🏆 Awesome Hackathons & Competitions — All Around the World
The ultimate curated list of prestigious hackathons, coding competitions, and innovation challenges for bachelor’s students worldwide.
💰 All competitions listed feature significant prizes, career value, and global recognition.
🔄 Updated regularly — contributions welcome!
📚 Table of Contents
🖥️ Competitive Programming
| Competition |
Prize |
Frequency |
Open To |
Website |
| ICPC — International Collegiate Programming Contest |
$15,000 (1st) + medals |
Annual (Sep–Apr season) |
University students (degree program) |
icpc.global |
| Meta Hacker Cup |
$20,000 (1st) + swag |
Annual |
Open to all |
facebook.com/hackercup |
| Google Code Jam (now Google Coding Competitions) |
$15,000 (1st) |
Annual |
Open to all 18+ |
codingcompetitions.withgoogle.com |
| Google Hash Code |
$4,000 (1st team) |
Annual |
Students & professionals |
codingcompetitions.withgoogle.com |
| Codeforces Global Rounds |
$500–$2,000 |
Multiple times/year |
Open to all |
codeforces.com |
| TopCoder Open (TCO) |
$10,000 (Algorithm 1st) |
Annual |
Open to all |
topcoder.com/community/tco |
| Kick Start (Google) |
Google recruiter attention + swag |
Annual (retired 2022, now replaced) |
Students |
codingcompetitions.withgoogle.com |
| CodeChef SnackDown |
$5,000 (1st team) |
Annual |
Teams of 2, open to all |
codechef.com/snackdown |
| ICFP Programming Contest |
Titles + recognition |
Annual (near ICFP conference) |
Open to all |
icfpcontest.org |
| Microsoft Imagine Cup |
$100,000 (1st) + Azure grants |
Annual |
Students enrolled in any university |
imaginecup.microsoft.com |
| Bubble Cup (Microsoft Serbia) |
Cash prizes + recognition |
Annual |
University & high school teams |
bubblecup.org |
| Codegoda (Agoda) |
$10,000 (1st) |
Annual |
Open to all |
codegoda.io |
| TechGig Code Gladiators |
INR 50 Lakh (~$60K) |
Annual |
Open to all |
techgig.com/codegladiators |
| Leetcode Weekly Contest |
LeetCode coins + recognition |
Weekly |
Open to all |
leetcode.com/contest |
| AtCoder Grand Contest |
$1,000–$3,000 |
Several/year |
Open to all |
atcoder.jp |
🤖 AI & Machine Learning
| Competition |
Prize |
Frequency |
Open To |
Website |
| Kaggle Competitions (Featured) |
$25,000–$1,000,000+ |
Ongoing |
Open to all |
kaggle.com/competitions |
| ARC Prize (AGI Benchmark) |
$1,000,000 (grand prize) |
Annual |
Open to all |
arcprize.org |
| Google DeepMind Gemini Hackathon |
$50,000+ |
Annual |
Open to all |
ai.google.dev |
| Mistral Worldwide Hackathon |
$50,000 + ElevenLabs credits ($2K–$6K) |
Annual |
Open to all |
mistral.ai |
| NeurIPS Competition Track |
$5,000–$50,000 |
Annual (Dec) |
Researchers & students |
neurips.cc |
| DrivenData Competitions |
$5,000–$30,000 |
Ongoing |
Open to all |
drivendata.org |
| Zindi Africa ML Competitions |
$5,000–$10,000 |
Ongoing |
Africa-focused, global |
zindi.africa |
| HuggingFace Open Source AI |
Grants + recognition |
Ongoing |
Developers |
huggingface.co |
| iqigai AI Fellowship (Fractal Analytics) |
Fellowship + hiring |
Annual |
Students |
fractal.ai |
| OpenAI Developer Challenge |
$500,000+ (varies) |
Periodic |
Developers |
openai.com |
| Zerve.AI Hackathon (HackerEarth) |
Cash prizes + offers |
Annual |
Open to all |
hackerearth.com |
| Numerai Tournament |
NMR tokens ($100–$50,000/month) |
Continuous |
Data scientists |
numer.ai |
💡 General Hackathons
| Competition |
