Is HackHQ a Devfolio alternative for student hackathons?

Yes. HackHQ has a Free tier (10 submissions, 3 judges, 50 voters) for testing, and offers a 50% educational discount for universities and student organizations on Starter and Pro. Devfolio remains free for student-run hackathons, which is a meaningful strength if cost is the primary constraint.

Does Devfolio support mobile judging?

Devfolio's judging guide lists a laptop as a prerequisite (verbatim: "A laptop (as the judging will be done on Devfolio)."). Their docs do not document mobile support either way. HackHQ is mobile-first by design, with judges scoring from a personalized link on any device. This matters most for in-person events where judges move between teams.

How does pricing compare to Devfolio?

HackHQ publishes prices ($0 free, $199 Starter, $599 Pro per event). Devfolio is free for student events and sales-led for business / corporate (no public pricing). For non-student events, HackHQ is faster to evaluate and budget.

Does HackHQ have score normalization across judges?

No. HackHQ uses weighted averages for Score Criteria and Borda Count for Top Picks, both of which are well-documented. Devfolio adds automatic normalization to flatten differences between strict and lenient judges. If normalization is critical for your event, that is a real Devfolio strength.

Does HackHQ support crypto prizes or wallet sign in?

No. HackHQ does not integrate with wallets or crypto rails. If your event needs Cheer, ETH tipping, or wallet based identity, Devfolio (or Taikai) is a better fit.

Can we migrate from Devfolio to HackHQ?

Yes. HackHQ supports bulk CSV import for submissions and judges. Email hello@hackhq.io and we will help map your fields and import historical data.

How does HackHQ make money?

Only from event organizers, per-event pricing ($0 free / $199 Starter / $599 Pro). Participants and judges submit and score via personalized links without creating HackHQ accounts, and we do not sell or share participant data with sponsors or third parties. Your participant list stays contained to your event.

Compare

Devfolio Alternative

HackHQ vs Devfolio. Mobile-First Judging, Global Audience.

Devfolio is deeply integrated into India's hackathon ecosystem and Web3 events. HackHQ is built for global, non-Web3 events with mobile-first judging and no required accounts.

Start Free See Pricing

The Short Version

HackHQ vs Devfolio in Four Bullets

Neither judges nor participants need HackHQ accounts. Devfolio requires accounts for both.

HackHQ has public pricing from $0. Devfolio is free for student events but sales-led for business / corporate.

Devfolio is strongest in India and Web3 events, with regional partnerships and Telegram and UPI integrations baked in. HackHQ defaults to English UI, no crypto layer, and works in your event currency.

Both have score normalization: Devfolio has automatic normalization across judges. HackHQ uses weighted averages and Borda Count.

At a Glance

HackHQ vs Devfolio at a Glance

Dimension	HackHQ	Devfolio
Public pricing	Yes, from $0	Free for students, sales for business
Mobile-friendly judging	Yes, no account	Laptop assumed in docs
Self-serve setup	30 minutes	Sales for corporate
Web3 / crypto features	Not built in	Cheer, ETH heavy
Score normalization	Weighted averages + Borda Count	Automatic normalization
Quadratic voting	No	Yes

Feature by Feature

The Full Comparison Table

Every meaningful feature, side by side. Hover any cell with extra detail for the source or context.

Pricing & Plans

Feature	HackHQ	Devfolio
Public pricing on website
Free plan available
Self-serve checkout for paid tiers
Pay per event	$199 / $599	Custom quote
14-day money-back guarantee
Customer support	Direct team email + video calls	Sales-led for business tier

Submissions

Feature	HackHQ	Devfolio
Custom submission form builder
Six question types		Tech stack, screenshots, video, code
Auto embeds (YouTube, Loom, GitHub, Twitter/X)		Video / code links
Bulk CSV import for submissions		Not publicly documented
CSV export of hackers / submissions
No participant accounts required
Application review workflow (offline events)	Manual via dashboard

Voting & Judging

Feature	HackHQ	Devfolio
Three voting modes (Judge / Audience / Hybrid)
Score Criteria + Top Picks methods		Score Criteria only (5 default)
Custom criteria	Unlimited, weighted	5 defaults, override available
Track and challenge specific criteria
Sponsor specific judging flow
Automatic score normalization
Quadratic voting for community
Three judge assignment modes		Limited assignment controls
No account required for judges
Mobile-friendly judging interface		Not documented
Bulk judge CSV import

