Major Salesforce Features Being Deprecated in 2025

As part of its ongoing innovation and optimization strategy, Salesforce has announced the deprecation and retirement of several widely used features in 2025. These changes are aimed at encouraging the adoption of newer, more efficient technologies, ensuring a more unified platform experience, and enhancing overall system performance. While these changes may bring temporary challenges for users and organizations, they also open the door to modernization and improved functionality.

In this article, we’ll provide a detailed overview of the key Salesforce features that are being deprecated or retired in 2025, along with insights on how to prepare for the transitions.

1. Workflow Rules and Process Builder

One of the most impactful announcements from Salesforce is the end of support for Workflow Rules and Process Builder effective December 31, 2025. These two automation tools have been foundational to many Salesforce implementations for years, enabling admins and developers to automate business processes without code. The move is part of a broader initiative to consolidate automation under a single tool: Flow Builder.

What This Means

• Salesforce will end the support for Workflow Rules and Process Builder after December 31, 2025. While existing automations may continue to operate, they will no longer be eligible for bug fixes or official customer assistance.
• New Workflow Rules and Process Builder processes can no longer be created, as Salesforce has already disabled these options.
• To maintain compatibility and benefit from ongoing enhancements, organizations should transition their existing automations to Flow Builder.

Why the Change?

Compared to Workflow Rules and Process Builder, Salesforce Flow provides enhanced functionality, greater adaptability, and improved scalability. It supports advanced logic, offers better performance, and is the strategic direction for all automation in Salesforce.

Migration Considerations

Migrating from Workflow Rules and Process Builder to Flow Builder is not always a simple 1:1 replacement. Salesforce recommends a comprehensive assessment of existing automations grouped by object and business process. This is an opportunity to:

• Simplify or consolidate automations.
• Instead of scheduled actions in Process Builder, use scheduled paths available in Flow Builder.
• Implementing Flow best practices and frameworks is essential to optimize performance and prevent governor limit issues.
• Evaluate if some automations can be replaced with out-of-the-box Salesforce features instead of rebuilding them.

Salesforce provides a Migrate to Flow tool to assist with the transition, but organizations should allocate sufficient time for planning, testing, and validation, especially in complex environments.

Actions to be Taken

• Begin auditing your existing automations.
• Simplify the migration process by leveraging Salesforce’s built-in “Migrate to Flow” tool to convert your current automations.
• Ensure your admin and development teams are well-versed in Flow through appropriate training and upskilling efforts.

2. Maintenance Plan Frequency Fields

Salesforce has announced that Maintenance Plan Frequency Fields will be retired on October 1, 2025. These fields were part of certain managed packages or custom objects related to maintenance and scheduling.

While detailed guidance on migration is less prominent, organizations using these fields should:

• Identify impacted processes and reports.
• Plan to replace or redesign maintenance scheduling using alternative configurations or customizations.
• Engage with Salesforce support or partners for tailored migration strategies.

Why the Change?

Salesforce is streamlining object models and promoting more customizable, scalable alternatives that align with broader platform improvements.

Actions to be Taken

• Review existing configurations using Maintenance Plan Frequency fields.
• Update any logic, reports, or automations that rely on these fields.
• Replace with custom fields or other scheduling logic based on Flow or Apex.

3. API Versions 21.0 Through 30.0

In the Summer ’25 release scheduled for June 2025, Salesforce will deprecate and retire older API versions 21.0 through 30.0, including versions 23.0 through 36.0 of the Streaming API. These API versions underpin integrations, data operations, and external system connectivity.

Why This Matters

• Applications, middleware, and tools that rely on these older API versions will stop functioning correctly if not updated.
• Deprecated APIs will no longer receive security patches or performance improvements, increasing risk.
• Salesforce’s initiative promotes the use of more recent API versions that deliver better features, stronger security, and increased efficiency.

Why the Change?

Older API versions may contain deprecated methods, security risks, and limited support for newer Salesforce features. Retiring these versions ensures better performance, security, and platform consistency. This upgrade is critical for maintaining a secure and performant Salesforce ecosystem and leveraging new platform features.

Actions to be Taken

• Identify integrations and custom applications using these older API versions.
• Ensure all integrations are upgraded to utilize API version 31.0 or later for continued compatibility.
• For data operations, ensure tools like Data Loader are updated to versions compatible with current APIs.
• Perform regression testing to ensure compatibility.

Tools to Use

• ApexClass and ApexTrigger metadata can help identify hard-coded API versions.
• Use Event Monitoring or Debug Logs to track API version usage.

4. Salesforce Functions

Salesforce Functions, which allowed developers to write serverless functions that run on-demand, has been completely retired since January 31, 2025.

Why the Change?

Despite its potential, Salesforce Functions has not achieved wide adoption. Salesforce is refocusing on other extensibility tools like Apex, Flow, and External Services that better align with user needs and ecosystem trends.

Actions to be Taken

• Customers using Salesforce Functions must deploy alternative solutions before the retirement date.
• Salesforce recommends migrating to other integration and extension options, including Heroku-based services or external serverless platforms.
• The Heroku ecosystem offers new integration capabilities and add-ons to maintain robust Salesforce connectivity.
• Re-architect any mission-critical logic using other Salesforce-supported methods.

5. Standard-Volume Platform Events

Standard-volume Platform Events are being phased out, although Salesforce has not yet given a specific end date. Customers are encouraged to transition to High-Volume Platform Events, which offer better scalability and performance.

Why the Change?

High-volume events support faster publishing, higher throughput, and greater reliability. The move is part of Salesforce’s effort to modernize its event-driven architecture.

Actions to be Taken

• Audit your use of standard-volume Platform Events.
• Migrate to high-volume equivalents using tools like Event Monitoring.
• Update subscribers and handlers accordingly.

How to Prepare for These Changes

To avoid disruption and ensure a smooth transition, follow these best practices:

1. Audit Your Org:Identify where each deprecated feature is currently used. Use tools like Salesforce Optimizer, Setup Audit Trail, and third-party tools like Elements.cloud.
2. Develop a Migration Plan: Prioritize based on usage, impact, and technical complexity. Begin by addressing simpler or lower-impact automations, then progressively move on to those that are more complex or business-critical.
3. Leverage Salesforce Tools: Use Salesforce’s migration assistants like the Migrate to Flow tool and updated Data Loader versions.
4. Training and Enablement: Ensure your team is up to speed with alternatives like Flow Builder, Apex, and High-Volume Platform Events. Leverage Trailhead modules, Salesforce help docs, and community webinars.
5. Test Thoroughly:Perform end-to-end testing before and after migrating any automation or integration to ensure no functionality is lost
6. Communicate with Stakeholders: Keep business users informed about upcoming changes, potential impacts, and timelines. Clear communication reduces resistance and ensures alignment.

Final Thoughts

Salesforce’s decision to retire these legacy features in 2025 is a major step toward unifying its platform around more scalable, modern tools. While the transition may require effort and planning, it also presents an opportunity to clean up technical debt, optimize performance, and take advantage of Salesforce’s most powerful automation and integration tools. By proactively planning and executing these migrations, businesses can minimize disruption, enhance their Salesforce environments, and position themselves to leverage the latest innovations Salesforce offers. The key to success lies in understanding these changes early, allocating resources wisely, and embracing the new tools designed for today’s dynamic business landscape. This transition period is both a challenge and an opportunity, which thoughtful Salesforce users and admins can navigate strategically to maintain long-term success on the platform