RevenueCat Shipaton 2026 (the “Hackathon”) Official Rules

NO PURCHASE OR PAYMENT NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. A PURCHASE OR PAYMENT WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. 

SUBMISSION OF ANY ENTRY CONSTITUTES AGREEMENT TO THESE OFFICIAL RULES AS A CONTRACT BETWEEN ENTRANT (AND EACH INDIVIDUAL MEMBER OF ENTRANT), THE HACKATHON SPONSOR, AND DEVPOST.

1. Dates and Timing

Registration Period: Friday, May 15, 2026 at 8:00am PDT – Wednesday, September 30, 2026 at 11:45pm PDT ("Registration Period").

Submission Period: Friday, July 31, 2026 at 8:00am PDT – Wednesday, September 30, 2026 at 11:45pm PDT (“Submission Period”).

#BuildInPublic Engagement Period: on or around Friday, July 31, 2026 at 8:00am PDT – Wednesday, September 30, 2026 at 11:45pm PDT ("#BuildInPublic Engagement Period").

Judging Period: Thursday, October 1, 2026 at 12:00am PDT – Tuesday, October 13, 2026 at 12:00pm PDT ("Judging Period").

Winners announced: October 21st 2026, on this Devpost page, on shipaton.com, and across RevenueCat's social channels. Grand-prize and major-category trophies will be presented live at RevenueCat's App Growth Annual conference.

All dates are subject to change at the sole discretion of Sponsor. Any changes will be reflected on the Hackathon Website.

2. Sponsor and Administrator

Sponsor and Administrator: RevenueCat, 1032 E Brandon Blvd, #3003, Brandon, FL, 33511 

Category Sponsors: JetBrains, Noise, Samsung, Replit, OneSignal, Layers, and Stripe (collectively, the "Category Sponsors"). Each Category Sponsor may provide the applicable category prize and may participate in judging its category.

3. Eligibility

• The Hackathon IS open to: 

• Individuals who are at least the age of majority where they reside as of the time of entry (“Eligible Individuals”);

• Teams of Eligible Individuals (“Teams”); and

• Organizations (including corporations, not-for-profit corporations and other nonprofit organizations, limited liability companies, partnerships, and other legal entities) that exist and have been organized or incorporated at the time of entry.

• Employees of RevenueCat and Hackathon Sponsors that meet the above requirements (These individuals are eligible to win the Conflict of Interest Award only)

(the above are collectively, “Entrants”)

An Eligible Individual may join more than one Team or Organization and an Eligible Individual who is part of a Team or Organization may also enter the Hackathon on an individual basis. If a Team or Organization is entering the Hackathon, they must appoint and authorize one individual (the “Representative”) to represent, act, and enter a Submission on their behalf. By entering a Submission on behalf of a Team or Organization, you represent and warrant that you are the Representative authorized to act on behalf of your Team or Organization.

• The Hackathon IS NOT open to: 

• Individuals who are residents of, or Organizations domiciled in, a country, state, province or territory where the laws of the United States or local law prohibits participating or receiving a prize in the Hackathon (including, but not limited to, Russia, Crimea, Cuba, Iran, and North Korea and any other country designated by the United States Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control) 

• Organizations involved with the design, production, paid promotion, execution, or distribution of the Hackathon, including the Sponsor and Administrator (“Promotion Entities”).

• Representatives and agents of such Promotion Entities, and all members of their immediate family or household*

• Any other individual involved with the design, production, promotion, execution, or distribution of the Hackathon, and each member of their immediate family or household*

• Any Judge (defined below), or company or individual that employs a Judge

• Any parent company, subsidiary, or other affiliate* of any organization described above

• Any other individual or organization whose participation in the Hackathon would create, in the sole discretion of the Sponsor and/or Administrator, a real or apparent conflict of interest 

*The members of an individual’s immediate family include the individual’s spouse, children and stepchildren, parents and stepparents, and siblings and stepsiblings. The members of an individual’s household include any other person that shares the same residence as the individual for at least three (3) months out of the year. 

Agents include individuals or organizations that in creating a Submission to the Hackathon, are acting on behalf of, and at the direction of, a Promotion Entity through a contractual or similar relationship.

*An affiliate is: (a) an organization that is under common control, sharing a common majority or controlling owner, or common management; or (b) an organization that has a substantial ownership in, or is substantially owned by the other organization.

4. How To Enter

Entrants may enter by visiting revenuecat-shipaton-2026.devpost.com (“Hackathon Website”) and following the below steps:

• Register for the Hackathon on the Hackathon Website by clicking the “Join Hackathon” button. To complete registration, sign up to create a free Devpost account, or log in with an existing Devpost account. This will enable you to receive important updates and to create your Submission.

• Entrants will obtain access to the required developer tools/platform and complete a Project described below in Project Requirements. Use of the developer tools will be subject to the license agreement related thereto. Entry in the Hackathon constitutes consent for the Sponsor and Devpost to collect and maintain an entrant’s personal information for the purpose of operating and publicizing the Hackathon.

• Required tools can be found at https://www.revenuecat.com/docs/welcome/overview

• Software applications must be built for iOS, iPadOS, macOS, or Android and must be fully published to Apple's App Store, the Google Play Store, or the Samsung Galaxy Store by the submission deadline. Note: The App Review process can take multiple days or more. We recommend submitting to the store early to get through the review process and make updates as you add more to your app.

