The rules, in plain words.
This is version 2026-11-11 draft, a working draft. Before build week the full rules move to a public GitHub repo, where every change is a pull request anyone can read.
What you build
The free, open-source version of something people would otherwise pay for. One feature of a big product is a fair scope.
- Open source under an OSI-approved licence, in a public repo.
- No payments, paywalls or paid tiers during the hackathon.
- It has to run: a live link, or install steps the panel can follow.
- An alternative, not a copy. No copied code, assets or branding from the product you are replacing.
- You may start fresh or fork an existing open-source project. If you fork, say what you added.
When
- Build week starts Wednesday, November 25 at midnight Eastern.
- Submissions close at the end of Tuesday, December 1.
- Builders vote for three days. Voting closes at the end of Friday, December 4, and winners are announced the next day.
Who can enter
- A GitHub account at least 180 days old.
- At least one public repo created before the announcement.
- At least 10 contributions shown on your GitHub profile for the last 12 months.
- One entry per person. Teams enter through a GitHub organization.
Who wins
- Everyone who submits gets three votes for three different projects, not their own.
- Every ballot is public.
- Prizes are shares of the pool: 30%, 18%, 12%, five prizes of 6%, and 10% for Community Choice.
- Money pledged to a specific idea goes to the entry voted best at that idea, on top of any main prize.
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.
- 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.
- Every contribution and payout is public.
Cheating
A named volunteer panel reviews flagged entries and the top ten. It can disqualify only for a written rule, publishes its reasoning, and cannot rank anyone. A disqualified builder has 72 hours to appeal in public.