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Assuming that a Custom Directive:

  • define a custom tag or attribute that is expanded or replaced
  • can include Controller logic, if needed

and that the Directive can be of type Element 

<my-customdirective></my-customdirective>

or of type Attribute

<h4 my-customdirective></h4>

my question is WHEN and WHY I decide to use one rather than another?

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Quoted from the documentation:

When should I use an attribute versus an element? Use an element when you are creating a component that is in control of the template. The common case for this is when you are creating a Domain-Specific Language for parts of your template. Use an attribute when you are decorating an existing element with new functionality.

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Some points to consider:

  • Most of the time attributes is the best/most convenient option (it's not the default by chance).
  • Anything you can do with element-bound directives, you can do with attribute-bound as well.
  • Element-bound directives can be more descriptive/readable at times.
  • If you want your code to pass certain types of validation, you should use attributes.
  • Since you want to support IE8, keep in mind that custom tags have an extra overhead (more info), which hurts maintainability.

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