• Complete and enter all of the required fields on the “Enter a Submission” page of the Hackathon Website (each a “Submission”) during the Submission Period and follow the requirements below.

• Prizes Criteria: See Section 6 below for specific requirements to be considered for all of the prizes.

• Ship Kit: Entrants may unlock up to 25 sponsor perks across five progress milestones: registration complete, RevenueCat project created, first test purchase, first Store API call, and first real purchase. Entrants must register on Devpost and complete the participant form sent by email. RevenueCat will track product progress and email newly unlocked perks and redemption instructions to the address associated with the Entrant's Devpost account. Tool-specific perks may have additional requirements. Ship Kit will not be sent to disposable, temporary, or auto-generated email addresses, and the Sponsor reserves the right to withhold Ship Kit where a valid, non-disposable email address is not provided. Offers, availability, redemption limits, and milestone requirements may change. All communication regarding Ship Kit, including delivery, redemption, and support, will be conducted exclusively through the official Shipaton Discord or via shipkit@revenuecat.com. The Sponsor is not responsible for Ship Kit communications that are undeliverable, misdirected, or filtered due to an invalid or disposable email address.

Project Requirements

• What to Create: Entrants must create a working software application that uses the RevenueCat SDK to power at least one in-app or web purchase, or that serves ads through RevenueCat Ads (each a "Project"). Apps must be built for iOS, iPadOS, macOS, or Android 

1. Note: All apps must be accessible from the United States.

• Functionality: The Project must be capable of being successfully installed and running consistently on the platform for which it is intended and must function as depicted in the video and/or expressed in the text description.

• Platforms: A submitted Project must run on iOS, iPadOS, macOS, or Android.

• Newly Submitted Apps Only: The first public version of the Project must be released during the Submission Period on Apple's App Store, the Google Play Store, or the Samsung Galaxy Store. A Project may have existed before the Submission Period, but it must not have been publicly released on any eligible store before the Submission Period. Updates to previously released apps are not eligible.

• Third Party Integrations: If a Project integrates any third-party SDK, APIs and/or data, Entrant must be authorized to use them in accordance with any terms and conditions or licensing requirements of the tool.

Submission Requirements 

Submissions to the Hackathon must meet the following requirements:

• Include a Project built with the required developer tools and meets the above Project Requirements.

• For Projects submitted for the Next Gen Award only: provide a URL to your code repository for judging and testing. The repository must contain all necessary source code, assets, and instructions required for the project to be functional. The repository must be public and open source by including an open source license file. This license should be detectable and visible at the top of the repository page (in the About section). Projects in all other categories are not required to provide a code repository.

• Include a text description that should explain the features and functionality of your Project.

• Include a demonstration video of your Project. The video portion of the Submission:

• should be less than two (2) minutes. Judges are not required to watch beyond two minutes 

• should include footage that shows the Project functioning on the device for which it was built

• must be uploaded to and made publicly visible on YouTube or Vimeo, and a link to the video must be provided on the submission form on the Hackathon Website; and

• must not include third party trademarks, or copyrighted music or other material unless the Entrant has permission to use such material.

• Except for Projects submitted for the Next Gen Award, include a URL to a fully published app in Apple's App Store, the Google Play Store, or the Samsung Galaxy Store.

• Include a 1024x1024 app icon

• Include at least one screenshot of the app with a resolution of 1179px width and 2556px height WITHOUT device frames.

• Except for Projects submitted for the Next Gen Award, the app must either offer a free trial or the Entrant must include a promo code for judges to unlock the in-app purchase and test all premium features. Next Gen Award Projects will be evaluated using the demonstration video and code repository.

• For Projects that want to be eligible for the Grand Prize Award:

• Include a description outlining what you have done since launch to grow your app, and any relevant numbers (downloads/revenue/etc.) that show growth since launch.

• For Projects that want to be eligible for the Best Game Award:

• Include a description of the game covering gameplay, art direction, and how the monetization model fits the genre.

• For Projects that want to be eligible for the RevenueCat Peace Prize:

• Include a description of how the app was designed to benefit individuals, the community, or society at large.

• For Projects that want to be eligible for the RevenueCat Design Award:

• Include a description of the app’s unique design elements and what areas judges should look for to see standout design and animations.

• For Projects that want to be eligible for the Catvertising Award:

• Include a description of how the app uses RevenueCat Ads as a monetization method: clever placements and smart integration with the rest of your revenue stack.

• For Projects that want to be eligible for the Next Gen Award:

• You must be an active student enrolled in high school, college, university, bootcamp, or another academic program and use a qualifying student or academic email address on Devpost. Email-domain eligibility may be verified using JetBrains/swot. Instead of a published app-store listing, submit a demo video and a link to your public, open-source code repository, including an open-source license file. No paid Apple or Google developer account or store release is required.

• For Projects that want to be eligible for the #BuildInPublic Award:

• Include links to any relevant social accounts and/or links to specific content you want to highlight where progress was shared in public

• Include a short text description of how building in public helped benefit the app (motivation/feedback from others/etc)

• For Projects that want to be eligible for the HAMM Award:

• Include a description of your monetization strategy and results: how the app makes money, your paywall/pricing approach, and any conversion or revenue numbers.

• For Projects that want to be eligible for the Influencer Awards:

• Include a description of which influencer category you are entering and how the app serves that influencer's audience/demographic.

• Each Project may be submitted to and considered for only one Influencer Award category. A Project entered in an Influencer Award category may also be submitted to and considered for any other non-Influencer prize category for which it is eligible.