Prize |
Frequency |
Open To |
Website |
| World’s Largest Hackathon (Bolt) |
$1,000,000+ |
Annual |
Open to all |
worldslargesthackathon.devpost.com |
| Hack the North |
CAD 61,928 (~$45K) |
Annual (Sep, University of Waterloo) |
Students worldwide |
hackthenorth.com |
| HackMIT |
$1,000–$5,000 + prizes |
Annual (Sep, MIT) |
University students |
hack.mit.edu |
| PennApps |
$2,500+ |
Annual (UPenn) |
Students |
pennapps.com |
| TreeHacks |
$5,000 (Grand Prize) + sponsor prizes |
Annual (Stanford) |
Students |
treehacks.com |
| HackGT |
$5,000+ |
Annual (Georgia Tech) |
Students |
hackgt.io |
| MHacks |
$3,000+ |
Annual (Univ. of Michigan) |
Students |
mhacks.org |
| HackHarvard |
$2,000–$5,000 |
Annual (Harvard) |
Students |
hackharvard.io |
| CalHacks |
$7,500+ |
Annual (UC Berkeley) |
Students |
calhacks.io |
| YHack (Yale) |
$2,000–$5,000 |
Annual |
Students |
yhack.org |
| HackPrinceton |
$3,000+ |
Bi-annual (Princeton) |
Students |
hackprinceton.com |
| DeveloperWeek Hackathon |
Amazon Echo + passes + recognition |
Annual (SF) |
Developers |
developerweek.com/hackathon |
| Devpost Online Hackathons |
$500–$100,000 |
Continuous |
Open to all |
devpost.com/hackathons |
| Major League Hacking (MLH) Season |
Points + prizes + swag |
Annual season |
College students |
mlh.io |
| Junction (Helsinki) |
€10,000+ |
Annual (Helsinki, Finland) |
Students & professionals |
hackjunction.com |
| HackZurich |
CHF 30,000 (~$33K) |
Annual (Zurich) |
Students & developers |
hackzurich.com |
| Angelhack Global |
$30,000 (grand prize) |
Annual |
Open to all |
angelhack.com |
| Hackathon.com Listings |
Varies |
Continuous |
Varies |
hackathon.com |
🚀 Startup & Innovation
| Competition |
Prize |
Frequency |
Open To |
Website |
| Microsoft Imagine Cup |
$100,000 (1st) + Azure grants + mentorship |
Annual |
University students globally |
imaginecup.microsoft.com |
| Hult Prize |
$1,000,000 social enterprise prize |
Annual |
University students (teams of 4) |
hultprize.org |
| MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition |
$100,000+ |
Annual |
MIT students (open semifinals) |
mit100k.org |
| Y Combinator Startup School |
Investment for top startups |
Annual |
Founders / students |
startupschool.org |
| Seedstars World |
$500,000 equity investment |
Annual |
Startup founders from emerging markets |
seedstarsworld.com |
| GSVC — Global Social Venture Competition |
$50,000 (grand prize) |
Annual |
Graduate students (some bachelor’s) |
gsvc.org |
| Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) |
Recognition + funding exposure |
Annual |
Entrepreneurs & students |
ges.co |
| Cartier Women’s Initiative |
$100,000 (laureate) |
Annual |
Women-led businesses |
cartierwomensinitiative.com |
| Entrepreneurship World Cup |
$1,000,000 in prizes & investment |
Annual |
Entrepreneurs globally |
ewc.co |
| Slush 100 Pitching Competition |
€1,000,000 (in services/investment) |
Annual (Helsinki) |
Startups |
slush.org |
| TechCrunch Disrupt Hackathon |
$50,000 (winner) |
Annual (SF) |
Developers |
techcrunch.com/events/tc-disrupt |
| Product Hunt Maker Festival |
Recognition + sponsorship |
Annual |
Makers & developers |
producthunt.com |
| RevenueCat Shipyard |
Cash prizes + visibility |
Annual |
Mobile developers |
revenuecat.com |
| Founder Institute Launch Program |
Mentorship + $20K avg funding |
Annual (multiple cities) |
Early-stage founders |
