Live engagement tools for hackathons: submissions, chat, and the room

We build EVOCA, so the bias is declared up front. We do not take submissions, form teams, or score a rubric. Devpost does. We also do not replace the server where hackers already type. A weekend still needs a way for the keynote, the mentor hour, and the demo pitches to take questions and reactions from a phone.

The product shape of that room is live engagement for hackathons. Asking and upvoting is live Q&A for hackathons. The organizer clicks are how to run a hackathon. EVOCA does not include live polls. If the opening session is a poll deck, the closer comparisons are EVOCA vs Mentimeter and EVOCA vs Slido. Free single-purpose tools for one talk are in free live Q&A and reaction tools.

Three jobs, three tools

Devpost's organizer FAQ, read on 11 November 2026, describes hackathon software as registration, team formation, submissions, judging, communication, and reporting. The same FAQ says in-person hackathons are often a single day or a weekend, and that Devpost does not handle venue logistics. Their participant help, updated 27 May 2026, still sends real-time questions to Slack or Discord when the hackathon has one, and offers a Discussion tab plus a private message to the manager for everything else.

That split is the whole post. Keep the competition on Devpost. Keep the hallway in Discord. Put a QR on the demo slide for the questions the room wants answered out loud.

1. 1

   Devpost

   Best for: Registration, teams, submissions, and judging

   Devpost calls itself the home for hackathons, and the organizer FAQ matches that job: registration, team formation, project submissions, judging and scoring, participant communication, and reporting. Public hackathons can add project-management and marketing packages named Basic, Mid, and Full-service, plus separate marketing packages. Devpost for Teams is a private platform billed as an annual subscription per seat. The FAQ does not print a dollar price for either, and it points organizers to a demo for the cost. Student organizers can host for free when everyone involved is a student. In-person events, in their own words, are often a day or a weekend, and Devpost does not source the venue. The live room is still yours to run.

2. 2

   Discord

   Best for: The chat the weekend already lives in

   Devpost's help center, updated 27 May 2026, tells participants to use the hackathon's community chat, and it names Slack or Discord, when they need a real-time answer. Their organizer FAQ also points public-hackathon teammates at a channel in the Devpost Discord. That is the right place for team formation, mentor pings, and a message that the wifi is down. A channel is a stream of messages. It is not a question list sorted by votes on the projector next to a demo. Keep Discord. Don't ask it to be the stage.

3. 3

   Slido

   Best for: A dedicated Q&A product you already know

   Slido is the Q&A tool teams reach for when Discord is too noisy and Devpost's Discussion tab is too slow. Slido also includes polls, which we don't. The head-to-head has the participant caps and the one-time prices we last checked on slido.com, so this page does not repeat them. Use it when the venue or the slide tool already assumes Slido.

4. 4

   EVOCA

   Best for: Keynote, mentor hour, and demo pitches

   EVOCA is the phone layer for the room. Attendees join a session from a QR code or a link. They upvote questions and send emoji reactions. The top unanswered questions sit beside the slides, and the same feed can be projected as a live wall. Run the mentor block as its own session so those questions don't sit on the opening keynote. EVOCA does not include live polls, and it does not take project submissions or score judges' rubrics. Free organizer events cover 100 attendees. A larger weekend is €49 for 7 days, with unlimited attendees and unlimited talks.

What EVOCA costs for that layer

Free organizer events cover 100 attendees and 1 admin. One-time Event is €49 for a 7-day window, unlimited attendees, unlimited talks. Growth is €29/month, with call for papers and 3 admins. Scale is €89/month billed yearly. A recurring series is €19.99/month. Speaker Pro is €5/month billed yearly. None of those plans accept a Devpost submission or open a Discord channel. Prices are on the pricing page.

Devpost's public packages are a sales conversation. The organizer FAQ names the tiers and then says to book a demo for the cost. We are not going to invent a Devpost price beside ours. If the hackathon is a student event and every participant is a student, Devpost says the hosting itself can be free. The room tool is a separate decision, and a weekend under 100 people fits our free organizer event.