About this hackathon 💡

Most hackathon projects die on Sunday night. This one is designed so yours doesn't.

The AI Tools that Earn Hackathon is a one-day event hosted by Apify at a Zostel Plus hacker house in Whitefield, Bangalore. The challenge: build solutions someone would pay for, not just a demo. Extract data, combine tools, draw conclusions, trigger actions. Raw data is worthless until it becomes a conclusion someone acts on: a report that writes itself, a score instead of a haystack, a paragraph that replaces an hour of reading. If you can name who'd pay for it, you're on theme.

Need inspiration? A sales team doesn't want 10,000 company names; they want the 40 that raised funding this month, with contacts attached. A lender doesn't want three days of manual checks; they want one due diligence brief. These are examples to get you thinking, not themes: build whatever you want, for whichever buyer you know best.

You'll build on the Apify platform and ship your project as an Actor to Apify Store, where 10k+ developers already publish and earn, and every Actor works with AI agents out of the box via MCP and agent plugins. Thirteen of the top creators from India and Nepal will be in the room all day as your mentors and judges. Several of them make a living from projects that started exactly like yours.

How judging works ⚖️

Every project is judged against one question: would someone actually pay for this? Picture a real person who needs the output of your Actor. Your demo should name that person, show what they get, and run live. The judges earn from their own Actors, so they'll know a real answer when they hear one.

Your mentors and judges 🧑‍🏫

These creators build and earn on Apify Store, and they'll be with you all day: Harsh Maur, Pratik Dani, Shanskar Bansal, Dhrumil Bhankhar, Anas Nadeem, Jay Kumar Yadav, Sachin Kumar Yadav, Govind Sehrawat, scrapeverse, Sourabh Kumar, Manoj Karki, Surendra Tamang, and Tara Prasad Gurung.

The Apify team on the ground 🟠

Saurav Jain, Senior Developer Community Manager · Eva Nunez, Developer Community Manager · Juan Galilea, Senior Engineer · Nishad Manerikar, Senior Engineer

Schedule (November 22, 2026) 🗓️

  • 8-9 am: ☕ Breakfast and registration

  • 9-9:30 am: 🎬 Opening

  • 9:30-10:15 am: 🛠️ Workshop and resource sharing

  • 10:15 am-2:30 pm: 💻 Hacking (lunch from 12-1 pm, mentors around all day)

  • 2:30-3:15 pm: ⏱️ 2-minute demos to judges

  • 3:30-4:30 pm: 🎤 Top 5-10 teams demo on stage

  • 4:30-5:15 pm: 🧁 Snacks

  • 5:15-6 pm: 🎉 Winners and closing

Prizes 🏆

  • First team: 🥇 $750 / ₹75,000

  • Second team: 🥈 $500 / ₹50,000

  • Third team: 🥉 $250 / ₹25,000

  • Fourth to tenth place: ⚡ $50 in prepaid the Apify platform usage for every team member

What you get 🎁

  • Mentorship from creators who earn on Apify Store

  • Breakfast, lunch, snacks, and chai all day

  • Winning teams get featured on Apify's social media and take home big cash prizes

  • Platform credits for every participant

Good to know 📌

  • Teams of 1-4. Come with a team or form one at breakfast. Solo builders are welcome as well.

  • Ideally, come with an idea beforehand.

  • Resources will be shared with you a week before, but the Apify docs and Apify Store come in handy.

  • Bring your laptop and charger

  • Some coding experience needed; no Apify experience required.

  • Venue: Zostel Plus Whitefield, Bangalore (map). Metro and autos recommended; parking is limited

  • Free to attend, registration required, spots are limited