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Hack Club

By Hack Club (nonprofit, Vermont). Visit Hack Club

Desk research from the maker's own pages. Not yet tried by us. Checked 2026-10-24.

A nonprofit network of teenagers who build projects: websites, games, keyboards, circuit boards and more. Teens join an online Slack community, start or join a club at school, attend hackathons, and take part in time-limited programs where they ship a project and earn rewards such as hardware or travel. Hack Club also runs HCB, a money-handling tool for youth groups. Everything is free and led largely by teens.

Our take: Excellent for motivated teens who want to build and ship with peers; parents should talk with their teen about online chat first.

The facts
Ages it suits13-18
What its terms say about agePrivacy notice and terms: if you are under 13 you may not use or access Hack Club services at any time; core programs are for ages 13-18. (terms)
PriceFree. Free (Oct 2026); funded by donations.
Works onWeb
AccountThe child's own account
AdsNone
In-app purchasesNone
The AI in itNo AI.

What's good

  • Free, real projects with real rewards
  • Teen-led community and clubs
  • Written safeguarding policy for in-person events
  • Never sells data

Watch for

  • Online Slack is a large open chat that includes adults
  • Programs may ask for ID documents or addresses to ship prizes
  • 13+ only
  • Self-driven; little structured teaching

Data and privacy

Says it will never sell personal data and its code is open source; it may collect names, contact details, images, voice and identification documents depending on the program, and shares data with vendors like Slack and Stripe. Read the privacy policy.

Does it work?

No independent studies; the maker shares teen project stories.

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Where these facts come from

Prices, terms and features change. Nobody paid to be listed, nothing here is an affiliate link, and Peabody never rates itself. Where we and the maker disagree, the maker's own pages are the ones to trust.