Coding Competitions & Hackathons for Teens: The 2026 Guide
Competition listicles are usually a graveyard of dead programs and copy-pasted dates. We verified all 14 entries below against their official sites in July 2026 and re-checked every date in late September, including the question nobody else answers: does this competition allow AI-assisted projects? Where an organizer hasn’t published an AI policy, we say “not stated” instead of guessing. Coming up soonest: CyberPatriot registration (Oct 1), the Congressional App Challenge (Oct 26), and NASA Space Apps and CodeDay Providence (both Nov 14–15).
At a glance: what’s next
| Competition | Next key date | Who | AI-built projects |
|---|---|---|---|
| Congressional App Challenge | Due Oct 26, 2026 | U.S. middle & high school students | AI allowed with full disclosure |
| Technovation Girls | Opens Oct 12, 2026 | Girls ages 8–18 (nonbinary/trans participants welcome) | AI is core to the curriculum |
| Apple Swift Student Challenge | 2027 TBA (usually Feb) | Students 13+ (14–16 minimum in some countries) | AI policy not stated |
| Global Appathon (MIT App Inventor) | Opens Oct 29, 2026 | Anyone worldwide, any age, with youth categories | AI policy not stated |
| Presidential AI Challenge | Next round TBA | U.S. K–12 students, team + supervising adult | The whole challenge is building AI-powered solutions |
| Hack Club | Always open | Teens 13–18, worldwide | No formal policy; ship-your-own-projects culture |
| NASA Space Apps Challenge | Nov 14–15, 2026 | All ages, 190+ countries | Not stated; AI approaches common on NASA open data |
| CodeDay | Nov 14–15, 2026 (Providence) | Ages 12–25, student | Not addressed |
| MLH (Major League Hacking) | Events through Apr 2027 | Primarily college | Varies per event; regularly runs AI-themed hackathons |
| USACO | TBA (usually Dec–Mar) | Pre-college | Closed-resource contests |
| ACSL | Registration open | Pre-college, Rookie/Veteran divisions | Explicitly NOT allowed |
| picoCTF | 2027 TBA (usually Mar) | Middle school, high school, and college divisions | Competition AI policy unclear; curriculum now covers AI security |
| CyberPatriot | Register by Oct 1, 2026 | U.S. middle & high school teams (Open and JROTC divisions) | Not addressed |
| FIRST Tech Challenge | Season underway | Grades 7–12 / ages 12–18 | Not addressed |
Green = AI allowed or central · Amber = not stated or varies · Red = not allowed. Full details per competition below.
App-building challenges
Congressional App Challenge
U.S. House of Representatives (Internet Education Foundation)
- Who: U.S. middle & high school students; solo or teams up to 4; homeschoolers compete via district of residence
- Format: Online submission (app + demo video) · Free
- When: 2026 season live now. Submissions due October 26, 2026 (12:00 pm ET)
AI: AI allowed with full disclosure (can't be the entire build)
The best-documented AI policy of any competition here, and the most prestigious line a teen builder can put on an application. If you enter one thing this year, enter this.
Technovation Girls
Technovation
- Who: Girls ages 8–18 (nonbinary/trans participants welcome); international
- Format: Online + optional local chapters · Free
- When: 2026–27 season starts October 12, 2026. Register Oct 12, 2026 – Mar 11, 2027; submissions due May 5, 2027
AI: AI is core to the curriculum
Apple Swift Student Challenge
Apple
- Who: Students 13+ (14–16 minimum in some countries); worldwide; individual work only
- Format: Swift app playground submission · Free
- When: 2026 cycle finished; 2027 not yet announced. Typically a ~3-week application window each February
AI: AI policy not stated
Submissions must run offline, max 25 MB. Winnable up to 3 times.