• Entrants may not use the name, likeness, image, voice, brand, logos, or other identifying features of any influencer (including the influencer associated with their chosen category) in their app, app store listing, or marketing materials without the influencer's express written consent. Submissions that violate this requirement will be disqualified from the Influencer Awards and may be disqualified from the Hackathon entirely. This obligation continues after the Hackathon ends: publishing or continuing to distribute an app that uses an influencer's likeness or brand without consent is prohibited.

• For Projects that want to be eligible for the Ship Kotlin Everywhere (JetBrains) category:

• Build and publish the app for both iOS and Android using Kotlin Multiplatform and/or Compose Multiplatform.

• Provide a live URL to the fully published app on Apple's App Store and a live URL to the fully published app on Google Play.

• Include a description of how Kotlin Multiplatform and/or Compose Multiplatform was used.

• Include links to any relevant blog posts, devlogs, videos, or social-media posts in which the Entrant publicly shared insights from building the Project.

• If claiming credit for an ecosystem contribution, include a description of the contribution and links to the applicable published library, pull request, documentation, sample, tooling, or reusable open-source component.

• For Projects that want to be eligible for the Most Viral App (Noise) category:

• Launch a live app and use the Noise platform to promote and grow the app during the Hackathon.

• Provide a live URL to the app.

• Provide the email address associated with the Entrant's Noise account.

• For Projects that want to be eligible for the Best App for Galaxy (Samsung Galaxy) category:

• Publish the app on the Samsung Galaxy Store during Shipaton 2026 and comply with the Galaxy Store's applicable content guidelines.

• Provide a live URL to the app's Galaxy Store listing.

• Include a description of how the app was optimized for the Galaxy Store, including any support for foldable devices, Samsung-specific features, or Samsung-device optimization.

• For Projects that want to be eligible for the Idea to Income (Replit) category:

• Build and publish a live mobile app with Replit and integrate RevenueCat using Replit Agent.

• Include links to at least three publicly visible social-media posts showing different stages of the Project's build journey.

• Provide the Project's Replit preview URL and the Entrant's Replit username.

• Include a description of how Replit assisted the Entrant in taking the Project from idea to a live, monetizing app.

• For Projects that want to be eligible for OneSignal’s Keep Them Coming Back Award:

• Publish a live app.

• Integrate OneSignal and use the OneSignal API, MCP, or dashboard to create and deploy at least one OneSignal campaign.

• Provide the OneSignal App ID associated with the Project.

• Include a description of how OneSignal was used in the Project, including the campaign or messaging experience that was deployed.

• For Projects that want to be eligible for The Growth Loop Award (Layers):

• Install the Layers SDK in the app submitted to the Hackathon. The installation must be in place and verifiable before judging.

• Include a brief description of how Layers was used during Shipaton and confirmation that the Layers SDK was installed.

• Describe the growth loop tested, including the intended audience, message, channel or product surface, experiment, and intended outcome.

• Describe what the SDK signal or early response showed, what the Entrant learned, and what the Entrant would try next.

• For Projects that want to be eligible for the Funnel Vision Award (Stripe):

• Launch a live web-to-app funnel using RevenueCat Funnels with Stripe as the checkout provider.

• Provide a live web funnel URL.

• Provide the Stripe Project ID.

Multiple Submissions 

An Entrant may submit more than one Submission, however, each Submission must be unique and substantially different from each of the Entrant’s other Submissions, as determined by the Sponsor and Devpost in their sole discretion.

Submission ownership

Be the original work of the Entrant, be solely owned by the Entrant, and not violate the IP rights of any other person or entity.

Testing 

The Entrant must make the Project available free of charge and without any restriction, for testing, evaluation and use by the Sponsor, Administrator and Judges until the Judging Period ends. Judges are not required to test the Project and may choose to judge based solely on the text description, images, and video provided in the Submission.

To facilitate testing and evaluation, the Entrant must ensure the Project is accessible for download within the United States.

Access can be provided to the Sponsor and Administrator by providing a URL to the published app in the app store. If the app cannot be accessed with a free trial, a promo code must be provided for judges to unlock the in-app purchase and test all premium features of the app.

If the Project includes software that runs on proprietary or third party hardware that is not widely available to the public, including software running on devices or wearable technology other than smartphones, tablets, or desktop computers, the Sponsor and/or Administrator reserve the right, at their sole discretion, to require the Entrant to provide physical access to the Project hardware upon request.  

Next Gen Award Projects are exempt from the store-download testing requirements above and will be evaluated based on the demonstration video and public code repository.

Language Requirements

All Submission materials must be in English or, if not in English, the Entrant must provide an English translation of the demonstration video, text description, and testing instructions as well as all other materials submitted. 

Team Representation

If a team or organization is entering the Hackathon, they must appoint and authorize one individual (the “Representative”) to represent, act, and enter a Submission, on their behalf. The Representative must meet the eligibility requirements above. By entering a Submission on the Hackathon Website on behalf of a team or organization you represent and warrant that you are the Representative authorized to act on behalf of your team or organization.

