Workflow Rules vs Process Builder vs Flow: Which Replaces Which

Hey friends,

Flow Builder replaces both Workflow Rules and Process Builder. Salesforce stopped supporting the two older tools as of December 31, 2025: active rules and processes still run, but there is no customer support or bug fixing for them, so Salesforce recommends migrating them to Flow. A workflow rule or a process usually becomes a record-triggered flow, and the Migrate to Flow tool can convert many of them. That summary comes from Salesforce's Workflow Rules and Process Builder End of Support article and Trailhead's Improving Salesforce Automation project, both of which I read on October 28, 2026. I mark my own opinions as mine.

I didn't open the Workflow Rules, Process Builder or Migrate to Flow pages in my Developer Edition org, and I migrated nothing, so this post has no screenshots of them. The one screen I show is the Flows page. For the bigger picture of which tool to use for what, read my Salesforce automation explained post first.

The short answer

For the third row, Trailhead's Enhance Business Processes with Salesforce Automation unit says a platform event-triggered flow runs when a platform event message is received, and an autolaunched flow can be run by other automations. Those are the flow types I would look at first. That mapping is my reading.

One caution on wording. Trailhead's migration project says both older tools are "now disabled". The Help article says active ones continue to run as before. I read the two together as: don't plan new work on them, and don't assume the old ones have stopped. Check what is active in your own org.

Why Salesforce moved everything to Flow

Help says Salesforce wants to focus development on a modern, extensible, low-code automation solution, and that Flow Builder is that solution. The Trailhead project gives five reasons to move, which I've shortened:

• Flow Builder's new functionality makes it the main automation tool in Salesforce.
• Configurable entry conditions let a flow run only when certain conditions are met, which Trailhead says dramatically improves performance.
• The Fast Field Updates option makes flows run almost 10 times faster than workflow rules and processes, according to Trailhead.
• Flows are easier to maintain, troubleshoot and debug, and having all your automation in one tool makes it easier to find issues.
• Flow Trigger Explorer helps you control the order in which record-triggered flows run.

The "10 times" figure is Salesforce's claim, and I haven't measured it.

How to find what you have

Help gives two paths in Setup:

• Workflow Rules: go to Setup, then Process Automation, then Workflow Rules, and sort the Active column for checkmarks.
• Process Builder: go to Setup, then Process Automation, then Process Builder, and sort the Status column for Active.

Those are Help's instructions, not something I ran in my org.

What Migrate to Flow can and can't move

Help says Salesforce provides a Migrate to Flow tool and extensive support resources, and that a migration may take a significant amount of time and testing. Trailhead adds the details.

Workflow rules. If a rule you're looking for isn't listed on the Migrate to Flow page, Trailhead says it may contain something the tool doesn't support, such as:

• Criteria with no defined workflow actions, or global variable fields
• Fields on related records, or object record types
• The Does Not Contain, Includes, Excludes or Within operator
• The Greater Than, Greater Than or Equal, Less Than or Less Than or Equal operator on a picklist field
• Formulas that use HOUR, MINUTE, SECOND, TIMENOW, TIMEVALUE, ISCLONE or $RecordType
• Task workflow actions
• Relative date values, such as Last 7 Days or Tomorrow, in date fields
• Multiple currencies

Processes. Trailhead says the tool supports processes that start when a record changes, with the actions record update, record create, invoke flow, invoke Apex and email alert. It doesn't support processes that start when a platform event message is received or when invoked by another process, scheduled actions, or field traversals. Partial migration now works for most actions, except invocable actions, and the results show which actions need more setup in Flow Builder.

Two behaviors worth knowing from the same page:

• Processes with recursion (the record can be evaluated up to six times in one save) aren't fully supported. A migrated process with recursion evaluates the record only once, so test it.
• Workflow rules and flows run with different timing, so a record-triggered flow can behave differently from a similar workflow rule. Trailhead says to give flows a priority value in Flow Trigger Explorer to guarantee the order.

Here is the Flows page in my org, where Flow Trigger Explorer lives:

Setup > Process Automation > Flows: Flow Trigger Explorer and New Flow.

1. Flow Trigger Explorer. The button at the top right of the Flows page. This is the tool Trailhead names for controlling the order of record-triggered flows.
2. New Flow. Starts a new flow. Below the buttons the page lists flow definitions with their Process Type, Active status and Package State.

A safe order for the move

Trailhead says to build and test in a sandbox or scratch org, and never to debug flows in production with live data. Building on that, here is the order I would follow. The order is my suggestion, and the facts in each step come from the sources above:

1. List what is active, using the Setup paths above.
2. Decide what to retire. My opinion: an automation nobody can explain is a better candidate to remove than to migrate.
3. Check each item against the lists of unsupported features. Plan to rebuild by hand whatever the tool can't move.
4. Migrate or rebuild in a sandbox or scratch org, and test.
5. Set the order of record-triggered flows in Flow Trigger Explorer.
6. Before you go live, make sure the old automation and the new flow aren't both doing the same job. Salesforce's pages I read don't walk through this step, so check your own org's behavior.

Mistakes to avoid

• Assuming retired means gone. Active rules and processes keep running, so your org may still depend on them.
• Assuming the tool moves everything. It doesn't. Trailhead lists what it can't handle.
• Skipping the sandbox. Trailhead says to test flows there and never to debug in production with live data.
• Ignoring the order. Flows can behave differently from similar workflow rules, so set priority in Flow Trigger Explorer.
• Following old advice. Advice written before the retirement may recommend tools that are now unsupported. Check the date.

FAQ

What replaces Workflow Rules and Process Builder?

Flow Builder. Salesforce retired the two older tools as of December 31, 2025 and recommends migrating to Flow.

Do Workflow Rules and Process Builder still work?

Salesforce says active ones continue to run as before, but it no longer provides customer support or bug fixes for them.

What does the Migrate to Flow tool do?

It converts supported workflow rules and processes into flows. Some features aren't supported, so those need to be rebuilt in Flow Builder.

Which flow type replaces a workflow rule or process?

Usually a record-triggered flow. Trailhead says a rule with only field updates on the triggering record is migrated with the Fast Field Updates optimization setting.

Can the tool migrate a process started by a platform event?

No. Trailhead lists processes started by a platform event message or invoked by another process as unsupported.

How do I find my active workflow rules and processes?

In Setup, open Process Automation and then Workflow Rules (sort Active) or Process Builder (sort Status). That comes from Salesforce Help.

How do I control the order flows run in?

Trailhead says to assign a priority value to record-triggered flows using Flow Trigger Explorer.

Where to go next

• Salesforce automation explained: which tool to use for what.
• What is Salesforce Flow?: the plain-English start.
• Salesforce Flow Builder: the canvas, elements and resources.
• Salesforce flow types explained: the flow types you can build.
• Flow best practices: build flows that last.
• Apex vs Flow: code or clicks.
• Is there a Salesforce Flow certification?: which exams prove your Flow skills.
• Administrator certification study guide: automation is an exam topic.
• Salesforce Admin certification: cost, exam format and study plan.
• Is the Admin certification worth it?: how to decide.
• Salesforce certification: how it works: where the exams fit.
• To practice automation questions for free, try the free Admin Cert Lab.

Hope this helps!

Best,

Nick