React Hook Form and React Select serve fundamentally different purposes in the forms ecosystem. React Hook Form is a complete form state management library that handles validation, submission, and complex field arrays using React hooks and uncontrolled components. React Select is a specialized UI component library focused exclusively on creating feature-rich dropdown interfaces with search, multi-select, async loading, and extensive customization options.
This comparison matters because developers often encounter both tools when building forms, but they're not direct alternatives—they're complementary. React Hook Form targets developers managing complex form logic who want minimal re-renders and bundle impact. React Select serves developers needing polished, accessible select components that go beyond native HTML options. Understanding their distinct roles helps you decide whether you need one, both, or neither for your project.
Choose React Hook Form when you need to manage form state, validation, and submission logic for any form complexity beyond trivial cases. Its performance characteristics, small bundle size, and hook-based API make it the superior choice for overall form management. It's not just better than React Select for forms—it's the actual tool designed for the job. React Select doesn't compete in this space because it's not a form library.
Choose React Select only when you need advanced dropdown UI features that native HTML select elements cannot provide—searchable options, async loading, custom rendering, virtualization for large lists, or multi-select with chips. In practice, use both together: React Hook Form's Controller component wraps React Select to combine RHF's form management with React Select's UI capabilities. If you're building forms with standard inputs and only need basic selects, skip React Select entirely and use native elements with React Hook Form.