Drafts
To write and review the challenge before publishing it.
€0
Write a challenge freeIncludes
- MARA AI writes the challenge from a role or a problem
- You edit brief, criteria, deliverables and timeline
- No live challenge
The platform to create and run a hackathon.
MARA is software to create and run a hackathon: you describe the problem and MARA AI writes the brief, rules, evaluation criteria, deliverables and timeline in minutes. Then you manage sign-ups, teams and submissions on MARA, your people evaluate, and everyone who submits gets a verifiable certificate. Drafts are free, and you pay the subscription, from €67 a month, only while the hackathon is live.
- Free drafts, you pay only when it is live
- Your people evaluate, not the AI
- A verifiable certificate for everyone who submits
Used at
What is a hackathon? A time-boxed challenge on a problem: people work alone or in teams and hand in a solution, such as a prototype, an analysis or a plan. In person it lasts from a few hours to a few days; online it can run for several weeks. A jury reviews the submissions on criteria written in advance and awards the prizes the organizer set.
What you need to run a hackathon
A hackathon works when four things are clear before it starts: the problem, the rules, the judging criteria and what teams hand in. Everything else is operations: sign-ups, teams, submissions, communication during the event.
First one? Start with the guide on how to organize a hackathon. Remote? Read the online hackathon guide.
If you run your hackathon on spreadsheets and email today, what changes?
On MARA the brief, sign-ups, announcements, submissions and certificates sit in one place.
| Today | On MARA |
|---|---|
| Brief, rules and criteria in three documents | One challenge written by MARA AI, which you edit and approve |
| Sign-ups from a form, copied into a spreadsheet | A public challenge for the MARA student community, or a closed one: for a university's students or for whoever has the private link. People take part alone or in teams |
| Announcements across email and group chats | Announcements and Q&A inside the challenge, visible to all participants |
| Submissions by email and in shared folders | All submissions in one place |
| Judges receive scattered attachments | Judges enter the workspace, see the submissions and update statuses in the participant list. If you need to, you export everything to Excel or ZIP |
| Certificates made by hand as PDFs | A verifiable certificate for everyone who submits, ready for LinkedIn |
How to run a hackathon on MARA
01
Describe the problem.
A few lines or a document you already have. MARA AI asks a few questions and proposes two directions.02
Pick a direction.
MARA AI writes the full hackathon: story, brief, rules, criteria, deliverables, timeline.03
Edit and approve.
Nothing goes live until you approve it. You set the prize and the deadline.04
Choose who takes part.
Publish the hackathon to the MARA student community, or keep it closed. A closed hackathon is reserved for a university's students, who sign in with their university email, or for whoever receives the private link. If you publish for a partner university's students, you use the code the university gives you.05
Follow, evaluate, close.
Announcements and answers go out from one page. Your people review each submission on the same criteria. Everyone who submits gets a verifiable certificate and finds the work in their portfolio.
What will participants ask?
Have your answers to these four questions ready before sign-ups open.
"How will I be judged?"
On criteria fixed before publishing, the same for everyone. Your people evaluate, not the AI."When are the results out?"
Put the date in the challenge timeline. Results arrive in three ways: an announcement in the challenge, each person's updated status and an email notification."Do I need a team already?"
MARA does not match people: how teams form is set in the challenge rules, which you decide. Say in the brief whether people can join alone and how teams will form."What do I get if I don't win?"
If you submitted, the same verifiable certificate and portfolio of your work as the winners.
Has MARA been used for a real hackathon?
Yes. H-FARM's H-ACK "Robots in Action", a 24-hour hackathon held on 11 and 12 April 2026, ran end to end on MARA: 157 participants, 30 teams, 6 judges. The H-FARM College article reports it: participants worked, organized themselves and submitted their projects inside the platform. Read the H-ACK case.
- 157participants
- 30teams
- 6judges
Pricing
Launch
To publish your first challenge.
€67/month
Everything in Drafts, plus
- 1 live challenge
- MARA community, a university’s students or private link
- Workspace and participant submissions
- Evaluation by your people on criteria set in advance
- Verifiable certificates for everyone who submits
- Export to Excel or ZIP
Growth
RecommendedFor teams that run several at once.
€109/month
Everything in Launch, plus
- 3 live challenges at once
- About €36 a month per challenge, instead of €67
- Announcements, questions and candidates of every challenge in one place
EnterpriseOn contract
For large companies and programmes with many challenges live at once.
VAT excluded. No publishing fee and no fee per participant. Participants never pay.
Who it is for
Companies
That want ideas on a real problem, or to see how people work before hiring.Event organizers
Such as associations, innovation hubs and agencies that run hackathons for clients and sponsors.Universities, career services and professors
That write challenges for their own students, on their own or with partner companies.
Something longer, in stages? See the business game page. You will find free templates in resources and the alternatives in platform, agency or DIY. Back to the home page.
Frequently asked questions.
01How much does MARA cost for a hackathon?
You pay the subscription only while the hackathon is live: Launch at €67 a month for 1 live challenge, Growth at €109 a month for 3 at once, Enterprise on contract. Writing and editing drafts is free. Prices exclude VAT, with no publishing fee and no fee per participant.
02Does MARA score people or pick the winner?
No. Your people evaluate, using criteria fixed before publishing and the same for everyone. MARA keeps the submissions in one place but gives no scores, does not rank anyone and recommends no one.
03Where do participants come from? Does MARA form teams?
You can publish the challenge to the MARA student community, growing with partner universities, or keep it closed: reserved for a university's students, who sign in with their university email, or for whoever receives the private link. MARA does not match people: how teams form is set in the challenge rules, which the organizer decides.
04Do participants need a crypto wallet for the certificate?
No. MARA issues everyone who submits a verifiable certificate naming the challenge and the organizer, ready for LinkedIn, with no wallet and nothing to pay. Technically it is a non-transferable token recorded on the Polygon blockchain.
05Do you need to code to join a hackathon?
It depends on the challenge. On MARA the organizer sets the deliverable: a prototype, an analysis, a presentation or a plan, with or without programming. Check the deliverables in the brief.
Your next challenge can start today.
Write your challenge in a few minutes. Drafts are free.
No commitment. You pay only when the challenge is live.