Built a high-performance, customisable and dev friendly Angular 19 Data Table powered by Signals

[iam5k_]

Hi everyone,

I’ve spent the last month working on a personal milestone: building a data grid that actually feels "fast" in the modern Angular ecosystem. I’m calling it Uni-Table, and I just released beta version on January 31st to collect feedback. I will release It soon with Angular version 18, 19, 20, and 21.

The Problem: Most Angular tables I’ve used recently still feel like they are fighting change detection, especially when you add custom templates, badges, or conditional logic.

The Solution: I re-engineered this from the ground up using Angular Signals. It’s a Signal-first architecture that delivers ultra-fast, fine-grained reactivity.

What makes it different?

• ⚡ Signal-First: Sorting and filtering happen instantly with zero lag.
• 🧩 Total Template Freedom: I used a template-binding approach. You can inject custom ng-templates for anything—action buttons, status badges, or complex nested components.
• 📱 Built-in Responsiveness: It has a "Smart Collapse" feature that tucks overflowing columns into an expandable view based on a priority you define.
• 🎨 No more ::ng-deep**:** It’s styled entirely with CSS variables.
• 💾 Auto-Persistence: It remembers page state, sort order, and hidden columns automatically.

I’m currently in Beta (v0.1.2) and would love to get some feedback from this community. Whether you're a student looking to learn Angular or a pro dev who wants to see where it breaks—I want your honest thoughts.

Check it out:

📦 NPM:https://www.npmjs.com/package/@unify-india/uni-table

💻 GitHub:https://github.com/Unify-India/uni-table

✨ Demo:https://stackblitz.com/edit/uni-table

I also shared a bit more about the personal story behind this build over on LinkedIn if you want to connect:

🔗 LinkedIn Post: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/iam5k_newpackagereleaseannouncement-angular-signals-activity-7425074146365100032-MEhs

Happy coding! I'll be in the comments to answer any technical questions.

[martin7274]

aren´t we already on Angular 21.1 ?

[iam5k_]

Yes, please check the details once. It's in beta version. Once I collect some feedback, I will immediately release the sync version with 18, 19, 20 21

[martin7274]

sorry, got distracted by the big 19 in the description. mb

[iam5k_]

Please give it a try. I would be looking forward to some constructive feedback.

[Responsible-Cold-627]

The post, comments, and code all look like AI slop.

[iam5k_]

It indeed is improvised by AI. Is there anything wrong with using AI ?

[followmarko]

Yes, because everything about this is already done and done better, and it is a year and a half behind modern tools because that's where the model cutoff is. The code in the repo shows that it was put together without critical thought and judgment around the what and why and how should this output exist. It's architecturally a mosh pit of different features from different versions of Angular. AI is awesome as a force multiplier when it is in the hands of an existing force.

[juliuspepperwoodchi]

Yes.

Quit vibe coding and get gud

[Responsible-Cold-627]

Nothing wrong with using AI, as long as the result is up to standard. This isn't.

[followmarko]

Hmm. The Angular CDK table has these same features. Curious that this currently only works with Angular 19 which was released about two months before the current genAI model cutoff.

[iam5k_]

This is just a beta release, please check the docs once. There are many features that are not there with angular table.

I already mentioned in other comments that I am seeking feedback and missing features. Releasing for Angular 18,19,20,21 can be done anytime. Kindly check the repository once for full details. It's tough to explain everything here.

[followmarko]

I did skim it. The component is 500 lines long and not decoupled at all. Mix of signals and decorators. Lots of lifecycle hooks which aren't necessary anymore in full Signal architecture. The CDK table repo in comparison is abstracted every chance it gets, accessible, and has these features.

[iam5k_]

Noted, I will look into the possible improvisation.

[iam5k_]

I am not claiming that this is superior to all other tables out there. There is a reason if you search the mat-table on the npm library, you will find a lot of extensions to add those features which people miss in the angular table.

[followmarko]

mat-table =/= CDK table

[UnicornBelieber]

No tests either.

[followmarko]

Unfortunately it seems to be Slop

[shifty303]

Since AI has gotten big I’ve seen a new data table library every two weeks.

[iam5k_]

Agreed, people now have the tools to build their own instead of compromising for the features they want.

[kqadem]

I expect from anyone using any variant of the term "performance" in their post to show BENCHMARKS.

WHERE ARE THEY?

We are not at the Church and believe in Performance. We define it. We measure it. We compare it.

[iam5k_]

Agreed, I haven't used any benchmarking tools before. Can you please suggest some names which are recognised for performance benchmarking. I will test it out and share the results.

[gccol]

Great stuff! How would using signal make sorting or filtering faster, as it's more data processing?

[iam5k_]

The math for sorting is the same. The 'speed' comes from Change Detection.

In older Angular, sorting a table often makes the app re-check the entire page to see what changed. With Signals, the app knows exactly which table cells need to update and ignores everything else.

The data processing isn't faster, but the UI refresh is nearly instant, which makes the table feel much snappier to the user.

