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September 30, 2026
Devpost and TAIKAI are both hackathon platforms that also offer hackathon consultation and management services. Devpost connects organizers with a community of 6M+ builders and developers and runs private internal and customer-facing hackathons on Devpost for Teams. TAIKAI runs public, internal, and hiring hackathons with optional consultancy from its team.
Devpost is a hackathon platform that connects organizers to one of the largest developer audiences for running software competitions. Devpost was founded in 2009, and its long-standing enterprise partners include Google (since 2019), Amazon (since 2016), and Microsoft (since 2016). Public, developer-facing hackathons run on Devpost's public platform, which reaches a community of 6M+ builders and developers. Private internal and customer-facing hackathons run on Devpost for Teams. Organizers can run a Devpost hackathon entirely self-serve, or bring in Devpost's hackathon consultants, a team that plans and runs hackathons full-time, for anything up to a fully managed event. Devpost is certified to ISO 27001 and SOC 2.
TAIKAI is a hackathon platform based in Portugal. TAIKAI’s platform hosts public hackathons, internal company hackathons, and hiring hackathons on the same platform, and sells a Consultancy Plan in which its team designs, runs, and promotes the event. TAIKAI reports a community of over 100,000 builders.
Here's how Devpost and TAIKAI compare in more detail.
One of the biggest differences between Devpost and TAIKAI is audience size. Devpost's community of 6M+ builders and developers is one of the largest anywhere built around hackathons, and Devpost can also connect organizers with external developer groups. People join Devpost to discover hackathons, find teammates, submit projects, and keep a public record of what they've built. Participants can search and filter open hackathons on Devpost by interest, host company, length, submission date, prize amount, and location, and can see which listings Devpost manages. Devpost's standing with developers rests on a long public track record, including hackathons for Google since 2019, for Amazon since 2016, and for Microsoft since 2016. On Devpost, 5-33% of hackathon registrants go on to submit a project, compared with the roughly 1% response rate typical of developer marketing channels such as ads, banners, and conference sponsorships. Developers also recommend Devpost in hackathon threads on Reddit and other community forums.
TAIKAI reports a community of over 100,000 builders. Many of the hackathons featured on TAIKAI are European events or Web3 and blockchain challenges, and TAIKAI participants can sign in with an Ethereum wallet as well as with GitHub, Gmail, or LinkedIn. TAIKAI also publishes a Top 100 ranking of its community's participants and judges based on their hackathon results.
Devpost’s platform hosts hackathon microsites where users can register, find teammates, engage with other people’s projects, and submit projects. Organizers can run hackathons with Devpost's platform on their own or can choose to get additional help from Devpost's team. TAIKAI's platform handles registration, matchmaking, submissions, and voting, and TAIKAI's Consultancy Plan adds help from TAIKAI's team. Here's how the two platforms compare feature by feature.
Public hackathons on Devpost can be virtual, in-person, or hybrid. Most online public hackathons on Devpost last six to eight weeks. Private hackathons usually last one to five days, depending on the organizer's goals.
TAIKAI supports online, hybrid, and in-person hackathons. TAIKAI's leaderboard for real-time voting and winner announcements is built for online and hybrid events.
Participants register, form teams, and submit projects directly on Devpost. Organizers can customize the questions on both the Devpost registration form and the Devpost project submission form. Asking questions at registration and again at submission lets organizers compare participant data from before and after the hackathon, which makes hackathon ROI easier to measure. Participants looking for a team can post on the hackathon's Participants page, list the skills they need, and send Team-up requests. A Team-up request is confirmed when the other participant adds the requester to the project. Devpost also runs a Discord channel for participants looking for teammates. Every Devpost hackathon site has Rules and Resources tabs that list the submission requirements. Participants submit their project on Devpost with a written description and media, and the submission goes to judging.
TAIKAI offers customizable registration forms, and TAIKAI's matchmaking feature lets participants form teams without leaving the hackathon page. Participants submit projects with images, videos, and attachments. TAIKAI supports sign-in through Ethereum, GitHub, Gmail, LinkedIn, or SSO, connects to Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Discord for live chat, and lets organizers livestream webinars and Q&As on the platform.