fi.co |
🔐 Cybersecurity & CTF
| Competition |
Prize |
Frequency |
Open To |
Website |
| DEF CON CTF |
$20,000+ |
Annual (Las Vegas, Aug) |
Teams, open to all |
defcon.org/html/defcon-ctf |
| Pwn2Own |
$300,000+ (Tesla hack = $100K) |
Annual (Vancouver + Miami) |
Security researchers |
zerodayinitiative.com/pwn2own |
| picoCTF (Carnegie Mellon) |
$5,000+ |
Annual |
Middle/High/College |
picoctf.org |
| Google CTF |
$13,337+ |
Annual |
Open to all |
capturetheflag.withgoogle.com |
| PlaidCTF (CMU) |
$1,000+ |
Annual |
Open to all |
plaidctf.com |
| CSAW CTF (NYU) |
$5,000+ |
Annual |
Student teams (college division) |
csaw.io |
| National Cyber League (NCL) |
$2,000+ scholarships |
Bi-annual |
US college students |
nationalcyberleague.org |
| CyberPatriot |
Scholarships + prizes |
Annual |
US students |
uscyberpatriot.org |
| Hacktivity CTF |
€2,000+ |
Annual (Budapest) |
Open to all |
hacktivity.com |
| HackerOne Bug Bounty Programs |
$500–$1,000,000 per bug |
Continuous |
Open to all |
hackerone.com |
| Bugcrowd Bug Bounty |
$500–$100,000 per vulnerability |
Continuous |
Security researchers |
bugcrowd.com |
| Synack Red Team |
Ongoing payouts |
Continuous |
Vetted security researchers |
synack.com |
🌍 Social Impact & Sustainability
| Competition |
Prize |
Frequency |
Open To |
Website |
| Hult Prize |
$1,000,000 |
Annual |
University student teams |
hultprize.org |
| MIT Climate CoLab |
$10,000+ |
Annual |
Open to all |
climatecolab.org |
| Google.org Impact Challenge |
$5,000,000 in grants |
Annual |
Non-profits & social ventures |
impactchallenge.withgoogle.com |
| Cisco Global Problem Solver Challenge |
$1,000,000 in prizes |
Annual |
University student entrepreneurs |
theglobalproblemsolverchallenge.com |
| Zayed Sustainability Prize |
$3,000,000 total |
Annual |
Non-profits & startups |
zayedsustainabilityprize.com |
| World Food Programme Innovation Challenge |
$10,000 |
Annual |
Students & innovators |
innovation.wfp.org |
| IBM Call for Code |
$200,000 (grand prize) |
Annual |
Developers worldwide |
callforcode.org |
| OpenIDEO Challenges |
$100,000–$1,000,000 |
Ongoing |
Open to all |
openideo.com |
| Ashoka Changemakers |
$10,000–$100,000 |
Ongoing |
Social entrepreneurs |
changemakers.com |
| UN SDG Action Campaign |
Recognition + exposure |
Annual |
Youth globally |
sdgactioncampaign.org |
🎮 Game Development
| Competition |
Prize |
Frequency |
Open To |
Website |
| Ludum Dare |
Bragging rights + community judging |
Bi-annual (Apr & Oct) |
Open to all |
ldjam.com |
| Global Game Jam |
No cash — experience & portfolio |
Annual (Jan) |
Open to all |
globalgamejam.org |
| js13kGames |
$1,000+ |
Annual (Aug–Sep) |
JavaScript devs |
js13kgames.com |
| itch.io Game Jams |
$500–$5,000 |
Continuous |
Open to all |
itch.io/jams |
| Game Developers Conference (GDC) Student Showcase |
Recognition + industry exposure |
Annual (Mar, SF) |
Student game devs |
gdconf.com |
| Epic MegaJam |
$50,000+ Unreal Engine licenses |
Annual |
Unreal Engine users |
unrealengine.com |
| Intel University Games Showcase |
$5,000+ |
Annual |
University students |
intel.com |
| Dream Hack Game Jam |
€5,000+ |
Annual |
Open to all |
dreamhack.com |
📊 Data Science & Analytics
| Competition |
Prize |
Frequency |
Open To |
Website |
| Kaggle Featured Competitions |
$25,000–$1,000,000 |
Continuous |
Open to all |
kaggle.com/competitions |
