If you searched "wemakedevs hackathon," you're probably trying to answer one of three things: what WeMakeDevs actually is, whether there's something open you can join right now, or whether it's worth your time at all. Here's the direct version. WeMakeDevs isn't a single hackathon, it's a community that runs a rotating slate of them, almost always free, almost always open online to anyone regardless of where you study.
Who's actually running this
WeMakeDevs was started by Kunal Kushwaha, a CNCF Ambassador and GitHub Star who's spent years teaching developers through YouTube and conference talks before turning the community itself into the main project. The organization describes itself as having grown to 200,000+ builders across 40+ countries, with hackathons and meetups running on the ground in 11 cities, and individual hackathons have reportedly pulled in thousands of engineers in a single week.
The business model, to the extent there is one, is straightforward and not hidden: companies like AWS and FalkorDB sponsor a hackathon to get a large batch of developers building real projects on their platform in a short window, in exchange for prize money, swag, and sometimes a fast track into their hiring pipeline. For you as a participant, that mostly just means the hackathons tend to be well-funded and genuinely free to join.
How a WeMakeDevs hackathon actually works
Across their different events, the format is fairly consistent:
- Registration is free and takes a couple of minutes through a WeMakeDevs account that carries over to every hackathon, meetup, and hub they run.
- Teams are solo or up to four people, and you don't need the same lineup across different events.
- Most hackathons run mostly or entirely online, sometimes with an optional in-person build day in a host city for people who want it.
- Team-finding and support happen in their Discord server, where you can ask questions, find teammates, and get build help while the clock is running.
- Judging is split into tracks, each usually sponsored by a different partner or tied to a specific prize, rather than one single grand prize for the whole event.
What's live or coming up (as of early October 2026)
Two things are running back to back right now, and it's worth knowing which is which.
Bharat Builds Tour is the bigger of the two: a six-city hybrid hackathon series run with AWS Builder Center, going from September through December 2026. Every stop is open online nationally and in person if you're in the host city for that leg. The headline numbers are prizes worth ₹1 crore across the whole tour and fast-tracked Amazon interview slots for standout teams, with one registration covering every stop (you still need to check in separately as each leg opens). The opening leg, First Commit, ran as an online build from roughly 17 to 20 September 2026 with an optional in-person day in Bangalore.
Graph Hacks: Context for AI Agents is the smaller, sharper one: an online hackathon with graph-database company FalkorDB, running October 15 to 18, 2026, with roughly $20,000 in prizes. It's split into three tracks: building agents that act on connected data, agent memory and coordination across sessions, and a "Company Brain" track for agents that understand how an organization's people, projects, and documents relate. Prizes for this one lean unusually physical: an iPhone for the top connected-data project, a PS5 for the best memory/coordination agent, and a Mac mini for the best Company Brain build.
WeMakeDevs also partners as a community sponsor on hackathons it doesn't run itself, like VJ Hackathon 2k26 at VNRVJIET in Hyderabad (October 14 to 15, 2026), which is a signal that if you're at a college running a student hackathon, WeMakeDevs showing up as a "Community Partner" logo is a known pattern, not a sign of a WeMakeDevs-branded event.
By the time you're reading this, both of the above may have wrapped. That's normal for this org, they run something new roughly monthly. The reliable move isn't bookmarking this specific list, it's checking wemakedevs.org/hackathons directly or following their Discord and X account, since that's where new ones get announced first.
Is it actually worth your time
If you're a student or early-career developer in India looking for something that's genuinely free, doesn't require you to already know a niche framework, and comes with real prize money and occasional hiring fast-tracks, yes, it's a reasonable one to have on your radar. The tradeoff is that these are sponsor-funded events built around whichever company's product is being pushed that month (OpenEnv, FalkorDB's graph database, AWS services), so you're trading some topic freedom for the prizes and structure. If you want an open-ended hackathon where you pick the problem from scratch, look elsewhere; if you're fine building toward a specific track in exchange for a shot at real prizes and sometimes an interview, WeMakeDevs' format is built for exactly that trade.
Picking a project angle before you commit
If you're leaning toward the AI-agent side of their hackathons (currently the most common theme across their events), it helps to pick a concrete pairing before the clock starts rather than during it.
Whatever comes out, treat it as a starting point to argue with, not a final answer, the actual hackathon rules and track definitions should always override it.
FAQ
- What is WeMakeDevs?
- WeMakeDevs is a global developer community founded by Kunal Kushwaha, a CNCF Ambassador and GitHub Star. By its own numbers it has 200,000+ builders across 40+ countries, with in-person hubs in 11 cities. It runs free hackathons, conferences, and meetups, and treats hackathons partly as a way for sponsor companies (AWS, FalkorDB, and others) to get real developers building on their tools for a week.
- Are WeMakeDevs hackathons free?
- Yes. Registration is free for every WeMakeDevs hackathon, and a single WeMakeDevs account works across all of them plus their meetups and hubs. You only need to check in separately when each specific hackathon opens.
- How do I join a WeMakeDevs hackathon?
- Create an account at wemakedevs.org, pick a live or upcoming hackathon from their hackathons page, and register for that specific one. Most organizing, team-finding, and announcements happen in the WeMakeDevs Discord server, so join that too if you want a teammate or want to ask questions before building.
- Do I need prior experience to enter?
- Generally no. WeMakeDevs hackathons are aimed at students and early-career developers, and organizers typically publish starter resources and run prep sessions before the build window opens. Teams are usually solo or up to 4 people, and you don't need to keep the same team across different hackathons.
- What's the biggest WeMakeDevs hackathon right now?
- As of October 2026, that's the Bharat Builds Tour, a six-city hybrid hackathon series with AWS Builder Center running September through December 2026, with prizes worth ₹1 crore and fast-track Amazon interview slots for top teams. Running alongside it is Graph Hacks, a smaller $20,000 online hackathon with FalkorDB on building AI agents with real context, October 15 to 18, 2026.