Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know about competing, organizing, judging, and building on Hackerzone.
Builders & Participating
Who can participate in Hackerzone hackathons?
Hackerzone hackathons are open to developers, ML engineers, students, designers, and AI enthusiasts worldwide. Unless an event explicitly specifies regional criteria, anyone with an internet connection can participate.
How does team formation work?
You can compete solo or form a team (typically 1 to 4 members, depending on the hackathon's rules). You can toggle 'Looking for team' on your profile or use the hackathon's participants tab to connect with peers.
Can I use pre-existing code or libraries?
Yes, you can build on existing open-source libraries, frameworks, SDKs, and foundational AI models. However, the core application logic and new features submitted for the competition must be developed during the hackathon window.
What is the 7-Section Project Story format?
To help judges evaluate projects objectively, Hackerzone encourages a structured project breakdown: Elevator Pitch, Inspiration, Architecture, Models/APIs Used, Challenges Overcome, What We Learned, and What's Next.
Intellectual Property & Prizes
Who owns the intellectual property of my submission?
You retain 100% ownership of everything you build during public hackathons. Hackerzone and event sponsors do not claim ownership of your intellectual property unless an enterprise challenge explicitly requires custom terms that you agree to before registering.
How are cash prizes disbursed?
Prizes are administered and disbursed directly by the respective event organizers. Winners complete verification of identity and banking/tax details following the conclusion of judging.
Organizers & Hosting
How do I host a hackathon on Hackerzone?
You can submit an inquiry via our Host a Hackathon form or access our guided event creation wizard. Hackerzone supports public challenges, university leagues, model benchmarks, and private internal hackathons for enterprise engineering teams.
How does rubric judging work?
Organizers configure weighted scoring criteria (e.g. Technical Complexity 35%, Originality 25%, UI/UX Polish 20%, Impact 20%). Assigned judges receive direct portal queues to score submissions without spreadsheet errors.
Can we run private internal hackathons?
Yes. Hackerzone Teams allows engineering organizations to restrict access via enterprise SSO (Okta, Google Workspace, Azure AD) so projects, demo links, and internal discussions stay strictly confidential.
Security & Verification
How does Hackerzone verify code freshness?
Our automated ingestion pipeline analyzes git commit timestamps, repo diff creation windows, and public repository freshness to protect genuine creators and ensure fair play.
How is builder data secured?
All network traffic is encrypted via TLS 1.3. User data is protected by Postgres Row-Level Security (RLS) policies at the database layer, and isolated code evaluation sandboxes run in ephemeral microVMs.
Have a question not listed here?
Our team is available to assist with hackathon registration, judging questions, or custom enterprise requirements.