Intellectual Property 

Your Submission must: (a) be your (or your Team, or Organization’s) original work product; (b) be solely owned by you, your Team, your Organization with no other person or entity having any right or interest in it; and (c) not violate the intellectual property rights or other rights including but not limited to copyright, trademark, patent, contract, and/or privacy rights, of any other person or entity. An Entrant may contract with a third party for technical assistance to create the Submission provided the Submission components are solely the Entrant’s work product and the result of the Entrant’s ideas and creativity, and the Entrant owns all rights to them. An Entrant may submit a Submission that includes the use of open source software or hardware, provided the Entrant complies with applicable open source licenses and, as part of the Submission, creates software that enhances and builds upon the features and functionality included in the underlying open source product. By entering the Hackathon, you represent, warrant, and agree that your Submission meets these requirements.

Financial or Preferential Support 

A Project must not have been developed, or derived from a Project developed, with financial or preferential support from the Sponsor or Administrator. Such Projects include, but are not limited to, those that received funding or investment for their development, were developed under contract, or received a commercial license, from the Sponsor or Administrator any time prior to the end of Hackathon Submission Period. The Sponsor, at their sole discretion, may disqualify a Project, if awarding a prize to the Project would create a real or apparent conflict of interest.

5. Submission Modifications

Draft Submissions 

Prior to the end of the Submission Period, you may save draft versions of your submission on Devpost to your portfolio before submitting the Submission materials to the Hackathon for evaluation. Once the Submission Period has ended, you may not make any changes or alterations to your Submission, but you may continue to update the Project in your Devpost portfolio.

Modifications After the Submission Period

The Sponsor and Devpost may permit you to modify part of your Submission after the Submission Period for the purpose of adding, removing or replacing material that potentially infringes a third party mark or right, discloses personally identifiable information, or is otherwise inappropriate. The modified Submission must remain substantively the same as the original Submission with the only modification being what the Sponsor and Devpost permits. 

6. Judges & Criteria

Eligible submissions will be evaluated by a panel of judges selected by the Sponsor (the “Judges”). Judges may be employees of the sponsor or third parties, may or may not be listed individually on the Hackathon Website, and may change before or during the Judging Period. Judging may take place in one or more rounds with one or more panels of Judges, at the discretion of the sponsor. 

Grand Prize Criteria

Honors the app 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. 

Grand Prize shortlisting and final selection: The Sponsor will compare the total revenue generated by eligible Projects during the Submission Period, as reported in RevenueCat, to create a shortlist. Total revenue is used to determine which Projects advance to the shortlist; the Project with the highest total revenue does not automatically win. The Judges will evaluate the shortlisted Projects under the Grand Prize criteria below and select the winner based on those criteria. Judges may consider the quality, efficiency, and sustainability of the growth that produced the revenue, rather than revenue alone.

Entries will be judged on the following criteria:

• Early and Effective Release
  Explain when you first put a live, usable version in front of real users, why you shipped at that moment, and how the initial build allowed you to test or achieve early traction. 

• Growth by numbers
  Share the product improvements, user-acquisition and retention efforts, marketing

• experiments, and iterations you ran after launch and link them to concrete results, such as installs, active users, paying customers, conversion, retention, waitlist growth, MRR/ARR, social reach, or community engagement. Explain what you learned and what you would do next.

Best Game Award Criteria
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. 

• Is the game fun and engaging to play?

• Does it provide a unique gameplay experience, progression, or replayability?

• How is the game monetized?

RevenueCat Peace Prize Criteria
Awarded to the project that provides the greatest social good. We're looking for apps with big benefits to communities or society at large.

Entries will be judged on the following criteria:

• Impact
  How impactful is the solution? Does the project clearly demonstrate how it will benefit individuals, specific communities, or society as a whole? 

• Feasibility
  Is the technology solution realistic and achievable for solving the problem? Does the project have the potential to reach a significant number of people or have a high positive impact on a smaller group of people?

RevenueCat Design Award Criteria
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.

Entries will be judged on the following criteria:

• Innovative ideas
  Does the app introduce any innovative technology or designs? This can be technical innovations integrated into the product, or unique user experiences or animations.

• Aesthetics
  Is the app simply delightful to look at and use? Does the design spark joy? We're looking for fun animations, smooth gesture-based interactions, or simply beautiful art integrated into the app.

Catvertising Award Criteria
Celebrates the most creative and effective use of 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. 

Entries will be judged on the following criteria:

• How well are ads integrated into the app experience? Do they feel natural, useful, or additive rather than interruptive? Do they help users access, unlock, or experience the app in a richer way?

• How well does the ad strategy fit the app's audience, use case, and broader revenue model? Is RevenueCat Ads integrated thoughtfully alongside any subscriptions, purchases, trials, or other monetization methods?

Next Gen Award Criteria
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. 

• Is the app idea clear, useful, interesting, or original? Does it solve a real problem or create a compelling experience for its intended users?

• Does the submitted project demonstrate meaningful progress toward a working app? Is the core functionality clear from the video and code repository?

• Does the project thoughtfully use RevenueCat to support subscriptions, in-app purchases, web purchases, ads, or another monetization flow?

• Does the submission show thoughtful technical choices, product thinking, and care in how the app was built and presented?

Productivity — Christopher Lawley Influencer Award Criteria
Build a polished app that helps Apple power users quickly save, organize, and retrieve reusable text, files, documents, and images.

Entries will be judged on the following criteria:

• Product focus and speed
  Does the Project give Apple power users a fast, focused way to save and retrieve reusable content?

• Organization and intelligent features
  How effectively does the Project organize text, documents, files, and images, and do intelligent features make retrieval easier?

• Design and polish
  Is the overall experience polished, clear, and thoughtfully designed?

