Frequently asked questions
Questions · Official Rules: ioovc.org/rules — where the two differ, the Rules govern.
- What is the IOOVC?
- The IOOVC — International Olympics of Vibe Coding — is a worldwide vibe coding competition held entirely online: registration is US$ 30 for the University category and US$ 60 for the Open, closes on October 31, 2026, and first place takes up to $50,000.
- How does the competition work?
- Each participant registers their own project and submits it by November 1, 2026 — there is no shared challenge and no X-hour clock. You build at your own pace, and the committee judges every project by the same four criteria, scoring from 0 to 100.
- Who can take part?
- Anyone, anywhere, since it all happens online — as long as they are 18 or over on the date of registration. The Open category asks for nothing beyond the fee; the University is only for students with active enrollment. Before registering you have to accept the Official Rules and the Privacy Policy (GDPR/LGPD).
- Can the project be built as a group?
- It can, and there is no maximum team size. The registration is in the name of whoever signs up — that person signs in to the platform, receives the prize and shares it as agreed with the group. List everyone in the project description so the committee knows who built what.
- Can I enter a project I started earlier?
- Yes. There is no start date: a project begun before the olympics competes normally, as long as it meets the conditions — working with an interface in English and carrying a test username and password in the dashboard's access fields.
- Can I submit more than one project?
- You can. Each project is a separate registration, with its own fee. Submit as many as you want, in either category, as long as each one meets that category's requirements. And the same project can compete both here and in the OBVC, the Brazilian sister olympics, which pays in reais: two separate registrations, one in each olympics.
- How much is the prize?
- It depends on the number of registrations, and it is all published, tier by tier. Open and University are two separate competitions, each with its own podium and its own count of registrations, and the prizes follow the prize ladder published on this page: the more registrations by the time registration closes, on October 31, 2026, the higher the tier that applies to the whole podium. At the top tier, first place in the Open takes $50,000, with mentions from 4th to 500th place; the University pays half of the Open in every tier. Winners and amounts are announced on December 25, 2026. Note: the ladder amounts are the official ones for each tier; any projected figure on this page is always labeled as a simulation.
- What about the mentions?
- From 1,000 registrations in a competition onward, there are mentions besides the podium: $100 per person in the Open and $50 in the University. From 4th to 500th place, everyone gets their share, according to the tier; at the top of the ladder, 10,000 registrations or more, each competition pays up to 500 people.
- What does the University ask you to prove?
- Valid proof of enrollment at an educational institution. It is optional at registration; it is required for your project to be judged. Anyone who cannot present it is disqualified, with no score and no refund.
- What must my submission include?
- Three things: a project that works, an interface in English and, if it has a login, a test username and password in the dashboard's access fields — private, seen only by the committee. Other languages can come along with English; without the English interface or the credentials, the project loses ground in the judging.
- How do I sign in to the platform?
- No password. When you sign in, a one-time code (OTP) is sent to your email; each session lasts seven days.
- How and when are winners paid?
- The winners and their full scores are announced on December 25, 2026, on this page. After that, the organization contacts each winner by email and phone to pay the prize, by January 25, 2027 at the latest.
Terms explained in the glossary: [[vibe coding]], AI coding agents, categories, judging criteria and prizes. · Contact