Pi is thrilled to announce the winners of Pi Hackathon 2025! Pi’s first hackathon in the Open Network era invited developers to build and deploy meaningful Pi apps that empower Pi’s real-world utility and expand Pi’s use—enabled by Open Network’s external connectivity.
Here are the winners:
1st Place: Blind_Lounge, a privacy-first social and dating platform where people connect anonymously and reveal identities only by mutual choice.
2nd Place: Starmax, a loyalty program app that enables Pioneers to spend Pi at participating businesses and earn rewards for their engagement.
3rd Place: RUN FOR PI, a fast-paced runner game that incorporates Pi directly into its in-game economy.
Additionally, five apps received honorable mentions:
- Kindrek
- Workflet for Pi
- PallyPay
- SimpleJoy
- Agora Pulse
Running from August 15th to October 15th, the hackathon received over 215 Mainnet app submissions that met the Hackathon’s Mainnet ecosystem requirements, showcasing developers’ clear motivation to build utility-oriented, production-ready apps on the Pi Mainnet. As these hackathon apps are community-built projects that continue to evolve beyond the 2-month long hackathon, some features may still be in progress and occasional bugs or limitations may appear. Each team may continue to refine their app and iterate based on user feedback.
Pioneers can check out all hackathon submissions under the hackathon2025 tab in the Mainnet section of the Ecosystem Interface in the Pi Browser.
Read on to learn more about each winner and honorable mention!
1st Place: Blind_Lounge
Blind_Lounge stood out for its unique approach to social networking within the Pi ecosystem. By leading with anonymity and giving users the option to reveal identities later, it offers a distinct interaction model that increases safety and lowers the friction of meeting new people.
The app’s chat and dating experiences begin without any personal details, and identities are disclosed only when both participants mutually agree. The Random Chat feature pairs users anonymously, creating a natural, low-pressure way to connect before sharing profiles. The app also includes a social space where users can post thoughts, stories, or questions anonymously.
The team integrated Pi payments in the core functionality of their app, requiring a Pi fee when a Pioneer creates a profile to prevent spam and filter for quality. All interactions require a profile, which are restricted to KYC-verified Pioneers—measures that strengthen authenticity and reliability and reduce misuse, which addresses one pain point of blind-matching online interactions. This app demonstrates a good use case of Pi’s large identity-verified network to solve real-world problems.
Try out the app and watch the team’s demo video to learn more.
On large platforms such as Instagram or YouTube, people often suffer from false information and fake accounts. Blind Lounge, where only KYC-verified users can participate, provides Pioneers with a trustworthy space for real connections. Beyond simple online interactions, it can become a meaningful meeting place that strengthens the cohesion and foundation of the Pi community.
– Blind_Lounge team
2nd Place: Starmax
Starmax offers a practical way for businesses and Pioneers to use Pi in everyday settings through a loyalty system that connects local stores and customers. Pioneers can spend Pi at participating stores and earn rewards for their engagement, while businesses can design and customize their own loyalty programs directly within the app to engage with and expand their customer base.
This offers one mechanism for merchants to attract repeat customers, offer meaningful incentives, and gain visibility within a trusted ecosystem. Starmax’s flexible loyalty system fits naturally into existing store operations, giving the app strong potential for real-world adoption, a potential tool for tens of thousands of merchants integrated with Pi worldwide.
Try out the app and watch the team’s demo video to learn more.
Pi creates a clear and accessible environment where people can interact, transact, and grow together. Starmax helps Pioneers discover Pi-friendly businesses, earn rewards and support high quality brands. For merchants, it creates a transparent growth engine based on rewards, appreciation and trust. As brands grow, new Pioneers benefit, and the cycle reinforces itself.
– Starmax team
3rd Place:
RUN FOR PI stood out for demonstrating a clear, practical use of Pi within the game’s core economy, aligning with Pi’s emphasis on the gaming vertical.
