# Hackathon Finder: Devpost, Devfolio, Unstop & MLH (`alabaster_estate_eo8/hackathon-finder`) Actor

Every open and upcoming hackathon from Devpost, Devfolio, Unstop and MLH in one deduplicated feed, sorted by deadline, with prizes, mode, location and registrations.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/alabaster_estate_eo8/hackathon-finder.md
- **Developed by:** [Mohamed Adib](https://apify.com/alabaster_estate_eo8) (community)
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

Pay per usage

This Actor is paid per platform usage. The Actor is free to use, and you only pay for the Apify platform usage, which gets cheaper the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-usage

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## Hackathon Finder: Devpost, Devfolio, Unstop & MLH

Find every open and upcoming hackathon in one run. Hackathon Finder pulls listings from **Devpost**, **Devfolio**, **Unstop** and **MLH**, merges them into one clean schema, removes duplicates, and sorts by the closest deadline.

### Why use it

- **Four platforms, one feed.** Stop checking four sites. Global (Devpost, MLH) and India-first (Devfolio, Unstop) coverage.
- **Same fields everywhere:** title, organizer, link, online or in-person, city, country, start, end, registration deadline, days left, prizes, cash amount, registrations, themes, team size, eligibility.
- **Filters that matter:** online only, a country or city, a keyword (AI, Web3, fintech), deadline within N days, minimum cash prize.
- **Fast and cheap.** Uses the platforms' public listing data, no login, no browser.

### Who it's for

- Students and devs hunting prize money
- Communities, colleges and newsletters that post weekly hackathon roundups
- Recruiters and DevRel teams tracking where developers are building
- Telegram, Discord or Slack bots (schedule it daily and push new rows)

### Input example

```json
{ "sources": ["devpost", "devfolio", "unstop", "mlh"], "mode": "online", "keyword": "AI", "deadlineWithinDays": 14 }
```

### Output example

```json
{
  "source": "devpost",
  "title": "Build, Ship, Shape: Amazon Developer Hackathon",
  "organizer": "Amazon",
  "url": "https://amazonappdev2026.devpost.com/",
  "mode": "online",
  "registrationDeadline": "2026-10-23T23:59:00+00:00",
  "daysLeft": 12.4,
  "prizeText": "$ 138,000",
  "prizeCash": 138000,
  "prizeCurrency": "USD",
  "registrations": 53177,
  "themes": ["Machine Learning/AI", "Open Ended", "Productivity"]
}
```

### Pricing

Pay per result: you pay only for hackathons saved to the dataset.

### Tips

- Schedule a daily run with `deadlineWithinDays: 7` for a "closing soon" alert.
- Add `competitions` and `quizzes` under Unstop types for more cash-prize contests in India.
- Use Apify integrations to send new rows to Google Sheets, Slack, Discord or email.

### Notes

Data comes from each platform's public listings. Fields a platform does not publish are left empty (for example, Devpost doesn't list team size and MLH doesn't list prizes).

# Actor input Schema

## `sources` (type: `array`):

Platforms to search.

## `mode` (type: `string`):

Online, in-person, or both.

## `keyword` (type: `string`):

Only keep hackathons whose title, organizer, themes or prizes mention this (e.g. AI, web3, fintech).

## `country` (type: `string`):

Keep in-person events in this country or city (online events are always kept). E.g. India, Bengaluru, US.

## `deadlineWithinDays` (type: `integer`):

Only hackathons whose registration or submission closes within this many days.

## `minPrizeCash` (type: `integer`):

Only hackathons with at least this much listed cash (in the listing's own currency: USD on Devpost, INR on Unstop).

## `unstopTypes` (type: `array`):

Unstop also lists competitions and quizzes with cash prizes.

## `maxItemsPerSource` (type: `integer`):

Cap on listings fetched from each platform.

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Cap on rows saved.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "sources": [
    "devpost",
    "devfolio",
    "unstop",
    "mlh"
  ],
  "mode": "any",
  "unstopTypes": [
    "hackathons"
  ],
  "maxItemsPerSource": 200,
  "maxItems": 1000
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `hackathons` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("alabaster_estate_eo8/hackathon-finder").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("alabaster_estate_eo8/hackathon-finder").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{}' |
apify call alabaster_estate_eo8/hackathon-finder --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,alabaster_estate_eo8/hackathon-finder"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/t4xfxBAArchFg79AT/builds/KAhxFQXRorIT1Twy3/openapi.json