Best hackathons to enter right now (October 2026)
The 9 best open online hackathons right now, ranked by prize pool: Meta VR Start Developer Competition 2026 ($1,000,000, closes Nov 18), Amazon Build Ship Shape ($138,000, closes Oct 23), PayPal AI Hackathon ($67,500, closes Nov 12), Nebius x NVIDIA Global AI ($50,000, closes Oct 30), GitLab Life After Code ($45,000, closes Oct 27), AWS CDS Agentic AI ($40,000, closes Oct 28), Qloo Agentic ($25,000, closes Oct 30), OpenCV AI Competition 2026 ($20,250, closes Oct 27), and Build With AI: Basics ($2,500, closes Oct 26). All are free to enter and run online. Total prize pool: $1,388,750. Verified October 16, 2026.
| Hackathon | Prize pool | Deadline | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meta VR Start Developer Competition 2026 Meta |
$1,000,000 | November 18, 2026 | Apply → |
| Build, Ship, Shape: Amazon Developer Hackathon Amazon |
$138,000 | October 23, 2026 | Apply → |
| PayPal AI Hackathon PayPal |
$67,500 | November 12, 2026 | Apply → |
| Nebius x NVIDIA Global AI Hackathon Nebius x NVIDIA |
$50,000 | October 30, 2026 | Apply → |
| Life After Code GitLab |
$45,000 | October 27, 2026 | Apply → |
| AWS CDS Agentic AI Partner Hackathon AWS |
$40,000 | October 28, 2026 | Apply → |
| Qloo Agentic Hackathon Qloo |
$25,000 | October 30, 2026 | Apply → |
| OpenCV AI Competition 2026, powered by AWS OpenCV |
$20,250 | October 27, 2026 | Apply → |
| Build With AI: Basics Devpost |
$2,500 | October 26, 2026 | Apply → |