Reactive vs Template Driven vs Signal Forms

What are Forms?

Forms are a collection of input fields.

Users fill data in input fields and submit it.

Examples:

  1. Login form
  2. Signup form
  3. Booking tickets
  4. Online orders


Types of Forms in Angular

There are two main types of forms in Angular:

  1. Reactive Forms
  2. Template Driven Forms


Signal Forms (Angular 21)

Signal forms are not a new type of form.

They are Reactive Forms used with Signals.

  1. They are experimental
  2. Not recommended for production
  3. Can have bugs
  4. Angular team is still working on them


Recommended Form Type

Reactive Forms are recommended in Angular 21.

Reasons:

  1. Better performance
  2. Better control over input fields
  3. Strong validation
  4. Good for complex and enterprise-level apps


Template Driven Forms

Template driven forms are older but not deprecated.

They can be used when:

  1. Form is very simple
  2. Only 1–2 input fields
  3. Very little or no validation
  4. Working on an old Angular project


When to Use What?

  1. Simple form → Template Driven Form
  2. Complex form → Reactive Form
  3. New project → Reactive Form
  4. Enterprise app → Reactive Form