Quick answer
How to decide
1
Is a person filling something in?
If the automation is really data capture — a person answering questions across
multiple screens — you want a form wizard, not a workflow. If the person is
being guided through a process that touches real module records (hiring an
employee, closing the books), use that module’s wizard.
2
Is it one trigger and one or two actions?
“When X happens, do Y” is an automation: form submitted → send email,
record created → assign a task. Automations are the simplest tool and the
right default. If you find yourself wanting branches, waits, or more than a
few actions, step up to a workflow.
3
Does anyone need to approve anything?
A linear sign-off sequence (“submitter → manager → director”) is an
approval chain — don’t rebuild approvals inside a workflow. Conditional
routing (“over $10k adds a VP step”) is configured with
approval routing rules.
4
Everything else is a workflow.
Multi-step, conditional, long-running, or cross-module logic belongs in the
Workflow Builder — including anything that should run on a schedule
(attach a workflow schedule).
Rules of thumb
- Start with the simplest tool that works. An automation you can read at a glance beats a workflow with two nodes.
- Reuse before building. Check the template marketplace and workflow examples first; most common patterns already exist.
- Approvals are their own thing. If the word “sign-off” appears in your requirement, reach for approval chains before anything else.
- Watch what you built. Workflow and automation runs surface in Workflow Analytics and the Automations run history; failures land in the dead-letter queue your admin can replay.
Building these yourself requires Forms & Workflow permissions for your role.
Developers comparing the underlying engines should use the decision guides in
the Engineering tab instead (Workflow / Wizard / Template Selection).