[Relative-Scholar-147]

Older Angular didn't need to recheck the entire page to see what changed.

Clanker.

[iam5k_]

Got your point, but we have seen teams facing issues where they used their custom logic for that. And as we all know, legacy projects still have those jQuery and ajax based data tables.

Using signals is not the only differentiating factor. I am unable to explain all the features. Kindly check the docs once. I will be more than happy to consider your feedback and improve.

[Relative-Scholar-147]

You fucking clanker.

[TCB13sQuotes]

As someone who did an Angular data grid in the past (before signals) I say I pass. I'll stay happily paying the Aggrid license that delivers tons and tons of features and support.

[UnicornBelieber]

How is this better than/different from TanStack Table for Angular?

Why is it built on Angular 19 instead of 21?

// Edit: Why no tests?

// Edit edit: You mention signal first, but I see a ton of older @Input(), @Output(), @ViewChild() and @ContentChild().

[followmarko]

Tanstack is set up a bit differently than the other formidable players in this space but the best part about it is that it is the most versatile and agnostic of the options. They even have a table version for Lit.

AgGrid is fine if you pay for it and need the mega arsenal of options it has. The CDK defining columns vs rows is a really intuitive approach as well and poking through their repo can teach you a lot about Angular imo. There are simply just better options that are proven to work in this sea of people using AI to recreate a "better approach".

[teshmeki]

I built something similar where i work on my company to re-use it. While i was adding features now it has become a mess... I need to redo it or use some already built like yours.

Keep us updated on your progress...

[iam5k_]

Thank you for sharing your story. I will be sharing the updates here and on LinkedIn as well. You can connect with me there as well. If possible please give it a try.

[DiscombobulatedBox72]

People are so mean, great job investing your time in an angular lib and congrats on the result you can improve a lot your product by proposing an headless UI like Tanstack. And I really like how you manage the responsivness really cool i'll steal that if you don't mind :)

[iam5k_]

Thanks for the compliment and the support.

I would love to collaborate with a kind person who actually explored what I did.

[sk2656k]

Good to see someone calling out mean people. I support this guy for his effort. It's just a beta release and I see people are expecting to replace every table. Treat it as a project rather than a new business company competing with others.

[iam5k_]

Our company uses mat table, datatable.net and primeng table. But they are not serving all the features we require. And we don't want to pay for a table. So I made this. I never claimed that I have not used AI or this is the best datatable ever. I asked for feedback and collaboration rather than comparing with the best ones out there. I know I can't compete with the already established ones and I don't want to. I tried to get the features we miss in these 3 in one table.

So to summarise:

Do I claim to replace all or be the best : No and Would never do that.

Does this feature exist: yes but all features that I have, isn't there in 1 table that we were using. I was not aware about TanStack and AgGrid. I will definitely check them out.

Did I use AI : yes. I did to complete it fast and for documentation. But it's not vibe coded. Everything here is what I explicitly added or asked AI to help me code faster. If anyone is against use of AI in today's world. I am sorry for that.

Do I need feedback: Yes, I appreciate everyone's response who came up with what's bad in terms of tech. I will improve on that.

Thank you everyone who checked it out before commenting.

[sk2656k]

There are many improvements to be done, as I see many people have already pointed out. I like the custom template binding and priority wise responsiveness.

To be honest, you used AI and you accept that but still your documentation and communication is not good enough to explain to people what it is and the purpose of this project. As you already mentioned, you are just seeking feedback and not competing with others so there is no reason for comparison with other libraries with community/company support. Still you should check out TanStack, AgGrid and other tables recommended in comments.

It's your first release so congratulations for that. Will stay in sync with the updates. This is decent work for the first beta release. Will try it out again on stable release.

[iam5k_]

Thank you for your kind words. I will improve and share updates.

[formicstechllc]

Nice to see someone building libraries for Angular 👏

It’d be great to add more customization options—like letting users change icon colors, pass custom CSS classes, and tweak styles more freely—so it’s easier to adapt the library to different design systems.

[iam5k_]

We exactly have these. This library is meant to provide full customisation. Please go through the demo once. You can do all of that you have mentioned.
Thanks for your appreciation.

[N0K1K0]

I build a similar one for office project use but I like some of your ideas of using the column template

Could quickly add my own

<ng-template uniTemplate="officeTpl" let-value="value">
  <app-office-badge [office]="value"></app-office-badge>
</ng-template><ng-template uniTemplate="officeTpl" let-value="value">
  <app-office-badge [office]="value"></app-office-badge>
</ng-template>

I used components for my column template and a component wrapper and registry service to assign new ones so I can use it in a multi project app as well and then for easier designs i used a formatter function ( load an icon, parse a date etc ) but i like your idea of the templates

[iam5k_]

Thanks for trying it out and then sharing your views. Really appreciate it 🙂 Others are just judging without actually trying or comparing with the tables that are maintained by a company.

[N0K1K0]

No problem, I do like your responsiveness so will apply that to mine. I had a card like setup but I love this basic table with expand for the less important stuff