Eligibility

  • Open to anyone 13 years or older—including high schoolers, college students, and professionals.

  • Your project must be entirely original; nothing pre-built or copied.

  • All code must be written during the 36-hour hackathon window—no pre-existing libraries or snippets allowed.

  • Submit your project by the deadline, in English.

  • You must register on both Devpost and our website (and join our Discord for the best experience).

  • All participants agree to abide by the MLH Code of Conduct.

Teams

  • Teams of up to 4 people are allowed—but solo hackers are welcome, too.

  • Once the coding sprint begins, team rosters are locked.

  • Every team member must be listed on your Devpost submission.

  • Need teammates? Head to the #looking-for-team channel in our Discord.

Judging Criteria & Winner Selection

  1. Creativity

    • Does your project introduce a fresh idea, user experience, or streamline an existing process?

  2. Practicality

    • Could it realistically be built, adopted, and scaled? Will people actually use it?

  3. Technical Complexity

    • What sophisticated tools or architectures are you employing? How deep are your technical solutions?

  4. Design

    • Is your UI intuitive and polished? Does it enhance the overall experience?

  5. Presentation

    • Can you tell your story in a clear, compelling way that hooks judges and users alike?