Competitions & Prizes

Competitions define what participants are competing for. Each competition has its own set of awards (1st Place, 2nd Place, etc.) and optional prize money. Click the Prizes card on the Event Page tab to open the Manage Prizes modal.

HackHQ has three competition types. Choosing the right one depends on how you want your event structured:

Overall

Every submission is automatically entered. Use this for your main prize, like "Grand Prize" or "Best Overall". Most events have at least one Overall competition. You don't need to configure anything special: all submitted projects compete.

Track

Tracks are mutually exclusive categories. Each team picks one track and competes only within that group. Use tracks when you want participants to choose a focus area for their project.

For example, if your hackathon has "Best Web App", "Best Mobile App", and "Best Hardware Hack" as tracks, each team commits to one. This ensures fair comparisons within each category.

Challenge

Challenges are non-exclusive prizes that any team can enter, regardless of their track. A single project can qualify for as many challenges as it meets the criteria for. These work well for sponsor prizes or skill-based awards.

For example, a sponsor might offer "Best Use of Their API" as a challenge. Any team using that API can enter, whether they're in the Web, Mobile, or Hardware track.

Awards and prize money

Each competition comes with awards (1st Place, 2nd Place, etc.) that you can customize. Add prize money and item descriptions (like "Trophy" or "Certificate") for each award. Click Add Competition to create new competitions, and Add award within each one to add more placement levels.