Global Appathon (MIT App Inventor)
App Inventor Foundation + MIT
- Who: Anyone worldwide, any age, with youth categories
- Format: Virtual · Free
- When: 2026–27 edition: registration opens October 29, 2026; submissions open December 2, 2026 and are due April 2, 2027
AI: AI policy not stated (platform itself includes AI components)
Presidential AI Challenge
White House initiative (administered via ORISE)
- Who: U.S. K–12 students, team + supervising adult
- Format: Online submission + regional/national rounds · Free
- When: Inaugural 2025–26 season complete. Registration for the next round is closed for now; the official site says to check back in late September 2026
AI: The whole challenge is building AI-powered solutions
Hackathons
Hack Club
The Hack Foundation
- Who: Teens 13–18, worldwide
- Format: Rotating online programs + in-person hackathons · Free, always
- When: Always-on. Current programs include Daydream (high-school game jams in 100 cities on the same weekend) and local clubs at 1,500+ schools
AI: No formal policy; ship-your-own-projects culture
Not one competition but a rotating slate: program names change every few months, so bookmark the homepage rather than a specific event.
NASA Space Apps Challenge
NASA
- Who: All ages, 190+ countries; minors per local-event rules
- Format: 2-day hackathon, local in-person events + virtual · Free
- When: Next event: November 14–15, 2026
AI: Not stated; AI approaches common on NASA open data
CodeDay
CodeDay (nonprofit)
- Who: Ages 12–25, student; city events worldwide
- Format: In-person 24-hour weekend hackathon · historically low-cost ticket
- When: One dated 2026–27 event so far (Providence, Nov 14–15, 2026); other cities rebuilding
AI: Not addressed
MLH (Major League Hacking)
MLH
- Who: Primarily college; high schoolers admitted by policy but many host events restrict minors, so check each event
- Format: Weekend hackathons + online Global Hack Week · Free to attend
- When: 2027 season schedule is live, with events listed through April 2027; high school hackathons are labelled on the schedule
AI: Varies per event; regularly runs AI-themed hackathons
Contests & olympiads (fundamentals track)
USACO
USA Computing Olympiad
- Who: Pre-college; online contests free and open worldwide (camp/IOI selection is US-only)
- Format: Online algorithmic contests, 4 divisions · Free
- When: 2026–27 dates not yet posted at our September check; typically a winter contest series (Dec–Mar)
AI: Closed-resource contests. Assume AI not allowed during contests
The serious algorithmic track: this is fundamentals, not AI-assisted building. A good complement to it.
ACSL
American Computer Science League
- Who: Pre-college, Rookie/Veteran divisions; international
- Format: Online via HackerRank, proctored · $20 (Summer Challenge); season fees via schools
- When: 2026–27 season registration opened September 1, 2026 (the Summer Coding Challenge ran July 24–Aug 2, 2026)
AI: Explicitly NOT allowed (proctored anti-cheat)
picoCTF
Carnegie Mellon University
- Who: Middle school, high school, and college divisions; global; year-round practice gym
- Format: Online capture-the-flag (cybersecurity) · Free
- When: Annual competition each spring (2026 ran from March 9); 2027 dates not yet announced. Practice gym open year-round
AI: Competition AI policy unclear; curriculum now covers AI security
Platform is migrating to "CyLab Security Academy". The competition brand continues.
CyberPatriot
Air & Space Forces Association
- Who: U.S. middle & high school teams (Open and JROTC divisions)
- Format: Online rounds from school/site · Per-team fee (waivers exist)
- When: CyberPatriot 19 (2026–27) registration closes October 1, 2026; rounds run fall–spring
AI: Not addressed
FIRST Tech Challenge
FIRST
- Who: Grades 7–12 / ages 12–18; ~80 countries
- Format: In-person team robotics · $350/team/season + kit costs (grants available)
- When: 2026–27 season (BIOBUZZ) is underway after its September 2026 kickoff
AI: Not addressed
Robotics rather than pure coding, but the programming roles on an FTC team are real software work.
Paused or discontinued
- NASA App Development Challenge is officially on pause for 2026; NASA says it may return in 2027. (Their Space Apps hackathon, listed above, is running.)
How we verified this list
Every entry was checked against its official website on July 20, 2026 (the eligibility and rules pages, not press coverage), and every date was re-checked on September 28, 2026. Where next-season dates weren’t posted yet, we say so and give the typical annual window instead of inventing dates. Spot something that has changed? Tell us and we’ll fix it.