# AngularJS has reached end of life: what should you do now?

URL: https://mechaneforge.tech/blog/angularjs-end-of-life-what-to-do/
Published: 2026-10-15
By: Mechane Forge

> AngularJS (version 1.x) ended long-term support on 31 December 2021, so it receives no official fixes. Your options are to migrate incrementally to Angular, rewrite in React or Vue, or buy third-party extended support as a stopgap. For most business apps, an incremental migration with tests is the safest path.

AngularJS, the original Angular framework from 2010, entered its end-of-life on 31 December 2021. Apps built on it still run, but they no longer get official security updates, and the ecosystem around them keeps shrinking.


## What are your options?

- Migrate to Angular incrementally. The framework provides upgrade tooling that lets AngularJS and Angular run in the same app while you move screen by screen.
- Rewrite in React, Vue or another framework. Best when the UI needs a redesign anyway, or your team already uses that framework.
- Buy extended support. Some commercial vendors sell security patches for AngularJS. It buys time, but it is not a destination.
- Do nothing, knowingly. Acceptable only for low-risk, internal, isolated apps, with the risk written down.


## How do you choose?

| Situation | Likely best option |
|---|---|
| Large app, team knows Angular | Incremental migration to Angular |
| UI needs redesign anyway | Rewrite in React or Vue, piece by piece |
| Need time to plan | Extended support as a bridge, with a dated exit |
| Small internal tool | Rewrite; it is often quicker than migrating |


## What does a safe plan look like?

1. Inventory routes, components, directives and third-party packages.
2. Write end-to-end tests for the critical user journeys.
3. Introduce the new framework alongside the old, with a shared shell or a reverse proxy.
4. Migrate one slice at a time, starting with the least risky, and release continuously.
5. Retire AngularJS only when nothing depends on it.

This is the strangler-fig approach we use on [legacy modernization](https://mechaneforge.tech/services/legacy-modernization) projects, and the same ideas apply to other ageing front ends.