RevenueCat Shipaton 2026

Welcome to the RevenueCat Shipaton — the mobile hackathon that's all about shipping… a ton.

At RevenueCat, we're all about supporting developers to build and monetize amazing apps. After the overwhelming success of last year's Shipaton, we're thrilled to announce the return of our global hackathon — and this year, we're going bigger than ever.

This August and September, we're inviting builders from all corners of the globe to ship new apps and compete for over $700,000 in cash prizes and truly unique rewards — over $1 million worth of prizes in total.

The challenge

Ship a brand-new app to the App Store, Google Play Store, or — new this year — the Samsung Galaxy Store, between August 1st and September 30th, 2026.

Integrate the RevenueCat SDK to power at least one in-app purchase or serve ads through RevenueCat Ads. Our goal is to give you that final push to ship that project you've had in the back of your mind but never took the time to get started.

Note: Updates to previously released apps won't qualify - it's all about bringing something new to life! You can brainstorm, build, and post before August 1st, but your app must be released for the first time during the Shipaton window.

Bigger and better

Last year's Shipaton blew us away. Hundreds of new apps launched, thousands of #BuildInPublic posts went out, communities from Tokyo to Seoul to London hosted Shipaton IRL events, and winning teams ended up on stage in New York, accepting their Shippy trophies with their apps lighting up a Times Square billboard.

Inspired by your amazing contributions, we've upped the ante for 2026:

• Over $700,000 in cash prizes — and growing as more sponsors join.
• Winning apps featured on giant billboards in Times Square.
• Flights to New York City for the Shippies red carpet award ceremony and RevenueCat's App Growth Annual conference.
• Press coverage for winners on 9to5Mac and 9to5Google.
• NEW: Investor exposure through the Shipaton Growth Fund.

Categories

• Grand Prize: Goes to the app that gains the most user traction and growth momentum during the event.
• [NEW] Next Gen Award: A student-only category for the best app submitted by active students.
• [NEW] Catvertising Award: Celebrates the most creative and effective use of RevenueCat Ads as a monetization method.
• [NEW] Best Game Award: For the best mobile game shipped during the event.
• #BuildInPublic Award: For developers who share the most interesting development journey on social media.
• HAMM Award (Help Apps Make Money): RevenueCat exists to "Help Apps Make More Money". This award goes to the project that designs the most robust and creative monetization strategy.
• RevenueCat Design Award: For the app that best represents the craft of app development.
• RevenueCat Peace Prize: Awarded to the project that provides the greatest social good.
• Conflict of Interest Award: A special category for RevenueCat employees and sponsors who couldn't resist joining the fun.

Additional partner awards include Ship Kotlin Everywhere (JetBrains), Most Viral App (Noise), Best App for Galaxy (Samsung), Replit’s Idea to Income, Keep Them Coming Back Award (OneSignal), The Growth Loop Award (Layers), and Funnel Vision Award (Stripe).

Requirements

Entrants must create a working software application that uses the RevenueCat SDK to power at least one in-app or web purchase. Apps must be built for iOS, iPadOS, macOS, or Android. The first public version of your app must be released between August 1 and September 30, 2026.

Students competing for the Next Gen Award follow a different, lower-friction path: submit a video and source code instead of a published store listing. No paid Apple or Google developer account required.