According to different equipment, die forging is divided into hammer die forging, crank press die forging, flat forging machine die forging, friction press die forging, etc. The equipment used for die forging on the hammer is a die forging hammer, usually an air die forging hammer. For forgings with complex shapes, they are initially formed in the billet die cavity, and then forged in the forging die cavity. Classified according to the structure of the forging die: the forging die with a burr groove that accommodates excess metal is called open die forging; on the contrary, the forging die that does not have a burr fly groove to accommodate excess metal is called closed die forging. It is directly formed from the original billet, which is called single die forging. For forgings with complex shapes, the same forging die needs to be preformed in several steps, which is called multi-die die forging.

Precision die forging is developed on the basis of die forging, and can forge some parts with complex shapes and high dimensional accuracy, such as bevel gears, blades, aviation parts, etc.