Overview
ForgeHacks Online 2026 is a student-focused, online hackathon about applying artificial intelligence to real-world problems. Participants are challenged to build practical AI projects that address genuine needs in areas such as healthcare, education, and everyday life, with an emphasis on ideas that could be used, tested, or developed further after the event. The event runs from October 1 to October 10, 2026, and submissions are due by October 10 at 12:00 p.m. EDT.
The hackathon is organized by a student-led team and emphasizes learning, mentorship, and building useful work. It is open to students who are above the legal age of majority in their country of residence. Companies and professional organizations are not eligible. Participation is listed as open internationally, subject to standard exceptions shown in the full rules.
Tracks and project brief
Projects must be working AI-powered solutions that address a real-world problem within one of six tracks: AI + Healthcare, AI + Education, AI + Climate, AI + Business, AI + Cybersecurity, or AI + Creativity. Track prompts are expected closer to the event so participants begin on equal footing. Projects should demonstrate meaningful AI or machine-learning use, such as models, APIs, agents, computer vision, natural-language processing, or recommendation systems, and explain the value they could provide to users or communities.
Teams, participation, and submissions
Participants can work individually or form teams of one to four students. To get started, register on Devpost, join the ForgeHacks Discord, find teammates there if needed, and watch for track prompts and kickoff announcements. The organizers say partner organizations will provide tools, credits, APIs, and other resources for the build session; some resources can be redeemed through Discord.
Each submission must include a project title and short problem-and-solution description, its selected official track, and a public demo video of no more than two to four minutes showing the problem and how the project works. Teams must also provide a GitHub repository with source code and a clear README, a written description covering the problem, target users, technical approach, components, and expected real-world impact, plus screenshots, an architecture diagram, or a deployment link for testing. Incomplete entries missing a video or code are not eligible for judging.
Judging, mentors, and prizes
Judges evaluate real-world impact and relevance, technical implementation and AI use, innovation, execution and completeness, and presentation and communication. The listed panel includes professionals from organizations such as Barclays, NVIDIA, Apple, Electronic Arts, Microsoft, and Amazon. The page also identifies several judges as mentors.
The page lists more than $868,000 in total prize value, including cash and sponsor-provided non-cash benefits. Overall awards include first, second, and third place; additional recognition is offered for each of the six tracks and for an Audience Favorite, selected by public vote on Devpost October 10–11. Participant benefits include product credits and other sponsor resources, subject to availability and redemption limits. The listed overall prize values include non-cash items and should not be read as equivalent cash awards.
Format and contact
ForgeHacks is conducted online, with Devpost used for registration and project submissions and Discord for community communication. For questions, participants can email the hackathon manager at team@forgehacks.dev.
