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Flow Zapier integrationAutomate Flow with Zapier.

The Flow Zapier integration gives you 3 triggers, 1 action and 0 searches. Zapier can notice a new task, a new project or a completed task in Flow and pass it on, and it can create a Flow task from anything that happens in another app.

See the 4 operations

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Overview

What the Flow Zapier integration actually does

Linking Flow to Zapier means your task manager talks to the rest of your tools without anyone copying tasks by hand. Zapier is the tool that chains apps together. Here, it watches Flow for new and finished work, and it can drop new tasks into Flow when something happens elsewhere.

Three results cover most needs. A client or a manager told when work is done: Completed Task picks up each ticked-off task and passes it to an email, a Slack message or a report. Requests that turn into tasks: Create Task adds a task in the right team each time a form is filled or a ticket is opened. A project log that keeps itself: New Project and New Task feed a sheet or a calendar, so nobody has to remember to update it.

What Zapier does not do with Flow matters too. There is no search, so a Zap cannot look up an existing task or project before acting. There is no step to edit, move or delete a task: one action, creation, and that is all. And none of the three triggers is instant. Zapier checks Flow on a timer, every 15 minutes on the free plan, so a finished task can take that long to show up.

The same app is covered on other platforms: see the Flow n8n integration and the Flow Make integration.

Vocabulary

Zapier vocabulary in one minute

Seven words come back on every Zapier page. Here they are in plain English, once.

Zap
The automation you build: one event that starts it, then one or more steps that run each time that event happens.
Trigger
The event in an app that starts the Zap. With Flow: a new task, a new project or a task marked as done.
Action
What the Zap does once it has started: the step that writes, sends or moves something on your behalf.
Task
The unit Zapier bills, not to be confused with a Flow task. One Zapier task is one action that completes.
Polling vs instant
A polling trigger is checked by Zapier on a timer. An instant one is pushed by the app the moment the event happens.
Filter
A step that lets the Zap go on only when what arrived meets your condition, and stops it quietly otherwise.
Multi-step Zap
Any Zap beyond one trigger and one action. A second action, a filter or a search makes one, and it needs a paid plan.
Cost

What a Flow Zap really costs

Flow is not a premium app, so it works from the free plan. Watch the word "task": it means two things here.

  • Premium appNo, available on the free plan
  • Free plan100 tasks a month, two-step Zaps
  • BilledEach successful action, one task each
  • Not billedThe trigger, the checks, failed actions

In Zapier, a task is a billed action, not a Flow to-do. The trigger never costs one, and neither do the checks Zapier runs on Flow. Each action that succeeds counts once; a failed one is free. The free plan gives 100 tasks a month and two-step Zaps, so one Flow trigger and one action fit. Add a filter, to keep only some tasks, and the Zap becomes multi-step, which needs a paid plan. All three Flow triggers are polling ones, so the grid below sets how fast they react.

Connect

Connect Flow to Zapier in three steps

  1. 01

    Open your connections

    In Zapier, go to the Apps page of your account and click + Add connection. A connection is your Flow account linked once, then reused by every Flow step in every Zap.

  2. 02

    Pick Flow

    Type Flow in the dialog's search box, select it from the list, then click Add connection. A new tab opens on the Flow side so you can sign in to your account.

  3. 03

    Sign in and allow access

    Log in to Flow and grant Zapier access. Use an account that can see the teams and projects you want to automate; anything you do not own needs read or write access.

First Zap

Your first Zap: finished work hands over to the next team

GoalWhen a task that meets your condition is completed in Flow, Zapier creates the follow-up task in the team that takes over.

  1. 01

    Create the Zap

    In Zapier, start a new Zap and pick Flow with Completed Task as the event that starts it. Choose the Flow connection you made earlier.

  2. 02

    Test with a real task

    Test the trigger. Zapier brings back the three most recent completed tasks of the connected account, so you map fields on real work rather than a blank sample.

  3. 03

    Keep the right tasks

    Add a Filter and set a field from the completed task, a rule and a value. Tasks that do not match stop there. The filter makes this a multi-step Zap, so it needs a paid plan.

  4. 04

    Create the follow-up

    Add Flow again with Create Task. Write a clear Task Name using what the trigger brought back, and pick the Team that takes over.

  5. 05

    Test and publish

    Run each step once and open the new task in Flow. When it looks right, click Publish. Expect up to the plan's interval between the tick and the new task.

Triggers

Flow triggers in Zapier

3 events start a Zap when something happens in Flow. Zapier checks for them at the interval your plan allows.

1

Completed Task

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a task is completed.”

Picks up each task someone marks as done in Flow and hands it to the next step. It is the trigger for anything that should follow finished work: a report, a client update, an invoice line.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one.
When to use it
a design studio wants each finished deliverable logged in a sheet the account manager reviews before billing.
Watch out
tasks completed before the Zap was published are not picked up.
2

New Project

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a new project is added.”

