Vast Fall 2026 Showcase
Build something worth showing
That project you’ve been thinking about, the voice assistant, the strange little game, the model you want to teach a new skill, has a deadline now.
The Vast Fall 2026 Showcase invites you to build something new on a Vast GPU and show the community what it can do. Three winners will receive cash prizes and Vast credits, with $1,000 cash for first place.
Enter and post by November 29, 2026, at 11:59 PM PT. Winners will be announced on December 4.
What will you build
The brief is open. Build a model, an app, an agent, a game, a film, or a tool. Pick something you want to exist and make it work.
You could fine-tune an open model for a narrow task and show where it beats the base model. Build a voice assistant that handles interruptions. Turn a collection of photos into a 3D scene, make open models compete inside a game, or create a trailer for a movie that doesn’t exist.
Those are starting points. We want to see what you come up with.
One GPU is enough, and multi-GPU builds are welcome. Existing open models, templates, datasets, libraries, and AI coding tools are all fair game. The submitted project must be a new build started on or after November 4. In your post, explain what you reused and what you contributed.
Cash prizes and Vast credits
Each winner receives both a cash prize and credits to keep building.
| Place | Cash | Also included |
|---|---|---|
| First | $1,000 | $100 in Vast credits and Vast swag |
| Second | $500 | $100 in Vast credits |
| Third | $200 | $100 in Vast credits |
Winners will also be featured on Vast’s X account, Discord, and newsletter. We’ll reshare standout entries during the showcase, too.
How to enter
Start by making a Vast account if you don’t already have one, then fill in the entry form on the showcase page using that account’s email.
Build your project on Vast. To qualify, the submitted project must use at least one GPU-hour in total on your account between November 4 and November 29. Separate runs add up, and four GPUs working for 15 minutes count as one GPU-hour. Idle rental time doesn’t count, and additional usage doesn’t improve your judging position.
When it’s ready, post your build publicly on X, in the Vast Discord’s #general channel, or on r/vastai. Include:
- Screenshots or a short video showing it working.
- @vast_ai and #BuiltOnVast, both required.
- An explanation of what it does, what you built, and what you reused.
- A demo link or repository, if you have one.
Your public post is your submission. Complete both the form and the post by November 29 at 11:59 PM PT, and keep your post public through December 4. The form and post can be completed in either order.
You can also download an entrant card from the showcase page to let people know you’re building. Your finished submission still needs to show the project working.
What makes an entry stand out
The judges will review eligible projects against four criteria: ambition and difficulty, functionality, originality, and craft and sharing.
Show what was hard, how you got it working, and what makes your approach interesting. Give people enough evidence to understand the result and its limits. Sharing code is optional, but a useful write-up, walkthrough, or repository can help others learn from your work.
On November 30, the judges will announce four finalists. The next four standout entries will go to a community poll across X, Discord, and r/vastai. That vote chooses the fifth finalist; the judging panel decides all three prizes.
Finalists’ qualifying GPU usage will be checked against Vast account records, and account ownership will be confirmed by email.
Pick an idea and start building
You keep ownership of what you create. Entering gives Vast permission to repost your submission and demo with credit to you.
This is our first showcase, and we plan to run more. For this round, bring us something you’re excited to show: a useful tool, a difficult experiment, or an idea that finally works.
Build it. Post it. Show us what you made.
