Why should you care?

ShopNest nightly import adds 5,000 supplier SKUs — AddRange with single SaveChanges batches inserts; larger jobs use bulk tools.

See it live — copy this example

Paste into a .NET project with EF Core packages, then run with LocalDB/SQL Server (dotnet ef / dotnet run).

var imports = csvRows.Select(r => new Product
{
    Name = r.Name,
    Sku = r.Sku,
    Price = r.Price,
    CategoryId = r.CategoryId
}).ToList();

_context.Products.AddRange(imports);
await _context.SaveChangesAsync(); // batched INSERT statements

What happened?

• AddRange stages all entities.
• EF Core batches INSERT commands per SaveChanges up to provider limits — far faster than SaveChanges per row.

Practice next

1. Use AddRange for moderate batch inserts.
2. Tune MaxBatchSize in UseSqlServer if needed.
3. For 100k+ rows evaluate EFCore.BulkExtensions or SqlBulkCopy.
4. Chunk imports into batches of 500 with separate SaveChanges per chunk.
5. Compare ExecuteUpdate vs loop for status flag updates.

Remember

AddRange batches staging. SaveChanges sends batched SQL. Extreme volume may need bulk copy tools.

ShopNest supplier feed

Nightly CSV import AddRange 5000 products in chunks of 500.

Outcome: Import completes in minutes instead of hours.