Overview
STRANGER BUILDS is a Halloween hackathon hosted by NERDCONF, described on the event page as the nerdiest Halloween hackathon. This listing covers the online edition, which is open to builders joining from anywhere. The format combines one day of building on Saturday, October 31, with seven days online to ship a project. The organizers frame the goal around finding your first users within seven days, meeting other builders, and building something unusual that real people will actually use.
Format and schedule
The event takes place on Saturday, October 31, 2026. The page explains that the day is available in three ways: in person in San Francisco, in person in Melbourne, or online from anywhere. The listing gives a start time of 10:00 AM Pacific Time and an end time of 6:00 PM Pacific Time on October 31. After that day, participants have seven days online to build and launch their projects.
What you can build
The event invites participants to bring an idea to life and to build something strange in the spirit of Halloween. The emphasis is on shipping a working product and getting it into the hands of real users within the event window. The page does not list specific tracks or technical requirements. It states that challenges will be announced soon.
Prizes
The event offers US$10,000 in cash prizes and credits. The detailed challenges that determine how prizes are awarded have not yet been announced.
Sponsors and partners
- Base44 (Main Sponsor): A platform for describing an app in plain language and receiving a working version with backend, authentication, and hosting included.
- Fetch.ai (Main Sponsor): Tools for building AI agents that can find each other and carry out tasks.
- Vonage: APIs for messaging, voice, and video that can be embedded in applications.
- Shelled AI (Community Partner): A way to design, build, test, and ship software using any AI model.
- MLAI AUS (Community Partner, Melbourne): The partner organization for the Melbourne location.
Judging
Judge announcements are coming soon. Anyone interested in judging or sponsoring the event can contact hey@nerdconf.com.
Registration
General Admission is listed at no cost. Registration is subject to host approval, so participants submit a request to join through the event page. At the time of the crawl, the page showed 26 people going.
About the host
NERDCONF runs hackathons in San Francisco and in other locations around the world, with a global network of more than 25,000 builders. Its most recent event was Burning Token, held in September 2026 in San Francisco and online. The page also links to other editions of Stranger Builds, including the San Francisco and Melbourne events.
FAQ
Is the event free to join? The listed ticket is General Admission, with a price of zero.
Does registration require approval? Yes. Registration is subject to host approval.
Can I take part from outside San Francisco or Melbourne? Yes. The page states that the day can be joined online from anywhere, followed by seven days of online building.
When will the challenges and judges be revealed? The challenges are to be announced soon, and judge announcements are coming.
