$65 of prepaid dev infrastructure — servers to put a project on, AI credits to burn. Plus a real web address you keep for a year — not a subdomain, not a free-host name. No code, no repo, no pull request to write.
Grab the domain first. Credits get spent; the address is the thing still pointing at your project next October — portfolio, side build, whatever you keep stalling on.
Sign in → hacktoberfest.com(free — email or GitHub) Open Codes and offers → hacktoberfest.com/my/promos Link GitHub, clear the check that offer asks for, take what’s still there
Login-only, one verification per offer, stock runs out — the page shows live what’s up.
Nice writeup — the “grab the domain first” tip is the real move here. Credits burn down fast once you actually start deploying things, but a clean .TECH address that sticks around for a year is genuinely useful for a portfolio page or a demo you can show people. Did a couple of Hacktoberfest PRs back in the day and the swag was fun, but honestly the perks-that-keep-on-working are worth more. Thanks for laying out the exact steps, the promos page is not the easiest thing to find on your own.
The missing two pieces — the code, and the bill in year two
The code you actually type at checkout:hacktoberfestd0b8o5
Where it goes — get.tech with a US IP (any US server on a VPN is enough) → search the name → cart → paste the code in the promo field → watch the cart turn to $0 before you continue. If it does not drop to zero, the code is spent for that basket; change the name and try again.
The part everyone finds out a year later — year one is free, year two bills at full price. Look at the renewal figure on that same cart page, then set a reminder 30 days before it renews. The domain is yours to keep or to drop — nothing renews silently if you switch auto-renew off.
Three ways the free year is worth more than $0
a project page or CV site that reads yourname.tech in a portfolio
a short redirect that sends people to your main site or repo
a domain email on a free mailbox — then the same address works in every form that asks for a “professional” one
One trick on top — pair the free year with free hosting (Cloudflare Pages or GitHub Pages), and the whole thing costs nothing until the next Hacktoberfest, when you decide whether the name earned its renewal.
Hacktoberfest 2026 threw out the pull-request grind — and left its perk rack wide open. It’s the one part of the event that pays you back.
Sign in → hacktoberfest.com (free — email or GitHub)
Open Codes and offers → hacktoberfest.com/my/promos
Link GitHub, clear the check that offer asks for, take what’s still there
Login-only, one verification per offer, stock runs out — the page shows live what’s up.
The missing two pieces — the code, and the bill in year two
a project page or CV site that reads 
a short redirect that sends people to your main site or repo
a domain email on a free mailbox — then the same address works in every form that asks for a “professional” one
!