I’ve been using React Hook Form for a few years, and lately I keep wondering if it’s still the best choice.

My POV: for most small and medium forms, I think the plain HTML way is enough. Use the name attribute, read values with FormData, and validate with Zod. You write less code and keystrokes don’t cause re-renders.

For bigger forms (multi-step, dynamic fields, complex validation), a library still saves a lot of time, so I wouldn’t drop it completely.

Here’s the simple rule I follow now:

• Small form (login, contact): native HTML + Zod
• Big form (wizard, dynamic fields): React Hook Form

What do you use in your projects, and why? Curious to hear different opinions.

I have been thinking about this a lot lately. Most React content is about how to do things, but the decisions that really shape a project are the big early ones: architecture, state management, framework choice, rendering strategy.

And with React 19.x, the React Compiler, and Server Components all in the picture, a lot of us are now living with choices we made years ago.

So I’m curious about the experienced people here:

• What was the biggest React/architecture decision you made that you would reverse if you could?
• What did it cost you (time, performance, team confusion, rewrites)?
• What did you learn, and what would you pick today instead?