- NowJoin, follow ideas, back the pool
- Nov 25Build week starts
- Dec 1Submissions close at midnight ET
- Dec 5Voting ends, winners announced
Every dollar, out in the open.
The prize pool is whatever the community puts in. Nothing here is typed in by hand: each figure comes from the public ledger and links back to it.
$0
in the pool right now
- Builders joined
- 0
- Pledged, not yet paid
- $0
- Organizer's match
- First $500, matching up to $2,500
Contributions
Opens on host approval
The first line is open.
The pool opens as soon as Open Source Collective approves our collective. Until then you can pledge. Pledges are listed publicly and never counted as money in the pool.
Make a pledgeAntipaywall takes nothing. Open Source Collective, the independent nonprofit holding the money, keeps 10% for its costs, and the card processor takes its fee.
Wish something was free? Put money on it.
Back the main pool, or back one idea. Money on an idea is a bounty: it goes to the entry that builders vote best at it, on top of any main prize.
- Post itName the thing you wish was free. We show you what already exists, so you can say what is missing.
- Follow itOthers follow the ideas they want too. The most-wanted rise to the top.
- Back itPut money on a specific idea. It goes to whoever builds the best version.
Two lanes. They only meet at the payout.
The money
- Anyone funds it, by cardAny amount, on Open Collective. Antipaywall takes nothing. Open Source Collective, the independent nonprofit holding the money, keeps 10% for its costs, and the card processor takes its fee.
- An independent nonprofit holds itOpen Source Collective holds the pool. Antipaywall never touches it and never takes a cut.
- Every dollar is listed hereEach contribution and payout links to its entry on the public ledger.
The builders
- Join free with GitHubOne click. No essay, no pitch, no fee, no upsell.
- Build in public for 7 daysA public repo under an open-source licence. Commit history is checked automatically.
- Builders pick the winnersEveryone who submits gets three votes. Every ballot is published.
Nine winners, not one.
Prizes are shares of whatever the pool reaches, locked in the rules before the start. Bounties on specific ideas stack on top.
Side by side.
Another hackathon is running this month. Here is how the two are set up. Pick the one that suits you, or enter both.
| Ship or Die $100K Hackathon | Antipaywall | |
|---|---|---|
| Goal | Most profit in 30 days | Build a free, open-source version of something people overpay for |
| Length | 30 days | 7 days to build, 3 days to vote |
| Entry | Was $99 to $149, now free | Free, always. No paid submission, no upsell after signup |
| Prize money | Sponsor-funded, held by organizers | Community and sponsor-funded, held by an independent nonprofit. The organizer takes nothing |
| Who picks winners | Organizers, "decisions are final" | Public vote by verified builders, ballots published |
| Proof nothing was built early | Domain checked on the Wayback Machine | Public repo, commit history checked automatically |
| Rules | Can change, announced by organizers | Public GitHub repo, every change is a pull request with history |
| Prizes | 1st $100k, then a phone and a laptop | Pool split across 9 winners, plus bounties on specific ideas |
| Cheating review | Organizers, private | Named volunteer panel, reasoning published, appeal window |