Players can use Pi to purchase boosters, unlock levels, participate in prize pools, and compete on leaderboards, creating a gameplay loop where progression and competition naturally involve Pi. The game features familiar runner-game mechanics, clean UI/UX, and simple controls, allowing players to jump in quickly and stay engaged.
While the runner-game genre is well-known, RUN FOR PI’s strength comes from using Pi in ways that feel purposeful—tying advancement, competitive elements, and replay incentives to Pi-based actions—and from tapping into the Pi community for user acquisition while providing entertainment utility for Pioneers. Gaming apps are also a good fit to use Pi Ad Network for monetization in Pi and to integrate further with gaming-specific platform support for engagement and Pi utility later.
Try out the app and watch the team’s demo video to learn more.
My gaming app aims to make a meaningful difference for Pioneers by providing real-world utility for the Pi cryptocurrency within fun, interactive environments via social dynamics such as competitive leaderboard, offering hours of daily user engagement, and collecting and spending on game items. Ultimately, the goal is to create a positive feedback loop where games drive utility, utility drives engagement, and engagement strengthens the entire Pi’s ecosystem.
– RUN FOR PI team
Honorable mentions
Pi has chosen five additional honorable mentions that provide utility and promote the use of Pi within the ecosystem.
Kindrek
Kindrek is a modern matchmaking and social platform, supporting romantic, friendly, and professional connections. It incorporates Pi payments and the Pi Ad Network into profile interactions, communication features, and premium elements. The project stands out for delivering a polished, multilingual matchmaking experience and for integrating Pi into social mechanics in a way that aims to encourage meaningful, flexible connections across different relationship types.
Workflet For Pi
Workflet for Pi is a productivity and collaboration platform built around role-based workspaces where organizations can manage teams, projects, and client interactions in dedicated environments. Its ambitious scope and SaaS design demonstrate the potential for professional-grade tools within the Pi ecosystem. While Pi integration is still early and reliability needs refinement, Workflet shows the intention to enable organizations to operate and coordinate within the Pi ecosystem.
PallyPay
PallyPay is a group payment and bill-splitting app built for everyday activities such as meals, trips, and shared events. It enables small-scale Pi transfers within friend groups and communities, making shared expenses easy to coordinate. The app stands out for showcasing Pi’s usefulness in real-world situations where groups need to organize shared payments as well as its early exploration of business listings and group-based B2C payments.
SimpleJoy
SimpleJoy offers a curated library of fully open-source, browser-based games that are free to play and easy to access. SimpleJoy provides simple, fun, and convenient entertainment for the Pi community. The project stands out for its user-friendly approach and for meeting a clear demand for lightweight, accessible games that Pioneers can enjoy without friction.
Agora Pulse
Agora Pulse is a community polling app where Pioneers can create questions, share opinions, and vote on polls posted by others. The app also experiments with Pi integration to support engagement. Its open and accessible design helps surface community sentiment and bring attention to important topics and opinions for Pioneers.
Disclaimer:
Pi Apps are third-party applications that may still be in-progress and are not official apps developed or endorsed by the Pi Core Team, nor do they have any affiliation to Pi Network itself. Likewise, all decisions, features, and limitations of these apps are determined solely by their respective app teams. Use of these apps is at your own discretion and risk, and by using such apps you acknowledge and agree that Pi Network is not responsible for any issues you may encounter, including but not limited to, those relating to and arising from transactions, data security, user experience, or access and use.
If you encounter any issues or have suggestions, please share them directly through the app’s reporting channels or in the relevant community spaces.
*DISCLOSURE: To receive the prizes and awards specified in the Hackathon terms and conditions, winning teams, and each of their team members, are required to have adhered to all terms and conditions of the Hackathon, and must successfully complete Pi’s KYC verification process prior to receiving any form of award. In the event that a winning team, or one or more team members, fail to adhere to the terms and conditions, or do not successfully complete Pi’s KYC verification process, they will not be eligible to receive the applicable award, and will be disqualified as a winning team for the Hackathon.
