The parts of a workflow
- Trigger: the event that starts it, such as a new Shopify order.
- Actions: the steps that follow, such as adding a row to a sheet.
- Logic: conditions and filters, such as "only if the order is COD".
An example
When a student fills in a registration form, a workflow can save the entry to Google Sheets, send a WhatsApp or email confirmation, notify the team and add a follow-up task for the next day. Nobody has to copy anything by hand.
How tools measure usage
Automation tools charge in different ways. n8n counts an execution as one run of a whole workflow, however many steps it has (n8n pricing). Zapier counts tasks per action that runs (Zapier Help). The same workflow can cost very different amounts depending on the tool, so compare before you build.
When a workflow also uses a language model to read, sort or write, people call it AI automation.