What is a Hackathon? The complete Guidance about it to improve your skills in 2025 & 2026
What is a Hackathon? The complete Guidance about it to improve your skills
What is a Hackathon? : A hackathon is an event where students, developers, designers, and innovators come together to build a project or solve a problem within a limited time (usually 24–72 hours).
Participants work in teams, brainstorm ideas, and create working prototypes using technology.
In simple words A hackathon is a short-term coding and innovation event where participants work in teams to build solutions for real-world problems. It encourages creativity, teamwork, and practical learning. Students join hackathons to improve skills, meet professionals, and build strong portfolio projects.
Why Hackathons Are Important
- Boosts creativity – You learn to think outside the box.
- Hands-on learning – You apply real coding skills (Java, Python, AI, Cloud, etc.).
- Teamwork skills – You work with people from different backgrounds.
- Networking – You meet mentors, industry experts, and recruiters.
- Builds your resume – A hackathon project adds great value to your profile.
Types of Hackathons
1. Offline Hackathons
Held at colleges or companies. Participants work together at the venue.
2. Online Hackathons
You join virtually, submit your project online.
3. Theme-based Hackathons
Focused on topics like:
- AI / Machine Learning
- Web Development
- Cloud Computing
- Cybersecurity
- Health Tech
- FinTech
- Education Technology
What You Do in a Hackathon
- Form a team (2–6 members).
- Choose a problem statement.
- Plan a solution.
- Code the project.
- Build a prototype/app/website/dashboard.
- Submit or present it to judges.
Who Can Participate?
- College students
- Freshers
- Working professionals
- Anyone interested in tech or problem-solving
- You don’t need to be an expert — beginners also join and learn.
1. Major Hackathon Platforms (Participate + Learn)
What is a Hackathon & Devpost
- The world’s biggest online hackathon hub
- Host to Microsoft, Meta, Google, NASA hackathons
- You can browse past winning projects to learn patterns
- Great for beginners to understand how hackathons work
HackerEarth
- Practice coding + join global hackathons
- Skill-based challenges for AI, ML, Web Dev, cybersecurity
- Lots of beginner-friendly events
MLH (Major League Hacking)
- University-level hackathons worldwide
- Workshops, webinars, starter kits, mentors
- Best place for first-timers
Hackathon.com
- Aggregator of hackathon events
- Both online and offline options
- Good for finding upcoming opportunities
Platforms to Learn Skills Needed for Hackathons
Codecademy
- Web dev
- APIs
- Databases
- JavaScript, Python
FreeCodeCamp
- Entirely free
- Project-based learning
- Great for building portfolio-ready apps for hackathons
What is a Hackathon Coursera
Courses from top universities on:
- ML
- Data engineering
- UX design
- Cloud (AWS, GCP, Azure)
Udemy
Short, practical courses on:
- App development
- Full-stack development
- Hackathon-specific skillsets (React, Flask, Node.js, etc.)
What is a Hackathon edX
- University-level professional certificates
- Ideal for deep conceptual understanding
Platforms to Practice Building Projects (Very Hackathon-Friendly)
Replit
- Build, deploy, collaborate in the browser
- Great for quick prototyping
- Many “mini-hackathons” inside Replit communities
GitHub Projects
- Explore open-source
- Study real-world project structures
- Essential for hackathon teamwork
Glitch
- Quick hosting for backend + frontend
- Perfect for rapid prototyping
Kaggle
- For data science hackathons
- Datasets + notebooks + machine learning practice
Platforms to Learn Design for Hackathons
Figma Learn
- Official tutorials to master UI/UX
- Most hackathon-winning projects have clean mockups & presentations
Canva Design School
- Learn to make pitch decks fast
- Helps polish final presentations
Community Platforms to Learn from Others
Discord + Reddit (Hackathon Communities)
- r/hackathons
- r/learnprogramming
- MLH Official Server
Often share practice problems, starter kits, and team formation channels.
Top 10 GitHub Repositories to Learn Machine Learning Deployment in 2025
Follow our WhatsApp group: Click here
Follow Us on Instagram: Click here
Follow our Telegram Channel: Click here