Nutrition & Healthy Eating — Abbey’s Kitchen Influencer Award Criteria
Create a flexible nutrition app that helps people make meals more satisfying without calorie counting, macro tracking, or restrictive meal plans.

Entries will be judged on the following criteria:

• Practical nutrition support
  Does the Project help users make meals more satisfying in real-life situations?

• Compassionate flexibility
  Does the experience support healthy eating without calorie counting, macro tracking, or restrictive meal plans?

• Usefulness
  Is the experience practical and helpful for the people it is designed to serve?

Yoga & Fitness — Simone Sharice Influencer Award Criteria
Create a personalized wellness companion that turns movement, Pilates, recovery, and other wellness needs into a clear and achievable plan for today.

Entries will be judged on the following criteria:

• Personalization
  How effectively does the Project respond to each user’s movement, Pilates, recovery, and other wellness needs?

• Daily clarity
  Does it turn those needs into a clear and achievable plan for today?

• Information restraint
  Does the experience avoid overload and make the next action easy to understand?

Career Coaching — Leadership Heather Influencer Award Criteria
Help new managers practice difficult workplace conversations, receive useful feedback, and build confidence before handling the real situation.

Entries will be judged on the following criteria:

• Realistic scenarios
  Are the workplace conversations realistic and relevant to new managers?

• Practice and feedback
  Does the Project provide active practice and useful feedback for situations involving feedback, boundaries, and saying no?

• Confidence building
  Does the experience help users feel better prepared before handling the real situation?

Gaming — Mr Lewis Blogs Gaming Influencer Award Criteria
Build a gaming bucket list where players can easily save, organize, complete, rate, and share the games they want to play.

Entries will be judged on the following criteria:

• Discovery and organization
  Can users quickly save games when they discover them and organize their backlog?

• Completion and sharing
  How effectively can users complete, rate, and share games?

• Enjoyment
  Does managing the backlog feel enjoyable rather than like another chore?

HAMM Award (Help Apps Make Money) Criteria
Recognizes the app that makes the smartest use of RevenueCat to drive real revenue. We're looking for a well-crafted paywall, thoughtful pricing and packaging, strong conversion, and monetization that genuinely fits the product.

• Are the proposed revenue streams clearly articulated and integrated into the app's design? Is the monetization strategy realistic and achievable within the context of the target market and the app's functionality? Does the proposed strategy have the potential to scale as the user base grows?

• Does the app demonstrate an innovative or unique approach to monetization that goes beyond standard models? Does the strategy incorporate a diverse mix of revenue streams rather than relying on a single one? 

• Can the app articulate how their chosen monetization methods could generate revenue? How does their monetization strategy differentiate them from potential competitors, or how does it give them an advantage? Does the strategy suggest a sustainable business model that could operate beyond the hackathon and generate long-term revenue?

Conflict of Interest Award Criteria
Awarded to the best overall app submission from employees of RevenueCat or any Shipaton sponsors.

Entries will be judged on the following criteria:

• App Concept
  Is the overall idea for the app interesting or novel? Does it solve a new or interesting problem or is it fun to experience?

• Execution
  Does the app feel well designed and reliable? Are there interesting or novel UX patterns or fun animations?

• Monetization
  Does the app have a strong or novel monetization strategy?

The scores from the Judges will determine the potential winners of the applicable prizes. The Entrant(s) that are eligible for a Prize, and whose Submissions earn the highest overall scores based on the applicable Judging Criteria, will become potential winners of that Prize.

Ship Kotlin Everywhere Criteria

Recognizes a creative, polished app built for both iOS and Android using Kotlin Multiplatform and/or Compose Multiplatform. Entries will be judged according to the following criteria:

• Cross-platform quality: How effectively does the Project use Kotlin Multiplatform and/or Compose Multiplatform across iOS and Android? Is the experience polished, consistent, and high quality on both platforms? Consistency and quality matter more than the number of platforms supported.

• Community interaction (optional): Did the Entrant share the work in a useful, engaging way through a blog post, devlog, video, or social-media updates? Does the content meaningfully explain how the Project was built?

• Contribution to the community (optional): Did the Entrant publish a library, contribute a pull request to a Kotlin Multiplatform library, open-source a reusable component, or improve relevant documentation, samples, or tooling?

 Most Viral App Criteria

Awarded to the app that captures the most attention in its market niche through high-quality, scalable content formats that convert attention into app downloads. Entries will be judged according to the following criteria:

• Virality: Did the Project's creative content and user-generated-content playbooks on Noise produce one or more viral or semi-viral posts about the app or brand?

• Scalability: Are the creative formats repeatable and suitable for distribution at significant scale?

• Conversion relevance: Do the Project's creatives clearly convey the Project's value or novelty, address prospective users' needs or pain points, and present the product as a compelling solution?

Best App for Galaxy Criteria

Recognizes an app published on the Galaxy Store during Shipaton 2026 that demonstrates strong overall quality and thoughtful optimization for the Samsung Galaxy ecosystem. Entries will be judged according to the standard applicable Shipaton judging criteria, with twenty percent (20%) of the category score based on Galaxy Store optimization.

• Galaxy optimization (20%): Does the Project take advantage of Samsung-specific features such as foldable-device support, multi-window, or device-specific hardware?

Store quality: Is the Galaxy Store listing polished, with optimized metadata and assets?

Galaxy Store exclusivity may earn bonus consideration but is not required.

