:
- Dapper
- Dapper.StrongName
- Dapper.EntityFramework
- Dapper.EntityFramework.StrongName
- Dapper.Rainbow
- Dapper.SqlBuilder
So yes, Dapper Plus is related to Dapper because we help ensure Dapper stays professionally maintained and developer-supported by sponsorising $4500 USD per month.
🌐 Sponsorship - Dapper Ecosystem
We’ve been in contact (since mid-April 2025) with four NuGet library owners to sponsor them. It’s not finalized yet, but hey — it’s coming soon! 😉
So yes, Dapper Plus is directly connected to Dapper by giving back to those who actively contribute to this awesome library.
💡 Mindset
When I created Dapper Plus, I wanted to stick as closely as possible to the same mentality that made Dapper so great.
All our methods extend DbConnection, just like Dapper. We even released a free library to extend support to DbTransaction: Dapper.Transaction
So yes, Dapper Plus is related to Dapper because it was built with the same mindset and the same spirit.
📚 Tutorials
Let’s be honest — Dapper Plus wouldn’t exist without Dapper.
But at the same time, it’s hard to deny that the ecosystem we created around Dapper helped its popularity grow.
Our tutorials help thousands of developers every month better understand and use this awesome library.
So yes, Dapper Plus is related to Dapper because it has helped grow the Dapper community through high-quality learning resources.
Mission
You can read more about our mission here: ZZZ Projects - Mission
One thing a few people criticize us for is selling our software instead of offering it for free. But every time I try to hire them to work for free... they never accept my offer either, that's strange!
Anyway! Back to our mission — making money through our software allows us to support the .NET ecosystem in many ways.
We sponsor content creators, library maintainers like Dapper, and offer several websites completely free to use, such as:
These websites are free to use, but they cost me thousands of dollars every month to keep online!
In 2025, we’re aiming to give back even more — by sponsoring creators and maintainers with over 30% of our total revenue, and over 40% specifically from Dapper Plus. And who knows? We hope to increase that even more in the future! 😉
Why?
I’ll be honest — I make enough to live well and travel the world, and I already give two months of my personal salary to friends and family. So you can understand that I’m just happy to share what I can with the amazing people who contribute to the .NET community.
Sure, we could lower our prices… but in the end, it’s the community that would lose — because we wouldn’t be able to support them as much.
Conclusion
The next time someone tells you that Dapper Plus isn’t related to Dapper, just share this article with them and he will be able to take his own decision.
Thanks to the few libraries we sell — like Dapper Plus — ZZZ Projects plays a major role in supporting Dapper and the .NET ecosystem as a whole.
And to those who speak negatively about our library or remove the [Dapper] tag from Stack Overflow, I get it — I really do.
But maybe it’s worth reconsidering...
Because with those small actions, everyone loses:
- Dapper loses sponsorship revenue
- Sponsored libraries and content creators loses revenue
- You lose some support, new features, or even new libraries that could have emerged
- And yes, I lose some revenue too
Hey — for once, here’s a company that isn’t too greedy and genuinely tries to help as much as possible!
So, if you appreciate what we’re doing...
A hug is always welcome 😉
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