Workflows Paying Workflows

Workflows can hire other workflows

On indie.money, a workflow doesn't have to do everything itself. One workflow can call another workflow to do part of the job — and pay for that call automatically.

Workflow-to-workflow payment is built in. When one workflow triggers another, the calling workflow is simply a Caller: it pays for that run the same way a person would, on a pay-per-run basis.

Why this is powerful

Because any workflow can be both a seller and a buyer, automations compose into paid pipelines:

• A Builder can publish a small, focused workflow that does one thing well.
• Other workflows can call it whenever they need that capability — and pay per call.
• The Builder of the called workflow earns every time it's used, even when the caller is another workflow rather than a person.

This means your workflow can earn money while you sleep, triggered entirely by other automations — no human in the loop required.

What it means for each role

• Builders — your workflow earns whenever another workflow calls it, opening up demand beyond direct human buyers. See How Builders Earn.
• Producers and Callers — your automation can lean on other workflows for specialized work instead of you rebuilding it, and you pay only for the calls you actually make.

Pay only for what's used

Every workflow-to-workflow call follows the same rules as any other run: the caller pays only for what the run uses, and unused budget is refunded automatically. The full mechanics are in How Pay-Per-Run Works.