Idea to Income (Replit) Criteria

Recognizes a Project that uses Replit to take a new idea from zero to a live, monetizing mobile app during Shipaton and demonstrates momentum through returning paying users and growing transactions. The category rewards trajectory rather than the largest absolute revenue total. Entries will be judged according to the following criteria:

• Growth momentum (primary): How fast and consistently did revenue and transaction volume grow week over week? Judges will consider the direction and consistency of growth rather than totals alone.

• Traction: What supporting traction did the Project demonstrate, including gross revenue and number of paying users?

• Craft: Is the user experience and visual design high quality? Does the app feel like a complete, real product?

• Social pull: Did the Project generate meaningful community engagement or buzz?

Keep Them Coming Back Award (OneSignal) Criteria

Recognizes an app that uses OneSignal thoughtfully to bring users back, whether through one well-timed push notification or a multi-step Journey that welcomes, nudges, and re-engages users. A single deployed message is sufficient for eligibility, but more thoughtful use of the platform may receive stronger consideration. Entries will be judged according to the following criteria:

• Implementation: Did the Project successfully implement fundamental OneSignal features? Is the integration clean, stable, and well executed?

• User value: Does the OneSignal integration improve the user experience or add significant value to the app?

Resourcefulness and creativity: How resourcefully did the Entrant use OneSignal to achieve the intended experience and outcome? Did the Entrant use OneSignal in a creative, unexpected, or clever way, or attempt to use less-common or advanced mobile-messaging features?

The Growth Loop Award (Layers) Criteria

Recognizes a team that treats growth as something to test, measure, learn from, and improve. The winner will not necessarily have the most downloads, revenue, audience size, or overall traction. Entries will be judged according to the following criteria:

• Audience and growth hypothesis: Did the Entrant identify a specific audience and a clear reason that audience might care about the Project?

• Layers-assisted growth loop: Did the Entrant use Layers to define a focused growth loop, including the message, channel or product surface, experiment, and intended outcome?

• SDK installation and observability: Was the Layers SDK properly installed so the loop could be observed and measured? The SDK must be installed and verified before judging.

• Learning and iteration: Did the Entrant use the observed signal or response to explain what was learned and what the Entrant would try next?

Funnel Vision Award (Stripe) Criteria

Recognizes a Project that launches a web-to-app funnel using RevenueCat Funnels with Stripe as the checkout provider. Entries will be judged according to the following criteria:

• Web payment volume (primary): What total payment volume did the Project process through its web funnel via Stripe?

• Funnel design and conversion: How well designed is the web-to-app experience, and how effectively does the funnel convert users from an ad click to web checkout and app download?

How to Enter and Judging Criteria for the #BuildInPublic Prizes

#BuildInPublic Engagement Period: on or around Saturday, August 1st, 2026 (8:30 am Pacific Time) – Wednesday, September 30th, 2026 (11:45 pm Pacific Time) (“#BuildInPublic Engagement Period”)

Entrants who publish their app during the submission period AND submit links to the publicly visible posts on their Devpost submission form will be considered for the #BuildInPublic prizes. Posts should be tagged #Shipaton and may also be tagged #BuildInPublic.

Entrants will be judged based on the following criteria by a panel of RevenueCat judges: 

• Sharing your story
  How much do you share your app development journey publicly? How creatively do you share your hackathon process on social media and in online communities? Note that audience size does not matter.

• Engagement
  In what ways have people responded to your app on social media and in online communities? What new ideas were brought into the app based on feedback from your social posts? 

• Lessons Learned
  How did sharing publicly improve the app? Were there interesting lessons learned through the act of sharing or from direct feedback from the public that improved the app in some way?

The Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any organization, individual or team of individuals who is actually, or presenting the appearance of, tampering with the entry process or the operation of the #BuildInPublic Engagement process.

Tie Breaking 

For each Prize listed below, if two or more Submissions are tied, the tied Submission with the highest score in the first applicable criterion listed above will be considered the higher scoring Submission. In the event any ties remain, this process will be repeated, as needed, by comparing the tied Submissions’ scores on the next applicable criterion. If two or more Submissions are tied on all applicable criteria, the panel of Judges will vote on the tied Submissions.

7. Intellectual Property Rights

All Submissions remain the intellectual property of the individuals or organizations that developed them. By submitting an entry, entrants agree that the Sponsor will have a non-exclusive license to use such entry for judging the entry. Entrants agree that the sponsor and Devpost shall have the right to promote the Submission and use the name, likeness, voice and image of all individuals contributing to a Submission, in any materials promoting or publicizing the Hackathon and its results, during the Hackathon Period and for three years thereafter.  Some Submission components may be displayed to the public. Other Submission materials may be viewed by the sponsor, Devpost, and judges for screening and evaluation. By submitting an entry or accepting any prize, entrants represent and warrant that (a) submitted content is not copyrighted, protected by trade secret or otherwise subject to third party intellectual property rights or other proprietary rights, including privacy and publicity rights, unless entrant is the owner of such rights or has permission from their rightful owner to post the content; and (b) the content submitted does not contain any viruses, Trojan horses, worms, spyware or other disabling devices or harmful or malicious code.

8. Prizes

Only the Grand Prize and 1st Place: #BuildInPublic Award include travel and accommodation. All other prize categories exclude travel and accommodation. An invitation to RevenueCat’s App Growth Annual conference provides admission only; invitees are responsible for all travel and accommodation expenses.