| DrivenData Social Impact Competitions |
$5,000–$25,000 |
Continuous |
Open to all |
drivendata.org |
| AIcrowd Challenges |
$5,000–$50,000 |
Continuous |
Open to all |
aicrowd.com |
| Tableau Next Virtual Hackathon |
$5,000+ |
Annual |
Tableau users |
tableau.com |
| SAS Global Forum Student Symposium |
$1,000 + travel |
Annual |
Student SAS users |
sas.com |
| Numerai Data Science Tournament |
NMR cryptocurrency (ongoing payouts) |
Continuous |
Data scientists |
numer.ai |
| Signate Competitions (Japan) |
¥500,000–¥5,000,000 |
Ongoing |
Open to all |
signate.jp |
| CrowdANALYTIX |
$5,000–$50,000 |
Ongoing |
Open to all |
crowdanalytix.com |
| DataHack (Analytics Vidhya) |
$5,000+ |
Ongoing |
Open to all |
datahack.analyticsvidhya.com |
| Zindi ML Competitions |
$5,000–$10,000 |
Ongoing |
Global, Africa-focused |
zindi.africa |
🏛️ University-Specific Hackathons (Major League Hacking)
🔗 All MLH-affiliated hackathons are verified and listed at mlh.io/seasons
| Hackathon |
University / Location |
Prize Est. |
Website |
| HackMIT |
MIT, Cambridge MA |
$5,000+ |
hack.mit.edu |
| TreeHacks |
Stanford, Palo Alto CA |
$5,000+ |
treehacks.com |
| CalHacks |
UC Berkeley |
$7,500+ |
calhacks.io |
| PennApps |
University of Pennsylvania |
$3,000+ |
pennapps.com |
| HackHarvard |
Harvard, Cambridge MA |
$3,000+ |
hackharvard.io |
| HackPrinceton |
Princeton University |
$3,000+ |
hackprinceton.com |
| YHack |
Yale University |
$3,000+ |
yhack.org |
| HackGT |
Georgia Tech, Atlanta |
$5,000+ |
hackgt.io |
| MHacks |
University of Michigan |
$3,000+ |
mhacks.org |
| Hack the North |
University of Waterloo, Canada |
CAD 60,000+ |
hackthenorth.com |
| UofTHacks |
University of Toronto, Canada |
CAD 5,000+ |
uofthacks.com |
| HackUPC |
Polytechnic Univ. of Catalonia, Spain |
€5,000+ |
hackupc.com |
| ICEHACKS |
Oxford / Cambridge, UK |
£3,000+ |
mlh.io |
| HackaTUM |
TU Munich, Germany |
€5,000+ |
hack.tum.de |
| HackDelft |
Delft University, Netherlands |
€3,000+ |
hackdelft.nl |
| ETHGlobal Hackathons |
ETH Zürich / Global |
$50,000+ |
ethglobal.com |
| Boilermake |
Purdue University |
$3,000+ |
boilermake.org |
| SpartaHack |
Michigan State University |
$2,000+ |
spartahack.com |
| WildHacks |
Northwestern University |
$2,000+ |
mlh.io |
| HooHacks |
University of Virginia |
$2,000+ |
hoohacks.io |
🌐 Open Source & Developer Challenges
| Competition |
Prize |
Frequency |
Open To |
Website |
| Google Summer of Code (GSoC) |
$1,500–$6,600 stipend |
Annual |
University students |
summerofcode.withgoogle.com |
| GitHub Hacktoberfest |
Swag + recognition |
Annual (Oct) |
Open source contributors |
hacktoberfest.com |
| MLH Fellowship |
$5,000 stipend |
Annual (3 terms) |
Students |
fellowship.mlh.io |
| Linux Foundation Mentorship |
$3,000–$6,600 |
Annual |
Students |
lfx.linuxfoundation.org/mentorship |
| Outreachy |
$7,000 stipend |
Bi-annual |
Underrepresented groups |
outreachy.org |
| Mozilla Winter of Security |
Recognition + mentoring |
Annual |
Students |
mozilla.org |
| Season of KDE |
Swag + recognition |
Annual |
Students |
season.kde.org |
| OpenSUSE & Fedora GSoC |
$1,500–$6,600 |
Annual |
Students |
fedoraproject.org |
| DigitalOcean App Platform Hackathon |
$1,000–$10,000 |
Annual |
Developers |
digitalocean.com |
🔬 Science & Engineering
| Competition |
Prize |
Frequency |
Open To |
Website |
| Intel ISEF (International Science & Engineering Fair) |
