We're paying builders to solve real customer problems.
Five contests over the next 10 weeks. $20,000 prize pool split between cash and Runflow credits. Win one and we ship your workflow as a public Runflow API with your name on it, a contact form, and a page that ranks on Google so customers come find you.
How it works
No fluff. Three steps, every contest.
Create your account
Sign up free at runflow.io. You get test credits to run your workflow against the hidden test set.
Deploy your workflow as an API
Drop your ComfyUI workflow into Runflow, hit deploy, copy the endpoint URL. That endpoint is what we test against. No endpoint, no submission.
Submit your entry
Fill out the application form with your endpoint URL and a public link to at least 5 sample outputs (Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, WeTransfer, or Notion). Up to 2 entries per contest. Result email goes out within 48 hours of contest close. Payment plus your public builder page go live 7 days after that.
Prizes & Awards
Each contest pays out cash plus platform credits at every tier:
- 1st place$1,650 cash + $500 credits
- 2nd place$500 cash + $100 credits
- 3rd place$200 cash + $50 credits
- Next 20 entries$50 credits each
Cash goes out within 7 days of the result email by Wise, Revolut, bank transfer, or PayPal. Credits land on your Runflow account the same day.
Permanent public builder page with SEO ranking and a contact form for paid gigs.
Brand-consistent ad variants
The customer's hero image is the contract, preserved pixel-for-pixel. Brand kit locks on top. Audience cuts and formats flex around it. Beat the existing brand-kit generators on hero preservation and per-call cost.
Static-to-video ad upgrade
Turn a tested static ad into :15–:30s motion. Brand kit locked, hook in the first 1.5 seconds, ready to drop into Meta or TikTok the same day.
Static → social ad creative
Product photo in, platform-native social ad out. Each format obeys its host platform's design conventions. FB feed is not IG story is not TikTok.
Catalog hero photography
Take a flat-lay, supplier shot, or amateur product photo and produce studio-grade catalog hero variants. Lighting, shadows, and angles consistent across the set. The wedge into the DTC product-photography ecosystem.
UGC-style ad creative
AI testimonial videos with persona control, lip-sync within tolerance, and cadence that doesn't trip the "this is an ad" radar. The category bar is "barely looks like an ad."
Who can win.
- ✓Your workflow deploys and runs on Runflow as a callable endpoint.
- ✓It passes the hidden test set defined in the contest brief (inputs, output spec, edge cases).
- ✓One submission per builder per contest. Pick your best.
- ✓You're 18+ with a Runflow account.
- ✓If you win, the workflow transfers to Runflow as work-for-hire. You keep your name on it and the builder page.
- ✓Runflow staff can submit internal benchmark workflows but don't compete for the cash prizes.
The real prize · long-term business for you
The cash is nice. The page that brings you paid gigs is the cherry on the cake.
The winner of each contest gets a Runflow-hosted profile with their name in the URL, a gallery of their work, and a contact form. We point our SEO firepower at it.
As the program grows, your page ranks for terms customers are already searching for. They land on Runflow, see your workflow shipped, and message you for custom work. You keep 100% of those gigs.
How is it judged
Objective first, subjective only at tie-break.
Hidden test set
Every submission runs against the same locked set of inputs. Pass/fail on hard criteria, then ranked output quality.
Production-ready
We look for workflows that run fast and don't break under load. Beautiful output that times out half the time loses.
Brand + usability
If two workflows tie on the objective scores, we pick the one a paying customer would actually plug in tomorrow.
Checks the architecture. Will this hold up the first time someone hits it at real customer scale?
Looks at deployability and runtime. The workflow has to run reliably on the Runflow stack under production load.
Owns the hidden test set. Output quality is judged against criteria written before any submission lands.
Measures speed and reliability. Beautiful output that times out half the time doesn't ship.
Compares against what's already out there. If your workflow doesn't beat the existing market option, it doesn't win.
Asks the sales question. Will an enterprise buyer trust this workflow in production tomorrow?
Asks the distribution question. Can this find its way to the customers actually searching for it?
Common questions
Everything you'd ask before submitting, answered up front.
Who owns the winning workflow?
The winning workflow is work-for-hire. The 1st-place prize buys Runflow the full rights to host, modify and resell it as an API. You keep your name on it, and your builder badge sits on every deployment.
What does the winner get?
1st place: $1,650 cash + $500 credits. 2nd: $500 cash + $100 credits. 3rd: $200 cash + $50 credits. The next 20 valid entries get $50 in credits each. On top of the cash, the winning workflow is hosted at runflow.io/builders/your-handle/<workflow> with your name in the URL, a contact form so customers can hire you for custom work, and SEO that ranks the page on Google over time. You keep 100% of any custom-work gigs that come through the contact form.
What do you need from me besides the endpoint?
A public link to at least 5 sample outputs from your workflow (Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, WeTransfer, or Notion). The link has to open without sign-in. Your endpoint also has to be deployed in Runflow and toggled public + active, otherwise we cannot ping it.
Who can enter?
Anyone over 18 with a Runflow account. Internal Runflow workflows are listed as the benchmark you're trying to beat, but Runflow staff don't compete for the cash prizes.
How does the timeline work?
14 days to submit from the moment a contest opens. We email every entrant within 48 hours of close with the result. Payouts go via Wise, Revolut, bank transfer, or PayPal within 7 days of the result email. Credits hit your Runflow account the same day the result email goes out.
Can I submit more than one workflow?
Up to 2 entries per builder per contest. If you submit a second one, both stay in the running and we judge whichever scores higher.
The builders are already in the Discord.
Brief drops, judging walkthroughs, post-contest debriefs, and the room where the top builders trade notes. Free to join, no application.