Which Automation Tool do I use in Salesforce?

Depending on the Salesforce version (Lightening and Classic), salesforce provides multiple automation tools to automate organization's repetitive business processes such as Approvals, Workflows, Process Builder and Flow Builder.

Let's first understand what are the features of these automation tools and the use cases for using these tools.

	PROCESS BUILDER	FLOW BUILDER	WORKFLOW	APPROVALS
Complexity	Multiple if/then statements	Complex	A single if/then statement	A single if/then statement
Visual designer
Starts when	Record is changed Invoked by another process Platform event message is received	User clicks button or link User accesses Lightning page, Experience Cloud site page, Visualforce page, or custom tab User accesses item in a utility bar Process starts Apex is called	Record is changed	User clicks button or link Process or flow starts that includes a Submit for Approval action Apex is called
Supports time-based actions
Supports user interaction
Supported Actions
Call Apex code
Create records			Tasks only	Tasks only
Invoke processes
Delete records
Launch a flow			(Pilot)1
Post to Chatter
Send email	(Email alerts only)		(Email alerts only)	(Email alerts only)
Send custom notification
Send outbound messages without code
Submit for approval
Update fields	Any related record	Any record	The record or its parent	The record or its parent

Updates from DreamForce 2021:

During Dreamforce 2021, Salesforce has announced that Workflow and Process Builder will be retired. Patrick Stokes (the PM responsible for retiring these tools) explained that there would be a formal end-of-life roadmap, governed by an end-of-life council. 

So, what does this mean to developers? Well, there is no need to panic as this will retirement process will be gradual over a course of few years and nothing is removed immediately. However, Salesforce have now proposed an alternate "Flows".

What is a Flow?

Flow is a capable of collecting data and performing actions in your salesforce.org or an external system. Salesforce Flow provides two types of flows:

• Screen Flow - A screen flow requires user interaction because it includes screens, local actions, dynamic choices and steps. Screen flows don't support 'Pause' elements.

• Auto Launched Flow - Auto Launched flow could be combined with a scheduled trigger or a record trigger. An auto launched flows does not require user interaction and supports elements such as Assignment, Decision, Get Records and Loops. 

• Auto launched flow with schedule trigger runs only at a scheduled time and frequency.

• Auto launched flow with record trigger makes before-save changes to the new or changed record that launches the flow. This flow runs only when a record is created or updated.

• The following are the other flow types supported in the Flow Builder:

Flow Type	Description	Distribution Methods
User Provisioning Flow	Provisions used for third party services. For example, use this flow type to customize the user provisioning configuration for a connected app to link Salesforce users with their Google Apps accounts.	A user provisioning flow can only be implemented by associating it with a connected app when running the User Provisioning Wizard.
Field Service Mobile Flow	Requires user interaction because it has one or more screens.	Field Service mobile app
Field Service Embedded Flow	Requires user interaction because it has one or more screens.	Embedded Appointment Booking
Contact Request Flow	Requires user interaction because it has one or more screens.	Use one of these Experience Builder components to add this flow. Contact Request Button & Flow—launch the flow in a window Flow—embed the flow directly on the page
Checkout Flow	Used in Lightning B2B Commerce to create a checkout for your store. Requires user interaction because it has one or more screens.	Use the following Experience Builder component to add this flow to your store. Checkout
Orchestrator (Beta)	Used by Flow Orchestrator to create an orchestration. An orchestration is a series of stages made up of steps. Interactive steps contain a screen flow and require user interaction. Background steps contain an autolaunched flow and don’t require user interaction.	Autolaunched orchestrations Custom Apex classes Custom buttons or custom links Record-triggered orchestrations run only when a record is created or updated.
Loyalty Management Flow	Used to create flows that are triggered by loyalty program processes. Doesn’t require user interaction. This flow type doesn’t support screens, local actions, choices, or choice sets.	Loyalty Management app

Note that not all flow types currently supported in the Process Builder will be supported in the new Flow Builder. Read the next article to know more.