Most hackathons want you to sprint.
Hacktober wants you to last.
This isn’t 24 hours of caffeine and panic.
It’s 31 days of stubborn building, soft deadlines, and real momentum.
Maximally Hacktober is for the builders who won’t quit — the ones who carry half-finished projects in their heads, the ones who say “next weekend” too often, the ones who want to finally finish.
Through October, you’ll work at your own pace, chase down sparks, and document the chaos. Whether you’re polishing an old repo, starting something wild, or just proving you can stick with it — Hacktober gives you the season.
Because shipping in October is not about polish.
It’s about process.
It’s about commitment.
It’s about building through the fall.
Build Through the Fall
October isn’t about polish. It’s about process.
Your ideas are leaves falling apart — and somehow, still beautiful.
Whether you’re fixing your half-done project, starting a wild experiment, or just trying to finish something — Hacktober gives you the time.
👥 WHO SHOULD JOIN?- Makers who hate 24-hour rush
- Indie hackers with abandoned builds
- Designers who want to actually finish
- Students balancing school + dreams
- People who keep saying “I’ll do it next weekend”
⚙️ FORMAT- 31-day submission window (Oct 1–31)
- Solo or teams up to 4
- Any tools, tech, or format
- No calls, no prep phase
- Beginners, no-coders, artists welcome
🔨 HOW IT WORKS- Pick one thing to build
- Work at your own pace all October
- Submit by Oct 31, 11:59 PM IST
- Optional demo video
- Judging happens post-Oct → results at grand ceremony(November)
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| Oct 1 | Submissions open |
| Oct 31 | Submissions close |
| Nov 2025 | Winners announced |
🌏 Part of the Grand Indian Hackathon Season
This hackathon is part of the Grand Indian Hackathon Season (GIHS) — a three-month sprint featuring 10 unique hackathons.
All prizes feed into an ever-expanding season-wide prize pool, currently at ₹17,00,000+. Each hackathon has its own winners and shoutouts, but the bigger rewards are revealed at the Grand Indian Hackathon Ceremony in November, where the best projects from across all events are celebrated together.
Because the prize pool grows as we bring in more partners, sponsors, and communities, we encourage participants to join the Discord server for the latest updates on prizes, collabs, and surprise drops throughout the season.
Requirements
- Prototype / product link (GitHub, Notion, Figma, etc.)
- Write-up answering:
- What were you building?
- How did it evolve?
- Why does it matter?
- Optional 2-min video
- Optional bonus: chaos diary, aesthetic screenshots, funny bugs
Prizes
Chaos Diary Mention
₹8200 worth of tech credits.
This recognition goes to the funniest, rawest, or most aesthetic build log or screenshot collection. It celebrates the messy journey behind the final project. Winners get a certificate, social spotlights, and optional LOR.
Falling Leaf Recognition
₹8200 worth of tech credits.
For a project that didn’t just finish but left something poetic behind — an idea that was fragile but memorable. Winners receive a certificate, Maximally-wide shoutouts, and an optional LOR.
October Flame Award
₹8200 worth of tech credits.
Some projects burn with unusual passion, even if they’re rough around the edges. This award is for the submission that radiates fire and urgency. Winners get a certificate, Maximally social features, and an optional LOR.
The Last-Minute Sprint
₹8200 worth of tech credits.
Because some people always wait until October 31st. This recognition celebrates the team that shipped something amazing at the very last moment. Winners receive a certificate, Maximally-wide shoutouts, and optional LOR.
Builder of the Month
For the hacker who *stayed, shipped, and saw it through.
This award honours the builder who carried their idea across all 31 days — persistent, evolving, and grounded in craft. Whether they revived an old dream or built something from scratch, they defined what Hacktober is about: endurance and creation.
Perks: ₹3,000 cash,₹1,20,000 worth of tech credits. official Maximally certificate, platform-wide shoutouts, and a personalized LOR on request.
Midnight Revival Award
For the project that best captures the *soul of October*: late-night coffees, fallen leaves, and rebirth through chaos. This prize celebrates those who turned exhaustion into beauty — builders who didn’t quit when the night got long.
Perks: ₹2,000 cash,₹62000 worth of tech credits. Maximally certificate, social feature, and an optional LOR.
Devpost Achievements
Submitting to this hackathon could earn you:
Judges
Rishul Chanana
Founder @ Maximally
Sergey Polyashov
Principal Software Engineering Manager @ Microsoft
Vishal Padh
Sr. Software Architect
Vikranth Kumar Shivaa
Founding Engineer @ Fig
Nikita Klimov
Sr. Software QA Engineer contractor at ADP, Inc.
Shreesh Agarwal
Sr Business Analyst, McKinsey and Company
Rakesh Pullayikodi
Principal Software Engineer @Palo Alto Networks
Raja Sekhar Rao Dheekonda
Distinguished Engineer @Dreadnode
Tanmay Kejriwal
Founder @ MakeX
Sahil Deshpande
Software Engineer @ Meta
Ashwini Joshi
Senior Machine Learning engineer @Warner Bros. Discovery
Senthilkumaran Rajagopalan
Tech Lead Manager, Video Recommendations, Meta
Prateek Batla
Product Manager at Meta
Venkataram Poosapati
Senior Data Engineer, Atlassian
Ruslan Ibrahimov
Senior Software Engineer at VoiceLove
Bohdan Churik
Software Engineer at VoiceLove
Jay rungta
Engineering Manager @ Google
Ashish Singh
Sr. IT Architect @ Global Payments
Sai Charan Reddy Nevuri
Software Engineer @ AWS
Pablo Rios
Software Engineer @ Metal
Abhishek Shrivastava
Senior Staff Software Engineer @ Google
Yogiraj Awati
Engineering Manager@Instacart
Krishna Arjun Saravanan
Senior Software Engineer @ Bloomberg
Abhinay Kumar Reddy Seella
Sr Software Engineer @ Roku
Jay Bharat Mehta
Senior Software Engineer @ Snowflake
Alexandr Dergunov
Software Engineer @Meta
Anastasia Glavatchi
Head of Marketing
Aleksandr Ruban
Marketing Expert in the Game Industry
Assiya Jaisheva
Design Lead
Aleksandr Karavanin
Production Engineer at Meta
Oleg Skliarenko
Co-founder, Chief Product Officer at DRCT
Dmitry Bobolev
Founder of Froxy Labs
Sumit Saha
Software Engineer at Microsoft
Puneet Ramaul
Senior Sales Director at HCLTech
Akash Jindal
Product Owner at Llyods Banking Group
Karthikeyan Sundaram
Backend Software Engineer at WithU
Anil Kumar
Software Engineer at Paua
Arvind K Gautam
ASEAN Lead at Avaya
Judging Criteria
-
Build Depth – 30%
Did you go beyond hello world? Real substance, not just surface. -
Originality (25%)
Fresh, weird, or delightfully unexpected — not just another todo app. -
Commitment Over Time (20%)
We’re looking for steady October energy — logs, updates, visible growth. -
Storytelling (15%)
How you share matters: your write-up, chaos diary, screenshots, even your demo vibe. -
October Vibe (10%)
Does it feel like Hacktober? Autumn chaos, cozy effort, seasonal spirit.
Questions? Email the hackathon manager
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