Starts the Zap when a project is added in Flow. It suits setup work that should happen once per project, so the rest of your tools are ready the day the project opens.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one.
When to use it
an operations lead wants a shared Google Drive folder and a Slack channel created for every new client project.
Watch out
with a free plan, the folder may appear up to 15 minutes after the project, so warn the team not to create it by hand in the meantime.
3

New Task

Polling trigger

In Zapier“Triggers when a new task is added.”

Fires each time a task is added in Flow, whoever created it. Zapier highlights it as the main Flow trigger, and it is the one to use when every new piece of work should be copied or announced somewhere else.

How it fires
Zapier goes and looks at regular intervals, and how often depends on your plan: every 15 minutes on the free one.
When to use it
a marketing manager wants each new campaign task added to the team calendar so deadlines are visible at a glance.
Watch out
paired with Create Task on the same account, it can start a loop.
Actions

Flow actions in Zapier

Flow gives you 1 action. For each one: what it does for you, when to reach for it, and what to watch out for.

1

Create Task

Action

In Zapier“Creates a new Flow task.”

Adds a new task in Flow from whatever reached the Zap: a form answer, an email, a support ticket. You give it a name and pick the team it belongs to.

When to use it
an IT team turns each equipment request sent through a form into a Flow task for the person on duty.
Watch out
Task Name and Team are both required, so map a clear title from the trigger.
When it breaks

When a Flow Zap breaks

Zapier attaches no help article to Flow and no Flow-specific limit is documented. What breaks is what breaks on any Zap, with one case that hits Flow users harder.

Four cases cover most surprises. The first one is specific to apps like Flow that can both start a Zap and receive its result. For the general method, the Zapier troubleshooting guide walks through each fix.

  • The Zap that creates its own trigger

    A Zap on New Task that ends with Create Task in the same Flow account sets itself off again and again, and burns through the task count fast.

  • No catch-up on old tasks

    A Zap only reacts to what happens after it is switched on. Tasks and projects that already exist are not picked up; moving them is a separate job.

  • A bulk import gets held back

    Import a big batch of tasks at once and Zapier's flood protection can hold the trigger back rather than run the Zap for every one.

  • No double runs

    On a polling trigger, Zapier remembers what it has already seen, so the same task or project does not start the Zap a second time.
Need help

Need help automating Flow with Zapier?

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FAQ

Flow Zapier integration: frequent questions

01Is the Flow Zapier integration free?
Yes. Flow is not a premium app, so it works from the Zapier free plan. That plan gives 100 tasks a month and builds two-step Zaps: one trigger and one action. A Flow trigger followed by one action, or another app's trigger followed by Create Task, fits exactly. Add a filter or a second action and the Zap becomes multi-step, which needs a paid plan. The free plan also checks Flow every 15 minutes only.
02How many tasks does a Flow Zap use?
The Flow trigger never costs a Zapier task, and neither do the checks Zapier runs on your account. Each action that succeeds counts as one task. A Zap that creates a follow-up for each completed task uses one Zapier task per completed Flow task. A Zap that creates a Flow task from a form uses one per form answer. A failed action is not billed. Do not confuse those Zapier tasks with the tasks in Flow.
03Does Flow work in real time with Zapier?
No. All three Flow triggers are polling triggers: Zapier goes and checks Flow at a fixed interval set by your plan. Every 15 minutes on Free, every 2 on Professional, every minute on Team and Enterprise. On the paid plans the interval can be changed, and a check can be run by hand from the editor while you test. Create Task, on the other hand, runs as soon as its step comes up.
04What does it take to connect Flow to Zapier?
A Flow account and a Zapier account. From the Apps page in Zapier, click + Add connection, search for Flow, sign in on the Flow side and grant access. The connection is saved once and reused by every Flow step. Make sure the account belongs to the team you want Create Task to write into, since Team is a required field, and that it can see the projects your triggers should watch.
05Why does a Flow Zap keep running on its own?
Most often because it feeds its own trigger. A Zap that starts on New Task and ends with Create Task in the same Flow account creates a task that starts the Zap again, and so on. Each loop costs one Zapier task, and it does not stop on its own. Avoid pairing those two operations on the same account, or add a filter that stops the tasks the Zap itself created, then switch the Zap off while you fix it.
06What if the Flow operation you need is not in Zapier?
Zapier offers 3 triggers and 1 action for Flow, and no search. There is no step to update, move, complete or delete a task, and no way to look up a project. If one of those is the need, check first whether the other app in the Zap can hold that logic. Otherwise, check the same need on Make or n8n, each with its own list of Flow operations to compare against the need.
07Zapier, Make or n8n for Flow?
Decide on criteria, not on a ranking. On Zapier, a two-step Flow Zap runs on the free plan, but the three triggers poll on a timer and the only action creates tasks, with no search. Check what Make and n8n expose for Flow before choosing, especially if you need to update tasks. Then weigh the reaction time you need, the operations you use, and who will maintain the automation over time.
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