Say Goodbye to Workflow Rules and Process Builder—Flow Builder Is Here to Stay

If you've worked in Salesforce for any length of time, chances are you've built (or inherited) some Workflow Rules or Process Builders. They've been around forever, right? However, times are changing, and Salesforce is officially retiring both.

Let's talk about what that means, why it's happening, and how to get ahead of the curve. 

Spoiler alert: Flow Builder is the Future, and that's actually a good thing.

What’s Going On?

Here’s the scoop: Salesforce has been gradually phasing out Workflow Rules and Process Builder to make way for Flow Builder, their all-in-one automation tool. And this isn’t some far-off roadmap—it’s already in motion. 

Hopefully, this isn’t a complete surprise, because the writing has been on the wall for a while. Looking back, you haven’t been able to create new Workflow Rules since October ‘22 (Winter ‘23 release), and as of June ‘23 (Summer ‘23 release), Process Builder was also disabled for new creation. 

But the big headline? Salesforce will officially end all support and maintenance for both tools on December 31, 2025.

If that deadline caught you off guard, don’t panic! Your existing automations will continue working in January 2026. But if something breaks after that? You’re on your own—no bug fixes or assistance from Salesforce.

Why the Change?

Workflow Rules and Process Builder were great tools in their day, but they’ve hit their limits. Here’s why it’s time to move on: 

• Redundancy: The two tools overlap a lot, which is confusing.
• Scalability issues: They don’t always handle large data volumes or bulk operations well.
• Limited logic: More advanced automation often meant resorting to Apex code.

That’s where Flow Builder comes in. It’s not just a replacement, it's a complete upgrade. It's more powerful, more flexible, and designed to handle everything you used to do with Workflow Rules and Process Builder—plus a lot more. And remember, this isn’t about saying goodbye; it's about embracing a better way of doing things.

Why Flow Builder Rocks

Think of Flow Builder as Salesforce’s new Swiss Army knife for automation, meaning it’s got a handle full of new features that will make your life easier, including:

• Record-Triggered Flows: You can build flows that trigger automatically when records change, just like workflows and processes used to, but way more powerful.
• Scheduled Paths: They’re kind of like scheduled actions, but better.
• Subflows: You can reuse logic across different processes, which keeps things clean and modular.
• Advanced Logic Support: You can use formulas like ISCHANGED and PRIORVALUE, fast field updates, and Flow Trigger Explorer for easier, more visual management.
• Debugging Tools: Now you can see exactly what ran, what didn’t, and why—so much better.

Long story short: Flow gives you more power, control, and visibility than any tool before.

What About All My Existing Automations?

Good question. Salesforce has a handy Migrate to Flow tool that helps you convert Workflow Rules and Process Builders into flows. It won’t magically clean everything up, but it’s a great start.

Just know it’s a one-to-one conversion—super helpful as a starting point—but if you’ve got a bunch of overlapping logic or duplicate processes, you’ll still need to tidy that up manually. So if your org’s a bit tangled, now’s the ideal time for a bit of spring cleaning.

What You Should Be Doing Right Now

Here’s your game plan:

1. Audit What You’ve Got: Start by figuring out how many Workflow Rules and Process Builders are still hanging around in your org.
2. Use the Migration Tool: Let Salesforce do the heavy lifting on the initial conversion.
3. Test, Test, Test: Flows are more powerful but can be tricky because they’re more complex. Use a sandbox and Salesforce’s visual debugger to make sure everything works the way it should.
4. Brush Up Your Skills: Haven’t used Flow yet? Trailhead is chock-full of learning paths, and there’s a huge community of Flow experts sharing tips and templates.
5. Check Your Managed Packages: Some automations might be baked into third-party apps. If that’s the case, reach out to the vendors because they’ll need to migrate those, too.
6. Start Now: December 2025 may seem far off, but trust me, don’t wait. Getting the ball rolling means you won’t have to scramble at the year's end.

Flow Builder Isn’t Just a Replacement—It’s an Upgrade

Yes, change can be annoying. But in this case? It’s one worth making. Flow Builder offers a smarter, faster, and more maintainable way to automate Salesforce. It’s what your future processes deserve.

Need a hand figuring out where to begin? That’s exactly what we do at Dynamic Specialties Group—from automation audits to logical Flow-first design—we're here to help Salesforce teams build for what’s next.

You're not alone in this transition. Ready to stop patching up old automations and start building better ones?

Let’s Flow together.