Every Devpost hackathon has a public project gallery that stays online after the hackathon ends. Winning projects display a winner's badge in the project gallery. Other Devpost users can like and comment on projects. Each Devpost profile lists every project that person has submitted. Devpost profiles also show achievement badges earned through activity, such as a first online hackathon, a first in-person hackathon, anniversary badges, and many more. Organizers can export Devpost reports at any time during a hackathon. Devpost reports cover registrations, submissions, participant demographics, project themes, and answers to custom registration and submission questions. Organizers who use Devpost's project management or marketing services also receive a wrap-up report.
TAIKAI project pages can remain public after a hackathon, and TAIKAI participants receive a verifiable digital Proof of Participation badge for each project. TAIKAI also runs The Garden, a program where teams can import projects from TAIKAI hackathons and launch them as onchain projects with their own crypto tokens. TAIKAI's public materials don't describe organizer reporting exports comparable to Devpost's.
Devpost is certified to both ISO 27001 and SOC 2.
TAIKAI doesn't publish a SOC 2 or ISO 27001 certification on its site.
Each Devpost organizer chooses how much of the hackathon to hand off. Devpost's platform works fully self-serve, and organizers who need more help can add managed services from Devpost's hackathon consultants, a team that plans and runs hackathons full time across a wide range of formats and programs. Project management support comes in Basic, Mid, and Full plans, and the Full plan has Devpost run the entire hackathon from design to prize fulfillment. Marketing support comes in Basic, Mid, Full, and Max packages that promote the hackathon to Devpost's 6M+ community and to broader developer audiences.
TAIKAI's Consultancy Plan puts TAIKAI's team in charge of designing, running, and promoting a hackathon. The services listed under TAIKAI's Consultancy Plan are hackathon management, hackathon design, hackathon promotion, co-marketing campaigns, customer support, and support during the event. TAIKAI doesn't publish separate tiers or levels for its Consultancy Plan.
Organizers can define their custom judging criteria on Devpost. Judges on Devpost score each submission against the hackathon's criteria from a dedicated judging dashboard, on a five- or ten-star scale that the organizer sets. Organizers can follow every judge's progress from their own dashboard throughout the judging period. Organizers can also add submission screening through Devpost's managed services, so only eligible projects reach the judges.
TAIKAI lets organizers define their own judging criteria. TAIKAI's voting can be limited to a selected jury, opened to members of a specific organization, or opened to the wider TAIKAI community. TAIKAI's public materials don't describe an organizer-facing view of judges' progress comparable to Devpost's.
Devpost's pricing depends on what the organizer needs. A self-serve public hackathon on Devpost costs a flat fee, and organizers can add project management (Basic, Mid, or Full) and marketing support (Basic, Mid, Full, or Max) for more reach and hands-on help. Student hackathons, where the organizers and all participants are students, are free on Devpost. Devpost for Teams is sold as an annual, per-seat subscription that covers unlimited hackathons throughout the year.
TAIKAI doesn't publish pricing or plan tiers. Organizers start with TAIKAI by requesting a demo, and TAIKAI's Consultancy Plan is scoped through a conversation with its team.
Devpost is best for organizations that need their hackathon in front of the largest possible community of builders and developers, on an ISO 27001 and SOC 2 certified platform they can run themselves or with Devpost's hackathon consultants, for public hackathons and, through Devpost for Teams, private internal and customer-facing hackathons.
TAIKAI is best for organizations that need a Europe-based hackathon platform operated under Portuguese law, especially for Web3 or blockchain challenges that call for Ethereum wallet sign-in and a path to launching projects onchain.
Devpost and TAIKAI both support internal company hackathons, but through different setups. Devpost runs internal and customer-facing hackathons on Devpost for Teams, which is purpose-built for private hackathons. Devpost for Teams is ISO 27001 and SOC 2 certified, includes SSO and access controls, offers managed services such as judging support and a dedicated Customer Success Manager, and is sold as an annual, per-seat subscription with unlimited hackathons throughout the year. TAIKAI runs internal and hiring hackathons on the same general platform it uses for public events, and also sells a Workshop & AI Program that teaches a team to build with AI before an internal hackathon. For a side-by-side look at internal hackathon platforms, see our roundup of the best platforms for internal and company innovation hackathons.
Ready to run your next hackathon on Devpost? Book a demo to start with a hackathon consultation and explore Devpost's service plans.