1. Substitutions & Changes: Prizes are non-transferable by the winner. Sponsor in its sole discretion has the right to make a prize substitution of equivalent or greater value. Sponsor will not award a prize if there are no eligible Submissions entered in the Hackathon, or if there are no eligible Entrants or Submissions for a specific prize.

2. Verification Requirement: THE AWARD OF A PRIZE TO A POTENTIAL WINNER IS SUBJECT TO VERIFICATION OF THE IDENTITY, QUALIFICATIONS AND ROLE OF THE POTENTIAL WINNER IN THE CREATION OF THE SUBMISSION. No Submission or Entrant shall be deemed a winning Submission or winner until their post-competition prize affidavits have been completed and verified, even if prospective winners have been announced verbally or on the competition website. The final decision to designate a winner shall be made by the Sponsor and/or Administrator. 

3. Prize Delivery: Prizes will be payable to the Entrant, if an individual; to the Entrant’s Representative, if a Team; or to the Organization, if the Entrant is an Organization. It will be the responsibility of the winning Entrant’s Representative to allocate the Prize among their Team or Organization’s participating members, as the Representative deems appropriate. A monetary Prize will be mailed to the winning Entrant’s address (if an individual) or the Representative’s address (if a Team or Organization), or sent electronically to the Entrant, Entrant’s Representative, or Organization’s bank account, only after receipt of the completed winner affidavit and other required forms (collectively the “Required Forms”), if applicable. The deadline for returning the Required Forms to the Administrator is ten (10) business days after the Required Forms are sent. Failure to provide correct information on the Required Forms, or other correct information required for the delivery of a Prize, may result in delayed Prize delivery, disqualification of the Entrant, or forfeiture of a Prize. Prizes will be delivered within 60 days of the Sponsor or Devpost’s receipt of the completed Required Forms.

4. Fees & Taxes: Winners (and in the case of Team or Organization, all participating members) are responsible for any fees associated with receiving or using a prize, including but not limited to, wiring fees or currency exchange fees. Winners (and in the case of Team or Organization, all participating members) are responsible for reporting and paying all applicable taxes in their jurisdiction of residence (federal, state/provincial/territorial and local). Winners may be required to provide certain information to facilitate receipt of the award, including completing and submitting any tax or other forms necessary for compliance with applicable withholding and reporting requirements. United States residents may be required to provide a completed form W-9 and residents of other countries may be required to provide a completed W-8BEN form. Winners are also responsible for complying with foreign exchange and banking regulations in their respective jurisdictions and reporting the receipt of the Prize to relevant government departments/agencies, if necessary. The Sponsor, Devpost, and/or Prize provider reserves the right to withhold a portion of the prize amount to comply with the tax laws of the United States or other Sponsor jurisdiction, or those of a winner’s jurisdiction.

5. Ship Kit is a participation benefit, not a Prize, and is not subject to the Prize verification, substitution, or delivery terms above. Ship Kit contents are available while supplies last. The Sponsor reserves the right to substitute Ship Kit items with items of equal or greater value if necessary due to availability or supply constraints.

9. Entry Conditions and Release

1. By entering the Hackathon, you (and, if you are entering on behalf of a Team, Organization each participating members) agree(s) to the following:

1. The relationship between you, the Entrant, and the Sponsor and Administrator, is not a confidential, fiduciary, or other special relationship.

2. You will be bound by and comply with these Official Rules and the decisions of the Sponsor, Administrator, and/or the Hackathon Judges which are binding and final in all matters relating to the Hackathon.

3. You release, indemnify, defend and hold harmless the Promotion Entities, and their respective parent, subsidiary, and affiliated companies, the Prize suppliers and any other organizations responsible for sponsoring, fulfilling, administering, advertising or promoting the Hackathon, and all of their respective past and present officers, directors, employees, agents and representatives (hereafter the “Released Parties”) from and against any and all claims, expenses, and liabilities (including reasonable attorneys’ fees), including but not limited to negligence and damages of any kind to persons and property, defamation, slander, libel, violation of right of publicity, infringement of trademark, copyright or other intellectual property rights, property damage, or death or personal injury arising out of or relating to a Entrant’s entry, creation of Submission or entry of a Submission, participation in the Hackathon, acceptance or use or misuse of the Prize (including any travel or activity related thereto) and/or the broadcast, transmission, performance, exploitation or use of the Submission as authorized or licensed by these Official Rules. 

2. Without limiting the foregoing, the Released Parties shall have no liability in connection with: 

1. Any incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by the Sponsor or Administrator’s electronic or printing error, or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Hackathon; 

2. Technical failures of any kind, including, but not limited to malfunctions, interruptions, or disconnections in phone lines, internet connectivity or electronic transmission errors, or network hardware or software or failure of the Hackathon Website;

3. Unauthorized human intervention in any part of the entry process or the Hackathon; 

4. Technical or human error which may occur in the administration of the Hackathon or the processing of Submissions; or 

5. Any injury or damage to persons or property which may be caused, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, from the Entrant’s participation in the Hackathon or receipt or use or misuse of any Prize.

The Released Parties are not responsible for incomplete, late, misdirected, damaged, lost, illegible, or incomprehensible Submissions or for address or email address changes of the Entrants. Proof of sending or submitting the aforementioned will not be deemed to be proof of receipt by the Sponsor or Administrator. If for any reason any Entrant’s Submission is determined to have not been received or been erroneously deleted, lost, or otherwise destroyed or corrupted, the Entrant’s sole remedy is to request the opportunity to resubmit its Submission. Such a request must be made promptly after the Entrant knows or should have known there was a problem and will be determined at the sole discretion of the Sponsor.