$75,000 (top award) |
Annual |
High school (useful prep for bachelor’s) |
societyforscience.org/isef |
| ACM Student Research Competition |
$500–$2,000 |
Annual (at major ACM conferences) |
ACM student members |
src.acm.org |
| ASME Student Design Competition |
$2,000+ |
Annual |
Engineering students |
asme.org |
| IEEE Presidents’ Change the World |
$10,000 (1st) |
Annual |
IEEE student members |
ieee.org |
| Shell Eco-marathon |
$5,000–$30,000 |
Annual |
University engineering teams |
makethefuture.shell |
| Formula Student (SAE) |
Recognition + career exposure |
Annual |
Engineering students |
imeche.org/formula-student |
| Hyperloop Pod Competition (SpaceX) |
$500,000 prize (track speed) |
Annual |
University teams |
spacex.com |
| Biomedical Engineering Society Design |
$1,500+ |
Annual |
BME students |
bmes.org |
| SPIE Optics & Photonics Student Paper |
$1,000–$5,000 |
Annual |
Student members |
spie.org |
📱 Mobile & App Development
| Competition |
Prize |
Frequency |
Open To |
Website |
| Google Play Indie Games Festival |
$50,000 + featuring |
Annual |
Indie developers |
play.google.com/console |
| Apple WWDC Swift Student Challenge |
MacBook Pro + WWDC attendance |
Annual |
Students |
developer.apple.com |
| Samsung Innovation Campus |
$10,000+ |
Annual |
Students (select countries) |
samsung.com |
| Facebook F8 Hackathon |
$10,000 |
Annual (at F8 conference) |
Developers |
developers.facebook.com |
| Congressional App Challenge |
Recognition + Capitol Hill display |
Annual |
US students |
congressionalappchallenge.us |
| T-Mobile’s 5G Connected Future Hackathon |
$20,000+ |
Annual |
Developers |
t-mobile.com |
| Verizon 5G EdTech Challenge |
$100,000+ |
Annual |
Developers & students |
verizon.com |
| AWS Imagine Grant Challenge |
$100,000 AWS credits |
Annual |
Non-profits & students |
aws.amazon.com |
💸 Fintech & Blockchain
| Competition |
Prize |
Frequency |
Open To |
Website |
| ETHGlobal Hackathons |
$50,000–$300,000 |
Multiple/year |
Web3 developers |
ethglobal.com |
| Solana Breakpoint Hackathon |
$1,000,000+ |
Annual |
Blockchain devs |
solana.com |
| Chainlink Hackathon |
$200,000+ |
Annual |
Blockchain devs |
chain.link |
| Coinbase Crypto Startup School |
Investment exposure |
Annual |
Students / founders |
coinbase.com/ventures |
| Visa Everywhere Initiative |
$100,000 (grand prize) |
Annual |
Startups & students |
usa.visa.com/run-your-business/visa-everywhere |
| PayPal Honey Innovation Challenge |
$10,000+ |
Annual |
Students |
paypal.com |
| Ripple UBRI Challenge |
$5,000,000 in grants |
Annual |
University blockchain researchers |
ubri.ripple.com |
| Algorand Hackathon |
$1,000,000 in grants |
Annual |
Blockchain devs |
algorand.com |
| Polkadot Hackathon |
$100,000+ |
Annual |
Web3 builders |
polkadot.network |
| Kaggle Market Prediction Challenge |
$100,000+ |
Annual |
ML + Quant finance |
kaggle.com |
🧠 Math Competitions
| Competition |
Prize |
Frequency |
Open To |
Website |
| Putnam Mathematical Competition |
$2,500 (Putnam Fellow) |
Annual (Dec) |
Undergraduate North America |
maa.org/putnam |
| International Mathematics Competition (IMC) |
Gold/Silver/Bronze medals + prizes |
Annual |
Undergraduate students |
imc-math.org.uk |
| SIAM Student Chapter Competition |
$500–$1,000 |
Annual |
SIAM student members |
siam.org |
| William Lowell Putnam Exam |
$2,500 (top scorer) |
Annual |
US/Canada undergraduate |
