What you are entering
A hackathon is a short, timed build: usually a weekend, a week, or a few weeks on a platform such as Devpost. You register, build to a brief, and submit a working project, a write-up and often a demo video before the deadline. Prizes may be cash, credits, internships or simply a place to present.
That is different from a long prize challenge, which can run for months and may ask for a scientific result rather than a weekend prototype. We compare the two in more detail in our article on big AI prize challenges versus weekend hackathons. Our competitions guide covers prizes, rules and tax at a higher level.
Who can enter?
Read the eligibility line before you get excited about the prize pool. Open examples from listings we have checked:
- Open to almost anyone above the age of majority, with some countries excluded: Codegeist 2026 (Atlassian hackathon) ($120,000+ in prizes (three $15,000 first prizes, plus agent/MCP bonus prizes)) and Kiroween 2026 ($100,000 in prizes (1st $30,000)).
- Open globally, including to students and researchers, solo or in a team: Apart Research: Agent Attribution Hackathon ($2,000 in cash prizes across all tracks) and Apart Research: Threat Intelligence & Threat Modelling Hackathon ($5,000 in cash prizes across all tracks).
- Students only, sometimes with a tight age band. AI for Human Impact: Global BASIS Hackathon is for high-school students aged 13–19 ($10,200). checkpoint 1: games for good (AI-native teen hackathon) is for students aged 13–18 ($11,960 in cash). Arbiter Hacks V1 is for students aged 13 and over ($7,800).
- In person, with extra conditions. START Hack League Munich 2026 is for students, in person at TUM in Munich (€4,000). HackWithAditya (with OpenAI Student Collective) is in person at Aditya University, and shortlisted participants pay ₹800 per member to cover stay and meals (₹5,00,000 prize pool).
Rules and time zones worth reading twice
- When the clock stops. Codegeist 2026 (Atlassian hackathon) closes at 12:00pm PST on 22 December 2026. Kiroween 2026 closes at 2:00pm PST on 4 December 2026. Apart Research sprints close at 11:59pm AoE (Anywhere on Earth): 6 December 2026 for the threat-modelling hackathon, and 13 December 2026 for agent attribution. An AoE deadline is 11:59am the next calendar day in the UK in winter (GMT). When in doubt, submit a day early.
- What you are allowed to build with, and when. Kiroween 2026 is for new projects built with Kiro from 30 October 2026. Codegeist 2026 (Atlassian hackathon) asks you to build a Forge app, with extra prize categories for AI agents and MCP.
- Registration can close before the build. AI for Human Impact: Global BASIS Hackathon opens registration on 22 November 2026 and closes it on 16 January 2027, with the build week later, from 6–12 February 2027.
Data: 28 of 111 dated AI funding deadlines fall on a weekend. Read the weekend deadline report.
How to give yourself a decent chance
- Enter something that fits the brief exactly. Judging rubrics usually reward a complete, on-scope submission over an ambitious half-build.
- Plan the demo video and write-up from the start, not in the last hour. Many entries fail because the project cannot be understood, not because the idea is weak.
- Form a team early if the rules allow it, and agree who will submit. Platforms will not extend a deadline because a teammate disappeared.
- Check whether the event is free, online and actually open to you before you rearrange a weekend. In-person events can have travel costs or a participation fee, even when the prize pool looks large.
A few that are open now
Besides the events above, our competitions list is sorted by deadline and is the place to see everything we currently track. New hackathons appear often, and entries drop off the list once they close, so it is worth checking week by week if you are actively looking to enter.
