We are teen hackers from around the world who code together
54 comments
·January 6, 2025bartekpacia
HackClub is great. I feel like I aged out of their target demographics recently though.
I can share my single and very positive experience with them. In summer 2020 (I was 18 then), they were going to host/sponsor some hackathons (IIRC), but because of Covid they couldn’t do that so instead they gave away that money to students who had some project idea. If your project was accepted you got $100 for it - but you had to share the result with the community.
I applied and got that 100, and used it to make a remote-controlled mobility scooter [0] with my friend. Not the most useful thing in the world but it was ton of fun!
slavik81
I saw the Hack Club presentation at the Ubuntu Summit 2024 ("How 30K teenagers build open source software") and it was an unexpected highlight of the conference for me. I'd expected it to be a boring kids program, but Hack Club looks very cool! https://youtu.be/AdgU-_1vDco
internetter
Hackclub is currently running a program for high schoolers until January 31st where time spent working on hobby projects is rewarded with prizes. By my understanding the pay rate is about $2-5 dollars per hour, so no replacement for a full time job but if you have kids that code for fun something is better than nothing!
sakesun
Does grey hair hacker club exists somewhere ? Need to join.
lvturner
Are those that are keeping their color but suffering from rapidly receding lines allowed to join too?
I'm sure someone will chime in to say there are plenty of these "clubs" but honestly, I grew up in a small town with no real "hacker" peers then have gotten so bogged down with work (and worked in areas without HUGE cultures like this) that I'm now starting to feel quite disconnected.
I just want to make silly things, learn some new skills and have fun -- having a "Safe" space to share that would be a boon.
Saigonautica
Perhaps there is one in your area: https://wiki.hackerspaces.org/List_of_Hacker_Spaces
I'm in Asia so no luck, but on the bright side, tools are quite affordable here.
lvturner
Also in Asia, I know of a few smaller ones, but they come and go - and with space at a premium I’ve not found them that useful.
I think it’s more about the community than the physical space though (to a point)
esperent
Makerspaces? If you're lucky enough to have one close by. The nearest one to me is a plane ride away.
nikisweeting
ArchiveBox uses HackClub Bank, their FSP platform (like Open Collective but better) and we love it. I enjoy using it more than any other billing/invoicing system I've used, and I'm constantly amazed at the quality of software they're able to put out with a team of teenagers!
jamietanna
Changelog did a great interview with Akon from Hack Club recently: https://changelog.com/podcast/620
cschep
this is so cool. hats off to the creators. I bet it's a ton of logistics to manage. I surfed around the site but couldn't find any information re: volunteering with them? I wonder if they need them and what kind of commitment it would be? I'd be interested!
linsomniac
They mostly seem to be "by and for high schoolers". This is what I was told when I was asking how I could help with my son setting something up.
malted
Hey! I work here. Happy to answer any questions!
dang
We'd be happy to help some of these kids do Show HNs of their projects. Would that be of interest?
malted
Absolutely - they’d fit right in here. My email is malted@hackclub.com.
frankacter
Couple of questions:
1) I see the mention of highschool throughout, what about younger hackers that are 13+ (7th & 8th grade)?
2) The directory (https://directory.hackclub.com/) is not working for me. Are there existing clubs in Asia? Specifically Taipei, Taiwan.
exists
For 2), there is a much more comprehensive map at the top of https://toolbox.hackclub.com/ that you can look at
__rito__
I see that in-person clubs are for High Schoolers only. But, is everything else for only high schoolers?
mingyeow
Hey, what’s the best way to sponsor this?
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hackgician
Big fan of Hack Club and everything you guys are doing! Such a phenomenal initiative
I recently supervised a Hackclub Counterspell event at our office. I was there only in the capacity of being an adult in the room, for health and safety and safeguarding reasons.
The entire event had been organised by a single teenager, with mini workshops, hack time and a global show and tell.
Kids that attended were not only coders, but musicians and artists as well.
The whole event was amazing, with more pizza than I thought it possible to eat.
The kids produced some genuinely interesting games, learned some new skills, and had a great time socially.
I fully intend to support more events in the future.