Hackathons & build sprints
You cannot list every college hackathon in one repo — thousands run each year. What you can do is know where calendars live, which flagship events repeat, and which gov / company hackathons pay off for students.
Verify dates, fees, and eligibility on the official event page. Scammers clone popular names — see stay-safe.md.
Find hackathons (live lists)
| Resource | Best for |
|---|---|
| Platforms & calendars | Devfolio, MLH, Devpost, Unstop, etc. |
| Flagship & recurring events | ETHGlobal, NASA Space Apps, prestige college events |
| India-focused | SIH, Hack2Skill, Devfolio India |
| Company & open-source techathons | Amazon, Google, Microsoft, FOSS sprints |
| MLH 2026 season | Dated in-person + Global Hack Week |
| Devpost hackathons | Online + sponsor challenges |
| Devfolio hackathons | Student events (esp. India) |
Hackathons vs open-source programs
| Hackathons | GSoC / Outreachy / SoB | |
|---|---|---|
| Duration | Hours to 48h (sometimes weeks online) | Weeks to months |
| Pay | Prizes / swag / sometimes jobs | Stipends |
| Best for | Prototypes, teams, networking | Deep contribution to one codebase |
Many students do both: hackathons for energy and teams, OSS programs for career-defining commits.
Contribute
Add a missing platform or annual flagship via PR — not one-off college events unless they are nationally famous (link to MLH/Devfolio instead).
Machine-readable platform list: ../data/hackathon-platforms.json