HTML.ActionLink vs Url.Action in ASP.NET Razor

Is there any difference between HTML.ActionLink vs Url.Action or they are just two ways of doing the same thing?

When should I prefer one over the other?

Yes, there is a difference. Html.ActionLink generates an <a href=".."></a> tag whereas Url.Action returns only an url.

For example:

@Html.ActionLink("link text", "someaction", "somecontroller", new { id = "123" }, null)

generates:

<a href="/somecontroller/someaction/123">link text</a>

and Url.Action("someaction", "somecontroller", new { id = "123" }) generates:

/somecontroller/someaction/123

There is also Html.Action which executes a child controller action.

Html.ActionLink generates an <a href=".."></a> tag automatically.

Url.Action generates only an url.

For example:

@Html.ActionLink("link text", "actionName", "controllerName", new { id = "<id>" }, null)

generates:

<a href="/controllerName/actionName/<id>">link text</a>

and

@Url.Action("actionName", "controllerName", new { id = "<id>" }) 

generates:

/controllerName/actionName/<id>

Best plus point which I like is using Url.Action(...)

You are creating anchor tag by your own where you can set your own linked text easily even with some other html tag.

<a href="@Url.Action("actionName", "controllerName", new { id = "<id>" })">

   <img src="<ImageUrl>" style"width:<somewidth>;height:<someheight> />
   
   @Html.DisplayFor(model => model.<SomeModelField>)
</a>

@HTML.ActionLink generates a HTML anchor tag. While @Url.Action generates a URL for you. You can easily understand it by;

// 1. <a href="/ControllerName/ActionMethod">Item Definition</a>
@HTML.ActionLink("Item Definition", "ActionMethod", "ControllerName")

// 2. /ControllerName/ActionMethod
@Url.Action("ActionMethod", "ControllerName")

// 3. <a href="/ControllerName/ActionMethod">Item Definition</a>
<a href="@Url.Action("ActionMethod", "ControllerName")"> Item Definition</a>

Both of these approaches are different and it totally depends upon your need.

<p>
    @Html.ActionLink("Create New", "Create")
</p>
@using (Html.BeginForm("Index", "Company", FormMethod.Get))
{
    <p>
        Find by Name: @Html.TextBox("SearchString", ViewBag.CurrentFilter as string)
        <input type="submit" value="Search" />
        <input type="button" value="Clear" onclick="location.href='@Url.Action("Index","Company")'"/>
    </p>
}

In the above example you can see that If I specifically need a button to do some action, I have to do it with @Url.Action whereas if I just want a link I will use @Html.ActionLink. The point is when you have to use some element(HTML) with action url is used.

You can easily present Html.ActionLink as a button by using the appropriate CSS style. For example:

@Html.ActionLink("Save", "ActionMethod", "Controller", new { @class = "btn btn-primary" })

I used the code below to create a Button and it worked for me.

<input type="button" value="PDF" onclick="location.href='@Url.Action("Export","tblOrder")'"/>