Online hackathons

• Open Agent Hackathon 2026Online

  Oct 22-27, 2026 · Online

  open now · ends in 5 days

  Six-day online sprint to build agents that do real work across scattered data sources; sponsors include NVIDIA, Zetaris and Meterless.

  Organizer

  GenAI.Works

  Prizes

  Up to $20,000 (cash plus an NVIDIA DGX Spark and API credits)

  Apply by

  Oct 22, 2026

  aiagentsdatachecked 2026-10-20
• Hacktoberfest 2026Online

  Oct 1-31, 2026 · Online

  open now · ends in 9 days

  Month-long open-source event in October with 300+ local one-day Fests plus a global online program; the 2026 focus is open-source AI.

  Organizer

  DigitalOcean

  open-sourcebeginnerschecked 2026-10-20
• PayPal AI HackathonOnline

  Oct 1 - Nov 12, 2026 · Online

  open now · ends in 21 days

  Six-week online build where any project counts if it makes real use of both PayPal and AI; winners are announced December 21.

  Organizer

  PayPal

  Prizes

  $60,000+ in cash prizes

  Apply by

  Nov 12, 2026

  aiagentsfintechpaymentschecked 2026-10-20
• Code for a Billion: Bharat Agentic-AI Hackathon 2026Online

  Aug 15 - Nov 15, 2026 · Online

  open now · ends in 24 days

  90-day open-source build of agentic AI tools for public-health problems in India; open to anyone, and winners are named December 5.

  Organizer

  Code for India

  Prizes

  ₹18 lakh total prize pool

  aiagentshealthopen-sourcechecked 2026-10-20
• AMD AI LeagueOnline

  Sep 1 - Dec 1, 2026 · Online

  open now · ends in 40 days

  Season of six build matches on AMD GPUs where courses, matches and community activity all add points to one leaderboard; matches 5 and 6 are still to come.

  Organizer

  AMD, NativelyAI and lablab.ai

  Prizes

  League podium $2,500 / $1,500 / $1,000, plus cash and GPU credits for each match

  aiagentsgpulearningchecked 2026-10-20

• AI Yako: Own Your AIHybrid

  Oct 24-31, 2026 · Nairobi, Kenya

  starts in 2 days

  One-week Nairobi hackathon for building local AI apps with Tether's QVAC stack. Kickoff and demo day are on campus; projects are submitted online.

  Organizer

  Tether with Node NBO

  Prizes

  3,500 USDT

  aiweb3on-device-aichecked 2026-10-20
• Meta Global AI Developer HackathonOnline

  Oct 26 - Nov 9, 2026 · Online

  starts in 4 days

  Ten-day virtual hackathon building with Meta's Muse models and open weights. It is capped at 20,000 accepted applicants and winners are named Nov 9.

  Organizer

  Meta and Cerebral Valley

  Prizes

  $1,000,000 total across indie and startup tracks

  Apply by

  Oct 25, 2026

  aillmagentschecked 2026-10-20

• Vultr: Agent Rush HackathonHybrid

  Nov 3-8, 2026 · Salt Lake City, United States

  starts in 12 days

  Online build week for AI agents that run real work safely inside Vultr sandboxes, then an invite-only demo day on site in Salt Lake City.

  Organizer

  lablab.ai with Vultr

  Prizes

  $9,000 cash + $5,000 in Vultr credits

  aiagentssecuritychecked 2026-10-20
• BCH BLAZE 2026Online

  Nov 14-22, 2026 · Online

  starts in 23 days

  Virtual Bitcoin Cash hackathon with a submission window from Nov 14 to Nov 22.

  Organizer

  BCH BLAZE

  Prizes

  $8,000 (25+ BCH)

  web3bitcoin-cashdefiaichecked 2026-10-20
• 2027 WFEO Hackathon on Sustainable Transport EngineeringOnline

  Nov 20 - Dec 12, 2026 · Online

  starts in 29 days

  Global online challenge for teams of 3-5 led by engineering students or young engineers; winners are announced in Rome on 4 Mar 2027.

  Organizer

  World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO)

  Prizes

  €7,000 (€4,000 / €2,000 / €1,000)

  Who

  students and young engineers under 30

  Apply by

  Dec 12, 2026

  sustainabilityengineeringstudentschecked 2026-10-20
• CoAfina 2026Online

  Nov 27-29, 2026 · Online

  starts in 36 days

  Virtual open-data hackathon where Latin American university students solve science and education challenges posed by organizations.

  Organizer

  RedCLARA / LA-CoNGA community

  Prizes

  $1,700 total (USD 700 / 500 / 350 / 150)

  Who

  students at Latin American universities

  Apply by

  Nov 14, 2026

  open-datasciencestudentschecked 2026-10-20

• DeveloperWeek 2027 HackathonHybrid

  Jan 25 - Feb 11, 2027 · Santa Clara, United States

  starts in 95 days

  Online build period from Jan 25, with an in-person finale at Santa Clara Convention Center on Feb 10-11.

  Organizer

  DevNetwork

  Prizes

  $12,500 in total value

  aideveloper-toolschecked 2026-10-20

• UNIHACK 2027Hybrid

  Mar 12-14, 2027 · Melbourne, Australia

  starts in 141 days

  Australia's biggest student hackathon: a 48-hour hybrid weekend open to university and TAFE students in Australia and New Zealand.

  Organizer

  UNIHACK

  Who

  students

  studentschecked 2026-10-20

1. 1. Before

   Read the judging criteria and the sponsor prize list first; pick the tracks you can win, not the biggest one. Set up your stack, API keys and a deploy target (Vercel, Railway, Fly) the day before.

2. 2. Team

   Three or four people: one on the backend and integrations, one on the frontend, one on the demo and the pitch. Agree on the idea in the first hour, then stop debating.

3. 3. Scope

   Build one flow that works end to end, not five half-features. Mock anything that is not on the demo path, and use sponsor APIs where they genuinely help (that is how many prizes are judged).

4. 4. Demo

   Judges see your project for 3 to 5 minutes. Open with the problem in one sentence, show the live product, end with what is next. Record a 2-minute backup video in case the Wi-Fi or the API fails.

5. 5. Submit

   Submit early with a README, screenshots, the repo link and the video, then keep improving. Late submissions are usually not accepted, even by a minute.

6. 6. After

   Ship it: put the project online, write a short post, and launch it on DevHunt. Many hackathon projects get their first users that week.

Pack: laptop and charger, a power strip, headphones, a phone hotspot as backup Wi-Fi, ID (in-person events check it), and a free LLM key or two from our free LLM API list.