When to use flows and playbooks

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated July 31, 2025
  • 2 minutes to read
    • Summarize
    Summarized using AI
    This content was generated using new OpenAI-powered functionality. Results are provided on an as is basis and are not guaranteed to be accurate or complete.

    Summary of When to use flows and playbooks

    This guidance helps ServiceNow customers decide when to use flows or playbooks to automate processes effectively. Both tools automate workflows but are suited to different scenarios based on user interaction, volume, and complexity.

    Show full answer Show less

    When to Use Flows

    • Automate processes with minimal or no manual user interaction: Flows run automatically once triggered and can pause until conditions are met, but they do not provide user interface elements for interaction. They rely on users to make changes through existing UI, such as updating records.
    • Handle high-volume executions efficiently: Flows are optimized to run hundreds or thousands of instances per second with minimal performance impact, especially when flow reporting is disabled.
    • Limit complexity with fewer subflows: Managing many subflows within flows can become cumbersome. While conditional logic can select subflows, flows are best when fewer subflows are involved.

    When to Use Playbooks

    • Support multiple manual user interactions: Playbooks provide built-in UI elements that guide users through required actions, making them ideal for processes needing frequent user input like checklists or feedback.
    • Operate at lower volumes: Because playbooks generate UI components and store detailed execution data, they consume more resources and are better suited for less frequent runs.
    • Manage workflows with many subflows: Playbooks offer a superior user experience when executing sequences of multiple subflows, simplifying complex automation paths involving various subprocesses.

    Use these general guidelines to determine when to create a flow or a playbook.

    When to use flows

    Flows, subflows, and actions are the basic building blocks of process automation. Flows run when their trigger conditions are met, and each flow in turn runs a sequence of actions, flow logic, and subflows. The actions, flow logic, and subflows within a flow are what create and update data.

    A flow is a good fit for process automations that met these criteria.
    Expect few to no manual user interactions
    As long as a flow has the input data it needs, it can run to completion without any user interaction. Some flow logic and actions require users to make record changes, but a flow can automatically pause until its wait conditions are met. Process automations that depend on user interactions such as reading a knowledge base article, going through a checklist, and gathering feedback are harder to manage with flows. Flows don't directly provide any UI elements for users to interact with. Flows depend on users knowing how to find an existing UI and making any needed changes. For example, a record-based flow depends on a user making a change in a specific record such as a case or an incident.
    Expect to run at high volumes
    An instance can run hundreds to thousands of flows per second. With flow reporting being disabled by default, an instance can run a high volume of flows before it sees any performance impact. If you expect to run a process automation at high volumes, a flow is a good fit over a playbook because it requires less overhead and system resources.
    Expect to run few to no subflows
    The more subflows a flow calls, the more difficult it becomes to manage from the flows interface. While you can use conditional flow logic or a decision table to choose a subflow to run, playbooks offer a better user experience for running a sequence of subflows.

    When to use playbooks

    Playbooks are built on activities, which use prebuilt flows, subflows, and actions as their building blocks.

    A playbook is a good fit for process automations that met these criteria.
    Expect several manual user interactions
    Playbooks provide UI elements for users to interact with. The playbook experience guides users to make any changes required to advance the playbook.
    Expect to run at low volumes
    Playbooks require more system resources to run because they generate UI elements and store more execution details.
    Expect to run many subflows
    Playbooks offer a better user experience for running a sequence of subflows.