Questions.

Who holds the money?

Open Source Collective, an independent nonprofit, will hold the pool once it approves our application. Until then there is no pool and nobody can pay in. Antipaywall and its organizer never hold it and never take a cut. Every contribution and payout is on a public ledger on Open Collective.

Why Open Collective?

People can pay with an ordinary card, the money sits with a nonprofit instead of the organizer, and the ledger is public and readable by this site.

Does Antipaywall make money from this?

No. Not from entries, not from the pool, not from sponsors. It is free to enter, nothing is sold, and the organizer puts money in rather than taking any out.

Then where does the 10% go?

Antipaywall takes nothing: no cut, no fee, no profit. Open Source Collective, the independent nonprofit that will hold the money, keeps 10% of each contribution to cover its own costs, and the card processor takes its fee. Everything else is the prize pool.

What is a pledge?

A public promise, not a payment. Pledges are listed separately and never counted as money in the pool. When the pool opens, you pay by card.

How are winners picked?

By the builders. Everyone who submits gets three votes for three different projects, and every ballot is published. A volunteer panel checks only for cheating.

Can I fund one specific idea?

Yes. Post it or find it on the ideas page and put money on it. That money goes to the entry builders vote best at that idea.

Can I fork an existing project?

Yes, if it is open source. Say what you added. Only work done during build week counts.

Is this against the other hackathon?

No. Enter both if you like. We think a hackathon should be free, public and run by its builders, so we built one that way.