Is HackHQ a free Eventornado alternative?

HackHQ has a Free tier (10 submissions, 3 judges, 50 audience voters) with no credit card required. Eventornado has no public free tier per third-party listings. For paid tiers HackHQ charges per event ($199 Starter, $599 Pro), with prices published on the website. Universities and nonprofits qualify for a 50% discount.

How does pricing compare to Eventornado?

HackHQ publishes prices ($0 free, $199 Starter, $599 Pro per event). Eventornado is demo-first and does not publish dollar figures (their primary CTA is "Book a demo"). Sales-led pricing in this category typically does two things: it lands well above HackHQ Pro per event, and it scales with your company size and perceived budget rather than what the platform costs to deliver. Same product, different bill. HackHQ has one published price for everyone. If your buyer specifically needs a managed engagement with a dedicated CSM, Eventornado may be a better fit.

Which platform fits an enterprise procurement process better?

Eventornado is sales-led with extended onboarding, designed for procurement teams that move slowly and want a managed vendor relationship. If your IT and legal teams expect that style of engagement, it is purpose-built for it. HackHQ is built for organizers who want transparent pricing, no demo wall, and a polished event live in 30 minutes. Organizers often pick HackHQ specifically to skip the procurement cycle. If you need a formal security review, Data Processing Agreement, or vendor questionnaire support, email hello@hackhq.io and we will work through it directly with your IT team.

Does HackHQ have built-in team chat like Eventornado?

No. HackHQ deliberately does not bundle a chat product. The reasoning: most teams already use Slack, Discord, Microsoft Teams, or a community channel they prefer. Forcing them into a new chat tool inside the hackathon platform adds friction. If you do not have a chat tool yet, that is a real Eventornado advantage out of the box.

Can I migrate from Eventornado to HackHQ?

Yes. HackHQ supports bulk CSV import for submissions and judges. Email hello@hackhq.io and we will help map your fields and time the migration around your next event.

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. Eventornado appears similarly focused on event organizers, so this is not a contrast we lean on heavily.

Compare

Eventornado Alternative

HackHQ vs Eventornado. Public Pricing. No Demo Required.

Eventornado is the established, sales-led option with managed onboarding and an enterprise logo wall. HackHQ is the modern platform built for the same job: public pricing from $0, live in 30 minutes, real-time judging engine, mobile-first throughout. Better tech, lower budget, no procurement cycle.

Start Free See Pricing

The Short Version

HackHQ vs Eventornado in Four Bullets

HackHQ pricing is public from $0 to $599 per event. Eventornado is demo-first with no public pricing. Sales-led pricing in this category typically lands well above HackHQ Pro at $599 per event.

HackHQ is built on a modern stack and live in 30 minutes self-serve. Eventornado requires a demo and assisted setup, often weeks before your event launches.

HackHQ judges and participants work without accounts via personalized links. Eventornado uses a unified workspace with accounts for everyone.

Eventornado has enterprise logos and a managed-services motion. HackHQ has a modern platform, transparent pricing, and a fast self-serve path. Different positions, very different cost.

At a Glance

HackHQ vs Eventornado at a Glance

Dimension	HackHQ	Eventornado
Public pricing	Yes, from $0	Sales-only, demo required
Free tier	10 submissions, no card	No free tier
Time to launch	30 minutes self-serve	Demo + assisted setup
White-glove onboarding	Self-serve, docs first	Included (team sets it up)
Mobile-friendly judging	Yes, no account	Browser-based, accounts
Best for	Self-serve teams, fast launch	Procurement-led enterprise rollouts

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	Eventornado
Public pricing on website
Free plan available
Self-serve checkout
Pay per event	$199 / $599	Custom quote
14-day money-back guarantee

Setup & Onboarding

Feature	HackHQ	Eventornado
Time to launch first event	30 minutes	Demo + assisted setup
Self-serve event creation
No demo call required
White-glove onboarding
Customer support	Direct team email + video calls	24/7 support tier

Submissions

Feature	HackHQ	Eventornado
Custom submission form builder
Six question types		Not publicly documented
Auto embeds (YouTube, Loom, GitHub, Twitter/X)		Not publicly documented
Bulk CSV import for submissions		Not publicly documented
No participant accounts required
Built-in team chat
Built-in mentor / feedback loops

