Ushering in a New Era at Hackster: New Core Features and Holiday Programs
We're excited to announce our biggest year-end celebrations, membership badges, challenges, and much more.
As we approach the close of another incredible year at Hackster, I couldn’t be more proud of what our team and community have accomplished. Every day, I’m reminded that Hackster was built to serve the world’s electronic engineering innovators — people like you who transform bold concepts into working solutions. Today, I’m thrilled to share exciting announcements that mark a significant shift for our platform and for the creative minds who consider Hackster their community.
Introducing Our Biggest Year-End Celebrations
Hackster Holidays Giveaway (New Annual Event)
The new Hackster Holidays Giveaway is our biggest giveaway of 2024! Nearly every day from December 10th to the 31st, we give away hardware that will help you build better, faster, and smarter. Plus, we’re offering two grand prize winners the ultimate workbench setup valued at over $5K each. It’s our way of saying “thank you” for being part of our community and for pushing the boundaries of what’s possible.
After signing up, be sure to come back each day to earn more entries. Every respect, like, comment, or discussion post will earn you one entry (see rules for limits and restrictions)!
The Year-End Junk Drawer Competition
We all have that one drawer filled with half-realized ideas and miscellaneous parts waiting to come to life. Our annual Junk Drawer Competition celebrates turning these scraps and stray components into fully realized projects. Think of it as the perfect way to kick off the new year — by transforming what might have been forgotten into something extraordinary.
During the Hackster Holiday’s Giveaway, you can earn up to 10 additional entries for each project submitted (see rules for limits and restrictions).
Learn more about the Junk Drawer Competition and enter here!
Our Annual Member Survey
Your feedback has always guided us in improving the community experience. Our annual survey is your chance to shape next year’s events, features, and platform enhancements. It’s quick, confidential, and directly influences the kind of sponsorships and funding we can secure to fuel your future projects.
During the Hackster Holiday’s Giveaway, you can earn up to 10 additional entries by completing all the survey questions.
Take the Member Survey now to support the Hackster community.
But wait, there is more…
We will be announcing additional programs and opportunities throughout the month of December. Sign up for our newsletter to be notified first of additional programs being announced this month.
Introducing Membership Badges: Level Up Your Profile to Exclusive Programs
One of the most significant changes we’re introducing is a new membership badge system that recognizes and rewards our members at different stages of their journey.
Standard Members:
All new signups are Standard by default. Standard members can post projects, like content, and comment freely. It’s the foundational membership you know and love.
If you are new to Hackster, please consider signing up today.
Verified Members:
By verifying your identity, citizenship, and residency, you’ll gain a coveted Verified badge. This status opens the door to participating in contests, giveaways, competitions, and challenges — essentially any program involving promotional products, cash rewards, or prizes. Verified is your gateway to all the opportunities that Hackster and our sponsor partners have to offer.
Apply for account verification here!
Pro Members:
For our most committed and skilled innovators, we’re rolling out the Pro badge. Pro members are our top-tier contributors and subject matter experts who consistently demonstrate excellence. As a Pro, you’re not just part of the action — you help define it. Pro members gain access to exclusive paid opportunities called “Pro Gigs,” which involve creating reference designs, gaining early access to products, generating specialized content, hosting webinars, attending conferences, and more. This is where you can turn your passion into tangible income and industry influence.
Learn about Hackster Pro and apply today!
Introducing Challenges: Your Path to Paid Project Opportunities
We’ve always believed in rewarding meaningful contributions. That’s why we’re excited to launch Challenges, a new type of contest connecting you directly with brands looking for your expertise. Challenges are essentially project requests or “bounties” posted by our partners. Here’s how it works:
- Check the Challenge listings: Brands publish tasks — such as building a specific reference design or writing a technical article — along with a bounty paid via digital e-gift cards or paypal (typically $1,000 to $5,000).
- Submit a proposal: If you’re interested and verified, submit a proposal for consideration. Our challenge managers will select three to five of the best proposals. Speed matters here. Challenges may fill up within hours, so you’ll want to act fast.
- Complete the project and get paid: Once your proposal has been accepted, bring the Challenge to life and publish it on Hackster. Upon successful completion, you receive the payout. Plus, if your submission stands out as the best among the awarded contracts, you’ll get an additional cash bonus.
We have a handful of our first Challenges planned to be announced this month. As an added bonus, every validated proposal submitted during December will earn you 5 entries into the Hackster Holidays Giveaway.
Challenges are launching on December 11th. Sign up for our newsletter to be notified.
Why This Matters
All these updates — our largest-ever giveaway, the Junk Drawer Competition, the annual member survey, the new badge system, and the introduction of Challenges — are part of a bigger vision. We want to empower every engineer, maker, and dreamer on our platform. Our aim is to create an environment where you can continually develop your skills, earn recognition, and benefit financially from your expertise.
For our community, this means more opportunities, clearer career paths, and tangible incentives for your hard work. For our sponsor partners, it offers structured ways to tap into the ingenuity of our members, fueling a marketplace of innovation that keeps the entire ecosystem thriving.
What’s Next?
Hackster Pro and Challenges are currently in public beta. That means we’ll be listening closely to your feedback, refining the offerings, and adding more benefits as we understand your needs better. We expect more complex and diverse tasks to appear as Challenges evolve. Similarly, the Pro tier will continue to adapt, ensuring that top members have cutting-edge ways to contribute and earn.
Join Us in Shaping the Future
This is a pivotal moment in Hackster’s journey, and I invite you to be part of it. Whether you’re here for inspiration, community, recognition, or revenue, we’re committed to supporting your growth and success.
There is a lot happening in December! To do it all, here is the list of links:
- Sign up for the Hackster Holidays Giveaway!
- Enter the Junk Drawer Competition!
- Complete the Annual Member Survey!
- Verify your account and explore Hackster Pro!
- Check out the latest Challenges! (Coming December 11th)
Thank you for being part of this remarkable community. Here’s to building bigger, better, and bolder things together.