Hacktoberfest 2026 rules: pull requests no longer count
Hacktoberfest is back for all of October 2026, and it is free, but the old rule is gone. Pull requests and merge requests no longer count toward rewards. The organisers say spam pull requests, which AI tools now make easy, had become a burden for the people who maintain open-source projects (Hacktoberfest).
This year the event is run by Major League Hacking (MLH) and DEV, with DigitalOcean as presenting partner. Its theme is "AI belongs to everyone": learning to build with open-weight models and open-source AI.
How to take part
- Sign in at hacktoberfest.com with a free MyMLH account, and add your postal address. Those two steps earn your first two stickers.
- Take part in person at a Fest, a free one-day Hack Day or Meetup in your city, or online through livestreams, weekly DEV Challenges and Global Hack Week.
- Collect virtual stickers for what you do. Real stickers and prizes are posted to you after October.
Anyone aged 13 or over can join, subject to country eligibility rules.
What you can earn
| Virtual stickers | Reward |
|---|---|
| 3 | A real sticker pack in the mail |
| 10 | A bonus holographic sticker in the pack |
| 15 | "Completionist" status and a raffle for a T-shirt or an Arduino Uno Q board |
There are 24 stickers in all. Two are required (signing in and adding your address). The rest come from livestream check-ins, DEV Challenge entries, Global Hack Week points, connecting tools such as DigitalOcean and the MLH Discord, two surveys, and attending or hosting a Fest. Stickers and prizes are mailed 8 to 12 weeks after Hacktoberfest ends.
The famous T-shirt is no longer guaranteed. Fests hand out shirts and swag while supplies last, and shirts are not promised to online participants.
Where the Fests are
The organisers' public list of events had 411 Fests in 61 countries on 2 October. Most are Hack Days, mini hackathons where you build something and demo it the same day.
| Country | Fests |
|---|---|
| India | 164 |
| United States | 79 |
| Nigeria | 23 |
| Pakistan | 15 |
| United Kingdom | 12 |
| Kenya | 7 |
| Canada | 7 |
| Bangladesh | 6 |
Bengaluru has the most of any city (10), followed by Kolkata (7). The busiest day is Saturday 24 October, with 60 Fests. New ones keep being added, so check the "Find a Fest" page on hacktoberfest.com for the one nearest you.
Can I still contribute to open source?
Yes. The organisers still encourage it; it just no longer earns swag. Hacktoberfest began in 2014, when DigitalOcean offered a T-shirt for four pull requests. In 2026 the focus moves from counting contributions to learning and building together.