maa.org/putnam |
| AMC/AIME/USAMO |
Recognition + medals |
Annual |
Students (up to college) |
maa.org/amc |
| Mathematical Modelling Contest (M3Challenge) |
$20,000 (1st team) |
Annual |
High school / early college |
m3challenge.siam.org |
| COMAP Mathematical Contest in Modeling (MCM/ICM) |
$10,000 |
Annual (Feb) |
Teams of 3 undergrads |
comap.com/contests/mcm-icm |
| Alibaba Global Mathematics Competition |
¥300,000 (~$40K) |
Annual |
Open to all (18+) |
damo.alibaba.com |
🛸 Space & Aerospace
| Competition |
Prize |
Frequency |
Open To |
Website |
| NASA Space Apps Challenge |
Recognition + NASA invitation |
Annual (Oct) |
Open to all |
spaceappschallenge.org |
| ESA App Camp |
€5,000 + incubation |
Annual |
European students |
esa.int |
| AIAA Design/Build/Fly Competition |
$1,000–$5,000 |
Annual |
Undergraduate engineering teams |
aiaa.org |
| Lockheed Martin Code Quest |
$25,000 (1st team) |
Annual |
Students |
lockheedmartin.com/code-quest |
| SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition |
Speed + track records + $500K |
Annual |
University teams |
spacex.com |
| NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge |
Recognition + trophy |
Annual |
Students |
nasa.gov |
| CanSat Competition |
$5,000+ |
Annual |
Students (undergraduate) |
cansatcompetition.com |
| Conrad Challenge |
$10,000+ (innovation awards) |
Annual |
College students |
conradchallenge.org |
Where to Find More Competitions
🗓️ Annual Competition Calendar (Approximate)
| Month |
Notable Events |
| January |
Global Game Jam |
| February |
COMAP MCM/ICM Mathematical Contest |
| March |
Google Hash Code, TreeHacks (Stanford) |
| April |
Google Code Jam starts, Ludum Dare |
| May |
Google I/O Extended Hackathons |
| June |
Google Summer of Code (midterm), Apple WWDC Swift Challenge |
| July |
NASA Space Apps (registration), World’s Largest Hackathon |
| August |
DEF CON CTF, js13kGames |
| September |
ICPC season starts, Hack the North, ETHGlobal |
| October |
NASA Space Apps Challenge, Hacktoberfest, Ludum Dare |
| November |
MLH Fall Season finals, AngelHack, various finals |
| December |
Putnam Exam, NeurIPS Competitions, ICPC regional finals |
📝 How to Contribute
We welcome contributions from the community! To add a new hackathon or competition:
- Fork this repository
- Add the competition to the appropriate category table
- Ensure the following details are included:
- Competition name
- Prize amount (USD or local currency)
- Frequency (Annual / Ongoing / etc.)
- Eligibility (bachelor’s students, open to all, etc.)
- Official website
- Submit a pull request
Contribution Guidelines:
- Only add competitions with verified prizes of at least $500 USD equivalent
- Must be legitimate and recurring (or well-established)
- Must be relevant to bachelor’s level students
- Include only official website links
⚠️ Disclaimer
Prize amounts and eligibility criteria change year to year. Always verify details on the official competition website before registering. This list is maintained by the community and may contain outdated information.
📄 License
This project is licensed under the MIT License — see the LICENSE file for details.
🌟 Show Your Support
If this list helped you, please ⭐ star this repository and share it with your fellow students and developer friends!
Made with ❤️ for bachelor’s students worldwide who want to build, compete, and grow.