Intermediate 15 min read

Before-Save vs. After-Save Flows

By the end of this lesson, you'll be able to:

  • Explain the performance and capability differences between before-save and after-save Flows
  • Choose before-save or after-save for a given automation requirement

Prerequisites: Flow Elements: Decisions, Assignments, and Loops

Before-save: fast, but limited to the triggering record

A before-save Flow's field updates on the record being saved happen in memory, before the save completes — no extra DML statement needed, making it noticeably faster and more governor-limit-friendly than the equivalent after-save update. But it cannot create or update other records, send emails, or call Apex actions.

After-save: more capable, but a second save

An after-save Flow runs once the triggering record has already been committed, and can do everything before-save can't — update related records, send emails, invoke Apex actions, create new records — at the cost of a second, separate DML operation.

Choosing between before-save and after-save

Rule of thumb:
- Updating a field on the SAME record being saved -> before-save Flow
- Updating a DIFFERENT record, sending an email, or calling Apex -> after-save Flow

This one distinction — same record only, versus anything else — is almost always enough to choose correctly between before-save and after-save.

Exercise

An automation needs to set a Contact's Full_Name__c field by combining FirstName and LastName every time the Contact is saved. Before-save or after-save, and why?

Show hint

Think about whether this only touches the record currently being saved.

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Before-Save vs. After-Save Flows — Quick Check

1. Why is a before-save Flow generally faster than an equivalent after-save Flow?

2. A before-save Flow can send an email as part of its actions.

3. Which scenario requires an after-save Flow?

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Summary

A before-save Flow updates fields on the triggering record directly, without a second database write, making it the fastest option — but it can't touch related records, send emails, or perform DML on other objects, which is what after-save Flows are for.

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