How the odds work
We would rather show you a simple number you can check than a clever score you have to trust. Here is all of it.
Prize per entrant
Prize per entrant = total listed cash prize ÷ number of people signed up.
A hackathon with $20,000 in prizes and 400 people signed up shows $50 per entrant. One with $20,000 and 8,000 people shows $2.50. Same pot, very different field.
The badges
We rank every hackathon that has both numbers, then split the ranking into thirds:
| Badge | Meaning | Today’s cut-off |
|---|---|---|
| Strong odds | Top third by prize per entrant | $60 or more |
| Fair odds | Middle third | $8 or more |
| Crowded | Bottom third | below that |
| Just opened | Fewer than 10 sign-ups so far, too early to score |
The cut-offs move every day because they are relative to what is open. Today 56 of 405 listings have both a US-dollar prize and a sign-up count. The rest show no badge, because we will not guess.
What the number cannot tell you
- Sign-ups are not submissions. Many people who register never submit a project. Real competition is usually smaller than the count suggests.
- Sign-ups grow. A hackathon that looks quiet in week one can be busy by the deadline. Check back before you commit.
- The pot is split. The total is spread across places, tracks and sponsor prizes. Read the breakdown on the official page.
- Cash and credits get mixed. Some organizers count platform credits or products in their headline figure. We use the number as the platform lists it.
- It says nothing about quality. Judging, mentors and the people you would meet do not show up in a division sum.
Other labels
Students only and High school appear when the source is a student or high-school programme, or the listing says so. Beginner friendly appears only when the organizer tagged the event that way. If a card shows no eligibility badge, we do not know, and you should check the rules.
Where listings come from
We read public listings from the platforms on the sources page, merge duplicates that appear on more than one site, drop anything that has already ended, and link every card to the original page. The data is rebuilt once a day. If something is wrong, the organizer’s own page is always the authority.