How to Set Up a Hackathon Leaderboard (Complete Guide)
A great hackathon needs a great scoreboard
You've organized the venue, lined up sponsors, and attracted 20 teams. Don't let the scoring be an afterthought. A live, visible leaderboard transforms a hackathon from "people coding in a room" to a thrilling competition.
Step 1: Define your scoring criteria
Most hackathons score on:
- Innovation (25%) — How original is the idea?
- Technical execution (25%) — Does it work? Is the code clean?
- Design/UX (20%) — Is it usable and well-designed?
- Impact/usefulness (20%) — Does it solve a real problem?
- Presentation (10%) — How well did they demo it?
You can either track a combined score on the leaderboard, or each sub-score. Combined is simpler and creates more suspense.
Step 2: Create your leaderboard
- Go to BoardQ and create a new leaderboard
- Add all team names
- Choose the dark theme — it looks best on venue screens and projectors
- Set up a custom unit if you want (e.g., "pts" or "/100")
Step 3: Set up displays
- Main stage screen — Full-screen the leaderboard on the projector
- QR code at entrance — Print the QR code on A3 paper so attendees can follow on phones
- Embed in event website — Use the BoardQ iframe embed to show live scores on your event page
- Stream overlay — If live-streaming, embed the leaderboard in OBS
Step 4: Update during judging
As judges score each team, update the leaderboard from your phone. The venue screens and all viewers' phones update in real-time. This creates incredible tension during the final judging rounds.
Pro tip: Use the BoardQ API to let judges submit scores via a simple form that automatically updates the leaderboard.
Step 5: The reveal
Don't show the final scores until all teams are judged. Update the last scores live on stage — the audience watching the leaderboard shuffle in real-time is the highlight of any hackathon.
Get started
Set up your hackathon leaderboard for free. Display it on any screen, update from any device. Create one now →