10. Publicity

By participating in the Hackathon, Entrant consents to the promotion and display of the Entrant’s Submission, and to the use of personal information about themselves for promotional purposes, by the Sponsor, Administrator, and third parties acting on their behalf. Such personal information includes, but is not limited to, your name, likeness, photograph, voice, opinions, comments and hometown and country of residence. It may be used in any existing or newly created media, worldwide without further payment or consideration or right of review, unless prohibited by law. Authorized use includes but is not limited to advertising and promotional purposes. 

11. General Conditions 

1. Sponsor and Administrator reserve the right, in their sole discretion, to cancel, suspend and/or modify the Hackathon, or any part of it, in the event of a technical failure, fraud, or any other factor or event that was not anticipated or is not within their control.

2. Sponsor and Administrator reserve the right in their sole discretion to disqualify any individual or Entrant if it finds to be actually or presenting the appearance of tampering with the entry process or the operation of the Hackathon or to be acting in violation of these Official Rules or in a manner that is inappropriate, unsportsmanlike, not in the best interests of this Hackathon, or a violation of any applicable law or regulation.

3. Any attempt by any person to undermine the proper conduct of the Hackathon may be a violation of criminal and civil law. Should the Sponsor or Administrator suspect that such an attempt has been made or is threatened, they reserve the right to take appropriate action including but not limited to requiring an Entrant to cooperate with an investigation and referral to criminal and civil law enforcement authorities.

4. If there is any discrepancy or inconsistency between the terms and conditions of the Official Rules and disclosures or other statements contained in any Hackathon materials, including but not limited to the Hackathon Submission form, Hackathon Website, or advertising, the terms and conditions of the Official Rules shall prevail.

5. The terms and conditions of the Official Rules are subject to change at any time, including the rights or obligations of the Entrant, the Sponsor and Administrator. The Sponsor and Administrator will post the terms and conditions of the amended Official Rules on the Hackathon Website. To the fullest extent permitted by law, any amendment will become effective at the time specified in the posting of the amended Official Rules or, if no time is specified, the time of posting.

6. If at any time prior to the deadline, an Entrant or prospective Entrant believes that any term in the Official Rules is or may be ambiguous, they must submit a written request for clarification. 

7. The Sponsor or Administrator’s failure to enforce any term of these Official Rules shall not constitute a waiver of that provision. Should any provision of these Official Rules be or become illegal or unenforceable in any jurisdiction whose laws or regulations may apply to an Entrant, such illegality or unenforceability shall leave the remainder of these Official Rules, including the Rule affected, to the fullest extent permitted by law, unaffected and valid. The illegal or unenforceable provision shall be replaced by a valid and enforceable provision that comes closest and best reflects the Sponsor’s intention in a legal and enforceable manner with respect to the invalid or unenforceable provision.

8. Excluding Submissions, all intellectual property related to this Hackathon, including but not limited to copyrighted material, trademarks, trade-names, logos, designs, promotional materials, web pages, source codes, drawings, illustrations, slogans and representations are owned or used under license by the Sponsor and/or Administrator. All rights are reserved. Unauthorized copying or use of any copyrighted material or intellectual property without the express written consent of its owners is strictly prohibited. Any use in a Submission of Sponsor or Administrator’s intellectual property shall be solely to the extent provided for in these Official Rules.

12. Limitations of Liability

By entering, all Entrants (including, in the case of a Team or Organization, all participating members) agree to release the Released Parties from any and all liability in connection with the Prizes or Entrant’s participation in the Hackathon. Provided, however, that any liability limitation regarding gross negligence or intentional acts, or events of death or body injury shall not be applicable in jurisdictions where such limitation is not legal.

13. Disputes

1. Except where prohibited by law, as a condition of participating in this Hackathon, Entrant agrees that:

1. Any and all disputes and causes of action arising out of or connected with this Hackathon, or any Prizes awarded, shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action lawsuit, and exclusively by final and binding arbitration under the rules of the American Arbitration Association and held at the AAA regional office nearest the contestant;

2. The Federal Arbitration Act shall govern the interpretation, enforcement and all proceedings at such arbitration; and

3. Judgment upon such arbitration award may be entered in any court having jurisdiction.

2. Under no circumstances will Entrant be permitted to obtain awards for, and Entrant hereby waives all rights to claim, punitive, incidental or consequential damages, or any other damages, including attorneys’ fees, other than contestant’s actual out-of-pocket expenses (i.e., costs associated with entering this Hackathon), and Entrant further waives all rights to have damages multiplied or increased.

3. All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official Rules, or the rights and obligations of the Entrant and Sponsor in connection with this Hackathon, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the substantive laws of the State of New York, USA without regard to New York choice of law rules.

SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATIONS OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

14. Additional Terms

Please review the Devpost Terms of Service at https://info.devpost.com/terms for additional rules that apply to your participation in the Hackathon and more generally your use of the Hackathon Website. Such Terms of Service are incorporated by reference into these Official Rules, including that the term "Poster" in the Terms of Service shall mean the same as "Sponsor" in these Official Rules." If there is a conflict between the Terms of Service and these Official Rules, these Official Rules shall control with respect to this Hackathon only.

15. Entrant’s Personal Information

Information collected from Entrants is subject to Devpost’s Privacy Policy, which is available at https://info.devpost.com/privacy.

For questions, send an email to support@devpost.com.