title	author	description	ms.author	ms.custom	ms.date	uid
Host in ASP.NET Core	guardrex	Learn about the ASP.NET Core Web Host and .NET Generic Host, which are responsible for app startup and lifetime management.	riande	mvc	08/28/2018	fundamentals/host/index

Host in ASP.NET Core

.NET apps configure and launch a host. The host is responsible for app startup and lifetime management. Two host APIs are available for use:

Web Host – Suitable for hosting web apps.
Generic Host (ASP.NET Core 2.1 or later) – Suitable for hosting non-web apps (for example, apps that run background tasks). In a future release, the Generic Host will be suitable for hosting any kind of app, including web apps. The Generic Host will eventually replace the Web Host.

For hosting ASP.NET Core web apps, developers should use the Web Host based on xref:Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting.IWebHostBuilder. For hosting non-web apps, developers should use the Generic Host based on xref:Microsoft.Extensions.Hosting.HostBuilder.

xref:fundamentals/host/hosted-services
Learn how to implement background tasks with hosted services in ASP.NET Core.

xref:fundamentals/configuration/platform-specific-configuration
Discover how to enhance an ASP.NET Core app from a referenced or unreferenced assembly using an xref:Microsoft.AspNetCore.Hosting.IHostingStartup implementation.