# Flows vs sequences vs broadcasts: which one to use

Broadcasts send one email at one moment, sequences send a series on delays, and flows react to events. How they differ, and how they fit together in Mimeo.

**Definition:** A broadcast is one email sent to an audience at one moment. A sequence is a fixed series of emails on set delays. A flow is automation started by an event that decides what happens next, including which sequences to start.

## How it works

The three answer different questions. A broadcast answers "what do I tell everyone today?" A sequence answers "what does someone get, in order, once they start?" A flow answers "when this happens, what should we do?"

| | Broadcast | Sequence | Flow |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Starts | When you send or schedule it | When a person is started on it | When something happens to a person |
| Goes to | An audience, all at once | One person at a time | One person at a time |
| Shape | One email | Emails with delays between them | Steps: send, wait, branch, tag, start a sequence |
| Example | The Monday newsletter | A five-email course | On purchase: thank-you, wait a week, then a review request |

## Why it matters

- **The right tool stays simple.** A newsletter doesn't need branching, and a purchase follow-up shouldn't be a manual send.
- **Logic and content stay apart.** A sequence holds the emails. The flow holds the decisions: who starts it, when, and what happens after.
- **They meet in the inbox.** A promotional broadcast can land in the middle of someone's onboarding sequence unless something holds it back.

## How Mimeo handles it

These are Mimeo's own names. [Broadcasts](https://mimeohq.com/docs/usage/broadcasts) are one email, one segment, one datetime, with the audience worked out when it sends. [Sequences](https://mimeohq.com/docs/usage/sequences) are a series of emails and nothing more: steps, delays and repeat-run rules. [Flows](https://mimeohq.com/docs/usage/flows) start on an event, an approaching subscription renewal or end, or a stretch of inactivity, and run steps that include starting a sequence. A flow waits at that step until the sequence finishes.

All three send through the same queue, so suppression, send windows and [guards](https://mimeohq.com/docs/usage/guards) apply to each. A guard is how a broadcast stays away from people partway through a sequence. Your agent edits the same flows and sequences through the API, MCP or your manager repo. See [Mimeo terms](https://mimeohq.com/docs/glossary#working-in-mimeo) for all three in Mimeo's own words.

## Sources

1. [Flows](https://mimeohq.com/docs/usage/flows), checked 2026-11-10
2. [Sequences](https://mimeohq.com/docs/usage/sequences), checked 2026-11-10
3. [Broadcasts](https://mimeohq.com/docs/usage/broadcasts), checked 2026-11-09

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This is the Markdown copy of https://mimeohq.com/glossary/flows-vs-sequences-vs-broadcasts.