Quickstart

This page takes you from a new account to a tuned radar in a few minutes: sign up, answer a few onboarding questions, search the database, save a search and star events.

Create an account

Go to /sign-up and create an account. When you finish, HackathonRadar opens onboarding at /onboarding. Onboarding only runs once, for new accounts. If you sign in to an account that already exists, you go straight to Browse.

Tune your radar in onboarding

The first screen, Welcome to HackathonRadar, asks what brings you here. Your answer decides the next steps and what HackathonRadar shows you first. Use Back to return to an earlier step.

What each step does:

• Topics. Pick as many as you like. A Hot tag marks topics that are trending right now.
• Format. Remote & In person (recommended), In person only or Remote only. If you pick Remote only, the location step is skipped.
• Location. Narrow from Region to Country to City, or leave it on Anywhere. A panel shows how many hackathons HackathonRadar finds in that area in a typical year.
• Goal (sponsors only). Innovation scouting, Talent & recruiting, Brand & DevRel or Partnerships.
• Matches. A short list of upcoming events that fit your picks, each with a switch. Every match starts switched on. Switch off anything you do not want, then press the button to save the rest as favorites.

The matches step also has an Email me new matches switch, on by default. Leaving it on turns on New hackathon alerts in notification settings.

When you finish, HackathonRadar creates a saved search from your picks (called "My hackathon radar" for hackers and "My judging opportunities" for judges; sponsors get one named after their company). The last screen links to it under We saved you a search and sends you to Browse, Judge Opportunities or the sponsor tools.

Run your first search

Open Browse (/database). Type a keyword or filter by format, category and country. Switch between the table, calendar and map views from the same page. On the Free plan, upcoming events are limited to those running now or starting in the next 7 days. The full calendar is part of Dev Pro.

The details of every filter are in Search and filters.

Save a search and turn on alerts

1. Filter the database

   Apply at least one filter or search term. The Save search button only appears once the page is filtered.

2. Save it

   Press Save search, give it a name (for example "AI hackathons in London") and press Save search again. You land on the saved search, and it appears under Saved searches in the sidebar.

3. Turn on notifications

   On a paid plan, press Get notifications on the saved search. It opens Saved Search Notifications, where you switch the search to Active and choose channels. Email is selected by default.

New saved searches start paused, so nothing is sent until you switch one on. Saved search email alerts need Dev Pro. On Free, the button reads Notify me and explains the upgrade. Slack, Discord and custom webhook channels need Enterprise. More in Saved searches and alerts.

Star your favorites

Every event has a star button. Press it to add the event to Favorites; press it again to remove it. If you are signed out, the star sends you to sign in first. See Favorites.

Find your way around the sidebar

Your name and plan sit at the bottom of the sidebar. Click them to open the account menu: Settings, Account, Billing & plan and Sign out. See Account and settings.

Next steps