Finding hackathons
Search and filters
Every filter on the hackathon database, what it matches, the plan it needs, and the collections that cover the rest
The database at /database narrows down with the Filters button in the toolbar. Filters work on every plan. They narrow the events your plan can see: on the free plan that is hackathons running now or starting in the next 7 days, and Dev Pro searches the full calendar (see The free 7-day horizon).
Build a filter
Open Filters
On /database, click Filters. The panel is titled Advanced Filters. The button shows on wider screens; on a phone, use Collections instead.Add a condition
Click Add Condition. Each row has a field, an operator (such as is, contains or is at least) and a value.Combine conditions
With two or more rows, the button at the top switches between Match All (every condition must hold) and Match Any (one is enough).Clear
Remove a row with its X, or click Clear All.
The Filters button shows how many conditions are active. Filters live in the page URL, so you can bookmark or share a filtered list, and Save search stores it as a saved search.
Available filter fields
| Field | What it matches | Values |
|---|---|---|
| Title | The event name | Text |
| Description | The event description | Text |
| Type | The format | Online, In-Person, Hybrid |
| Country | The country of the venue | Pick from the countries in the database |
| City | The city of the venue | Text |
| Venue | The venue name | Text |
| Participants | The participant count, where the platform publishes one | Number |
| Prize Pool (USD) | The total prize pool converted to US dollars | Number |
| Student Only | Open to students only | Yes, No |
| Cash Prizes | Offers cash prizes | Yes, No |
| Vibe-code Friendly | Welcomes AI coding tools such as Cursor, Claude, v0 and bolt.new | Yes, No |
| Language | The event language, as a code | Text, for example EN or ES |
| Categories | The topic tags on the event | Text, contains or does not contain |
Text fields offer is, is not, contains, does not contain, is empty and is not empty. contains ignores case. Number fields offer is, is not, is greater than, is less than, is at least, is at most, is empty and is not empty. Pick lists such as Type and Country offer is, is not, is one of and is not one of.
Audience filters
Three more fields filter on the estimated audience profile. They only appear on Enterprise:
| Field | Values |
|---|---|
| Audience Type | Mostly Students, Mostly Professionals, Academic, Startup Community, Mixed, Corporate Innovation, Open Source Community, Government |
| Experience Level | Beginner, Student, Early Career, Mid Career, Senior, Mixed |
| Inclusivity Signal | Women in Tech, LGBTQ+, First Hackathon Friendly, Beginner Friendly, High School, Accessibility Focused, Underrepresented Groups |
Find a specific kind of event
| You want | On the database | As a ready-made list |
|---|---|---|
| Online, in person or hybrid | Type is Online, In-Person or Hybrid | /discover/online, /discover/in-person |
| A country or city | Country is ..., or City contains ... | City pages, Europe |
| A topic | Categories contains, for example, "blockchain" | Category pages |
| Student events | Student Only is Yes | /discover/students |
| Beginner-friendly | Experience Level is Beginner, or Inclusivity Signal contains Beginner Friendly Enterprise | /discover/beginner, free |
| AI tools allowed | Vibe-code Friendly is Yes | /discover/vibe-code-friendly |
| Prizes | Cash Prizes is Yes, or Prize Pool (USD) is at least an amount | /discover/with-prizes |
| Travel support | No filter field: show the Travel Support column and sort by it | /discover/with-travel-support |
| A date range | Pick a view (Upcoming, Ongoing, Active, Ended) or open the calendar on a month | Month pages, /discover/this-week, /discover/weekend |
The Travel Support column reads Covered, Partial or Not Covered. A dash means the event page does not say.
Search by keyword
There is no single search box on the database. To find events by name or topic, add a Title or Description condition with contains.
You can also search from the URL: add search to the address, for example /database?search=climate. It matches the term anywhere in the title, description, venue, city or country.
Filter from the URL
The database also reads these parameters, which is how links from other pages open a pre-filtered list:
| Parameter | Example | Effect |
|---|---|---|
search | search=climate | Keyword search, as above |
type | type=online | online, in-person or hybrid |
country | country=Germany | Exact country name |
category | category=Fintech | Exact category tag, as shown on the event |
studentOnly | studentOnly=true | Student-only events |
upcomingWeek, ongoing, upcoming, active, ended | ongoing=true | Picks the view. The last three need Dev Pro |
sortBy, sortOrder | sortBy=start_at&sortOrder=asc | Sort column and direction |
view, month | view=calendar&month=2026-12 | Opens the calendar on a month. Other months need Dev Pro |
Why a filter returns nothing
- The 7-day window. On the free plan an empty list often means the matches start more than 7 days out. Dev Pro shows every upcoming event.
- Missing data. Fields such as Participants, Prize Pool (USD) and Language are only filled when the platform publishes them. A condition like Prize Pool (USD) is at least 1000 leaves out events with no prize listed.
- Exact matches. Country and Type match exact values. City names vary between platforms, so try City contains with a short form of the name.
- Match All. With several conditions, Match All needs every one to hold. Switch to Match Any to widen the list.