Results & Awards

Feature	HackHQ	Devfolio
Live leaderboard during ceremony
Borda Count (ranked Top Picks)
Auto generated certificates		Not publicly documented
LinkedIn shareable verification		Devfolio profile based
CSV export with scores and feedback

Branding & Hosting

Feature	HackHQ	Devfolio
Custom branded landing page
Hosted on platform subdomain
Custom domain	On request
Project gallery after event

Web3

Feature	HackHQ	Devfolio
Cheer (onchain ETH tipping)
No crypto required		Crypto adjacent UX

Privacy & Business Model

How each platform makes money, and whose data is involved.

Feature	HackHQ	Devfolio
Revenue from organizer payments only		Sales-led for business
Participants and judges work without accounts

Pricing

How Pricing Compares

HackHQ

Public, transparent, pay per event

Free plan: 10 submissions, 3 judges, 50 audience voters
Starter: $199 per event for up to 50 submissions
Pro: $599 per event for up to 200 submissions, unlimited judges and audience voters
14-day money-back guarantee on every paid plan
No per-seat fees, ever

See Full Pricing

Devfolio

Free for students, sales-led for business

Free for student-run hackathons, a meaningful Devfolio strength
For business / corporate, contact partner@devfolio.co (no public pricing)
Free participation for builders
No transparent tiering published for paid plans

Source: devfolio.co

Where HackHQ Fits

HackHQ Fits Any Hackathon Workflow

You bring participants from wherever makes sense. We handle submissions, judging, and results. No vendor lock in for your audience.

Public hackathons

Pair HackHQ with Luma, Eventbrite, or whatever registration tool you already use. They handle signups and reminders. HackHQ handles submissions, judging, and live results.

HackHQ + Luma HackHQ + Eventbrite

Community hackathons

Use your existing channels for reach: Slack, Discord, your university list, alumni networks, sponsor newsletters. HackHQ never asks you to switch ecosystems or grow a third-party developer audience.

Internal hackathons

No registration needed. Your employees are your participants. HackHQ runs the event end-to-end (submissions, judging, certificates, results) without forcing you into anyone else's ecosystem.

When Devfolio is the right choice

You are running a student hackathon in India or partnering with the Indian developer ecosystem (ETHIndia, Polygon, and similar communities).
Free for student-run hackathons is a hard requirement and you do not need additional features.
You are running a Web3 / Ethereum native event and want Cheer (ETH tipping), Polygon partnerships, and crypto native UX.
You want quadratic voting for community prize distribution.
Automatic score normalization across judges is a must have for your event.

Why teams choose HackHQ over Devfolio

Mobile-first judging from any device

Judges score from any device including phones. Devfolio's judging guide directs judges to a laptop, and mobile support is not documented. For in-person events where judges roam between teams, mobile-first keeps the ceremony moving.

Built for a global audience by default

HackHQ defaults to global conventions: English UI, generic communication patterns, and your event currency. Devfolio is at its best in India and Web3 events; HackHQ fits naturally if your participants are elsewhere.

No Web3 coupling

No Cheer, no ETH tipping, no wallet integrations. If your event is not crypto native, the simpler experience wins.

LinkedIn certificates that follow the participant

Every team member gets a verifiable LinkedIn certificate with a public verification page. They post it to the platform employers actually look at. Devfolio offers participants a Devfolio builder profile, which lives within the Devfolio ecosystem. HackHQ gives participants a credential they can take with them.

Live results you can project with confidence

Real-time leaderboard. Updates the moment a judge submits a score. Filter by track or challenge to reveal winners on stage. No spreadsheet anxiety during the ceremony, no batch recalculations between awards.

Per project public share links

Every submission gets a clean public share URL safe to post on LinkedIn or send to sponsors. Devfolio relies on the project gallery.

Top Picks with Borda Count

Choose between weighted Score Criteria or ranked Top Picks. Devfolio offers Score Criteria with normalization, but lacks ranked voting methods.

Works with whatever registration you already use

Pair HackHQ with Luma, Eventbrite, your Slack, your university list, or run an internal event with no registration at all. We do not lock you into a single ecosystem.

Direct line to the team, not a sales queue

Email replies in hours, not days, on every plan. Need a video call? Just ask. Devfolio routes business inquiries through partner@devfolio.co; HackHQ replies come from the team building the product.