Voting & Judging

Feature	HackHQ	Eventornado
Three voting modes (Judge / Audience / Hybrid)		Not publicly documented
Score Criteria + Top Picks methods		Not publicly documented
Weighted criteria (custom weights)		Not publicly documented
Track and challenge specific criteria		Not publicly documented
Three judge assignment modes		Not publicly documented
No account required for judges
Mobile-friendly judging interface		Browser-based
Bulk judge CSV import		Not publicly documented
Full vote audit data		Marketed, not specified

Results & Awards

Feature	HackHQ	Eventornado
Live leaderboard during ceremony		Not publicly documented
Borda Count (ranked Top Picks)		Not publicly documented
Auto generated certificates		Not publicly documented
LinkedIn shareable verification		Not publicly documented
CSV export with scores and feedback		Not publicly documented
Organizer analytics		Marketed, not specified

Branding & Hosting

Feature	HackHQ	Eventornado
Custom branded landing page
Custom domain	On request	Marketed, not detailed
Multi-language interface	English	English only

Integrations & Enterprise

Feature	HackHQ	Eventornado
Discord / Slack / MS Teams chat integration	Bring your own
GDPR compliant
Enterprise security review on request		Demo required
API access	On request	Not publicly documented

Privacy & Account Model

How participants and judges interact with the platform.

Feature	HackHQ	Eventornado
Participants submit without accounts
Judges score without accounts
LinkedIn certificates participants can take with them

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

Eventornado

Sales-led, demo required

No public pricing on the website (no /pricing page)
Primary CTA is "Book a demo"
Per-event pricing model (figures not publicly disclosed)
White-glove onboarding included (their team sets up the environment)
White-label and custom domain available, pricing not public
No free tier per third-party listings
Sales-led pricing in this category typically starts well above HackHQ Pro at $599 per event

Source: eventornado.com

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 Eventornado is the right choice

Your buyer needs Fortune 500 social proof. Eventornado has European Commission, Mercedes-Benz, BBVA, AstraZeneca, and FC Arsenal as logo customers. That kind of credibility moves enterprise procurement.
You want hands on setup support. Their team sets up the initial environment for you, which is helpful if your organizing committee has no time and wants a vendor to lean on.
You need built-in team chat and mentor feedback loops out of the box (rather than pairing with Slack or Discord).
Their track record across 200+ events is a relevant data point if your procurement team weighs vendor history heavily.

Why teams choose HackHQ over Eventornado

Public pricing, no demo required

See the price on the website ($199 Starter or $599 Pro per event), sign up with a credit card, run your event. No demo, no back-and-forth quotes, no week-long sales cycle. When platforms hide pricing in this category, the quote tends to scale with your company size and perceived budget rather than the platform itself. Same product, very different bill depending on who is buying. HackHQ is the same published price for everyone.

Free tier you can actually try

Test the platform with up to 10 submissions, 3 judges, and 50 voters before paying anything. No credit card required, no demo gating evaluation.

No accounts for judges or participants

Judges and participants work via personalized links. No signup, no password, no SSO. Eventornado uses a unified workspace model that requires accounts.

Your participant list stays yours

We make money only from organizer event payments. No recruiting product, no talent directory, no participant data resold.

LinkedIn certificates for every participant

Every team member walks away with a verifiable LinkedIn certificate they can post to their professional profile, with a public verification page employers can check. Eventornado does not bundle a credential participants can take with them. This is one of the simplest ways to drive higher participation in your next event.

Direct line to the team, not a support tier

Email replies in hours, not days, on every plan. Need a video call? Just ask, no upgrade required. Eventornado markets 24/7 support as part of their managed engagement.

Self-serve, live in 30 minutes

You do not need a vendor to set up your environment. Smart defaults plus a clean dashboard get you live the same afternoon. White-glove onboarding is great, but it costs time you may not have.

Live results that work under pressure

Real-time leaderboard with weighted averages and Borda Count. Updates the moment a judge submits a score. No spreadsheet formulas to break at the worst moment, no batch recalculations between awards.

Modern judging engine

Three voting modes, two voting methods (Score Criteria and Top Picks with Borda Count), three judge assignment modes, weighted criteria, track and challenge specific criteria. Configure once, trust the result.

A modern platform built for the same job

Real-time leaderboards, mobile-first UX, live cache invalidation, instant share links per project, auto-generated certificates with public verification pages. Eventornado has track record and enterprise logos; HackHQ has the platform and the day-to-day UX organizers and participants actually like using. Same hackathons, modern stack, fraction of the budget.

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.

Common Questions