Hacktoberfest is back, and I’m so excited Holopin is teaming up with DigitalOcean again this year. Every October, the open source world becomes a giant LAN party, and with it come new badges, fun avatar accessories, and a few extra surprises for those of you who go above and beyond.
Whether it’s your very first Hacktoberfest (welcome) or your tenth (respect), this is one of my favorite moments of the year.
What is Hacktoberfest?
Hacktoberfest is an annual celebration of open source, organized by DigitalOcean. The rules are simple: register on the Hacktoberfest site, make contributions to eligible GitHub or GitLab repos (there are thousands) throughout October, and earn rewards as a result.
It’s the biggest open source event on the internet — hundreds of thousands of developers have joined in over the years, shipping millions of contributions. If you’ve ever wanted to get into open source, this is perhaps the best way to do it.
Contributions = Holopin Badges
Since 2022, Holopin has partnered with Hacktoberfest to create exclusive digital badges for contributors. In a nutshell, here’s how it works:
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You’ll get a Holopin badge the moment you register on Hacktoberfest website.
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More badges unlock as you hit 1–4 accepted PRs, with a special Supercontributor badge at 6 accepted PRs.
And of course, your badges are shareable! Add them to LinkedIn, X, Bluesky, GitHub READMEs, portfolios, you name it. If you need a hand, Holopal Robert put together a GitHub README tutorial on adding badges to your GitHub README.
What’s super special about Hacktoberfest badges is that each one comes with a custom avatar, and every accepted contribution unlocks a new accessory for it.
Heads up: it can take about a week for PRs to be accepted and count toward your progress — track everything on the Hacktoberfest portal.
Long-term contributors, this one’s for you!
Hacktoberfest veterans, we see you. To celebrate your dedication, we’ve added special recognition for anyone who’s collected 1, 5, or 10 Hacktoberfest badges over the years.
If you still have unclaimed badges sitting in your inbox and want in on this, make sure to claim them before October 15, 2025.
Huge shoutout to the amazing pixel artist and developer advocate Marc Duiker who designed the Badge Club badges. Follow him on X for more pixel goodness.
Supercontributors: T-Shirts + Trees
This year, if you land 6 accepted PRs, you’ll unlock the Supercontributor badge. And yes, DigitalOcean ensured it comes with IRL perks inside:
- The first 10,000 Supercontributors get a code for a Hacktoberfest T-shirt included on their badge.
- The first 15,000 will also have a tree planted in their name (with a separate tree badge to prove it).
See full details on how to participate here.
Are you a maintainer?
October is the perfect time to showcase your repo, product, or course. With Holopin’s GitHub integration (and API options), you can reward contributors instantly: map events like PRs, issues, or reviews → issue badges → watch your community stick them on their badge boards like it’s the back of a laptop.
Good luck, have fun, and may your October be blessed with green workflows and conflict-free merges. See you in the PR queue!
