ABOUT THE CHALLENGE

Shipaton is back — and we're going bigger.

Shipaton 2026 is RevenueCat's global mobile hackathon for builders who actually ship. Across August and September 2026, thousands of developers around the world will spend two months turning ideas into real apps in real app stores. 

Last year, the community blew us away: hundreds of new apps launched, thousands of #BuildInPublic posts, in-person events from Tokyo to Seoul to London, and winning teams celebrating on stage in New York with their apps lighting up a Times Square billboard. In 2026, we want to do all of that and more.

Your mission is simple:

• Ship a brand-new app to the iOS, Android, or Mac App Store between August 1st and September 30th, 2026. 

• Integrate the RevenueCat SDK to power at least one in-app or web purchase.

Our goal is to give you that final push to ship that project you’ve had in the back of your mind but never took the time to get started.

Note: Updates to previously released apps won’t qualify - it’s all about bringing something new to life!

WHAT'S IN IT FOR YOU

• Huge cash prizes across multiple award categories 
• Your app on a giant Times Square billboard for top winners.
• A trip to RevenueCat's App Growth Annual conference in New York City.
• A custom Shippy trophy, accepted live on stage.
• A worldwide community of builders cheering you on while you build in public.

Final prize amounts, the full category lineup, and complete judging criteria will be announced soon. Keep an eye on this Devpost page and shipaton.com for updates.

NEW FOR 2026: THE NEXT GEN AWARD

We're opening Shipaton up to students this year. The new Next Gen Award is a dedicated prize category for student builders — high school, university, bootcamp, campus dev club, anyone learning the craft. Students submit a video and source code instead of a published store listing, which means no paid Apple or Google developer account is required to compete. Learn more on the Next Gen page.

SHIPATON IRL

Shipaton is online-first, but the in-person side is huge. Last year, builders gathered in Tokyo, Seoul, London, St. Louis, Barcelona, Delhi, Vancouver, Warsaw, Skopje, and dozens of cities in between. We're already lining up Shipaton IRL events around the world for 2026: kickoff parties, co-working days, weekend build sprints, launch-day meetups, and campus hackathons.
Want to host one in your city or on your campus? Approved hosts get a Shipaton swag box from RevenueCat, organizer resources, and a spot on the official events page.

Get started

1. Pre-register on this Devpost page to be first in line when submissions open and the full rules drop.
2. Join the Shipaton Discord. Find teammates, share progress, get paywall feedback, and hang out with thousands of fellow shippers.
3. Pick the idea you've been sitting on. Shipaton is the push you've been waiting for to actually ship it.
4. Follow shipaton.com, @RevenueCat, and the RevenueCat YouTube for prize announcements, sponsor reveals, livestream schedules, and IRL events near you.
5. Want to sponsor or host? Head to the sponsors page, the events page, or reach out at shipaton@revenuecat.com.

• Build & Grow Award
  Honors the apps that gains the most user traction and growth momentum during the event. Judges want to hear about what you've done post-release to push your app growth to the next level. See official rules for full judging criteria.
• Best Game Award
  Open category for the best mobile game shipped during the event. We're looking for great gameplay, art direction, and a monetization fit that suits the genre. See official rules for full judging criteria.
• RevenueCat Peace Prize
  Awarded to the project that provides the greatest social good. We're looking for apps with big benefits to communities or society at large.
• RevenueCat Design Award
  For the app that best represents the craft of app development, separate from viability as a business. We're looking for innovative ideas and/or beautiful app design and animations.
• Don Drapurr Award
  Celebrates the most creative and effective use of RevenueCat Ads as a monetization method. We're looking for clever placements, smart integration with the rest of the revenue stack, and an experience users don't hate.
• Next Gen Award
  A student-only category for the best app submitted by active students with a .edu (or equivalent) email address. Judged on a video submission and open-source code — no App Store or Google Play release required.
• #BuildInPublic Award
  For developers who shared the most interesting development journey on social media. We're looking for the most compelling lessons learned, or ideas incorporated from feedback from the community.
• Influencer Awards
  Five categories, each tied to building an app for a specific influencer's target demographic. The influencer judges the category personally. More details coming soon.