Abhay Singh Kathayat

Posted on Dec 19

Comparing Formik and React Hook Form: Which One Should You Choose for Your React Forms?

#react #formik #reacthookform #abhay

Form Libraries in React: Formik and React Hook Form

Form handling is a critical part of any web application, and React offers various ways to handle forms effectively. Two of the most popular libraries for managing forms in React are Formik and React Hook Form. Both libraries help with form validation, data handling, and managing form states, but they come with different design philosophies and approaches.

1. Formik

Formik is one of the most widely used form libraries for React. It simplifies the process of handling forms by abstracting away repetitive code and providing utilities for handling state, validation, and submission of forms.

Key Features of Formik:

Built-in Validation: Formik has built-in validation support using Yup (a popular schema validation library) or custom validation logic.
Form State Management: Manages the state of form fields (like values, errors, touched fields, etc.) in a simple and predictable way.
Easy to Use: Formik provides high-level API methods to handle forms and reduces the need for boilerplate code.
Field-level Validation: Formik allows validating individual fields and provides helpers to trigger validation manually.
Submission Handling: It provides a straightforward API to handle form submission.

Example Usage of Formik

import React from 'react';
import { Formik, Field, Form, ErrorMessage } from 'formik';
import * as Yup from 'yup';

// Validation schema using Yup
const validationSchema = Yup.object({
  username: Yup.string().required('Username is required'),
  email: Yup.string().email('Invalid email').required('Email is required'),
});

const MyForm = () => {
  return (
    <Formik
      initialValues={{ username: '', email: '' }}
      validationSchema={validationSchema}
      onSubmit={(values) => {
        console.log(values);
      }}
    >
      <Form>
        <div>
          <Field type="text" name="username" placeholder="Username" />
          <ErrorMessage name="username" component="div" className="error" />
        </div>
        <div>
          <Field type="email" name="email" placeholder="Email" />
          <ErrorMessage name="email" component="div" className="error" />
        </div>
        <button type="submit">Submit</button>
      </Form>
    </Formik>
  );
};

export default MyForm;

Pros of Formik:

Great for complex forms with validation.
Provides a lot of flexibility with custom components and integrations.
Rich ecosystem and active community.
Works well with large forms and complex validation.

Cons of Formik:

Somewhat heavy on performance due to re-rendering of components on form state changes.
Boilerplate code can accumulate with large forms.
Can be verbose when compared to newer alternatives.

2. React Hook Form

React Hook Form is another popular form handling library in React that aims to minimize re-renders and improve performance. It leverages React's hooks API and is designed to be simple, flexible, and lightweight.

Key Features of React Hook Form:

Minimal Re-renders: React Hook Form minimizes re-renders by leveraging uncontrolled components, making it more performant compared to other form libraries.
Validation: Supports both Yup validation schema and custom validation logic. React Hook Form can validate form inputs as users interact with them.
Less Boilerplate: It uses React's hooks API and reduces the need for a lot of code to manage form state.
Uncontrolled Components: React Hook Form uses uncontrolled components (input refs) which can be more performant than controlled components.
Easy Integration with UI Libraries: It integrates easily with UI component libraries like Material UI, Ant Design, or Chakra UI.

Example Usage of React Hook Form

import React from 'react';
import { useForm } from 'react-hook-form';
import * as Yup from 'yup';
import { yupResolver } from '@hookform/resolvers/yup';

// Validation schema using Yup
const validationSchema = Yup.object({
  username: Yup.string().required('Username is required'),
  email: Yup.string().email('Invalid email').required('Email is required'),
});

const MyForm = () => {
  const { register, handleSubmit, formState: { errors } } = useForm({
    resolver: yupResolver(validationSchema),
  });

  const onSubmit = (data) => {
    console.log(data);
  };

  return (
    <form onSubmit={handleSubmit(onSubmit)}>
      <div>
        <input
          type="text"
          placeholder="Username"
          {...register('username')}
        />
        {errors.username && <p>{errors.username.message}</p>}
      </div>
      <div>
        <input
          type="email"
          placeholder="Email"
          {...register('email')}
        />
        {errors.email && <p>{errors.email.message}</p>}
      </div>
      <button type="submit">Submit</button>
    </form>
  );
};

export default MyForm;

Pros of React Hook Form:

High performance due to minimal re-renders.
Uncontrolled components by default for better performance.
Smaller bundle size compared to Formik.
Flexible and easy to integrate with other libraries.
Simple to use with less boilerplate code.

Cons of React Hook Form:

Requires understanding of uncontrolled components.
Some form handling patterns can be unintuitive for developers used to Formik’s API.
Less built-in support for managing complex form components or validation.

Formik vs React Hook Form

Feature	Formik	React Hook Form
API	Higher level, more verbose	Hook-based, more concise
Performance	Can re-render on form state changes	Minimal re-renders, better performance
Validation	Built-in support with Yup	Built-in support with Yup, custom validations
Uncontrolled Components	Supported, but less emphasized	Uses uncontrolled components by default
Ease of Use	Great for complex forms	Great for simple and fast forms
Bundle Size	Larger due to higher abstraction	Smaller and more lightweight

When to Use Formik:

When you have complex forms with multiple fields and complex validation.
When you need field-level validation or extensive customization for form behavior.
When building large-scale applications where the form logic needs to be highly flexible.

When to Use React Hook Form:

When performance is a priority, especially in applications with large numbers of forms.
When you prefer to work with uncontrolled components.
When you need a lightweight solution for handling forms with minimal boilerplate code.

Conclusion

Both Formik and React Hook Form are excellent tools for handling forms in React applications. Formik is ideal for more complex forms, providing a more feature-rich API for validation and form state management. React Hook Form, on the other hand, is simpler, more lightweight, and focuses on high performance by using uncontrolled components.

The best choice between the two depends on the specific needs of your project. If you need simplicity, high performance, and smaller bundle sizes, React Hook Form is a solid choice. If you require more advanced features like field-level validation and deeper customization, Formik might be a better fit.

DEV Community