Open source

Unpaid contributions to open source are experience almost anyone can build, wherever they are and whatever their visa. We watch a set of well-known repos and measure what matters to a newcomer: whether pull requests from outsiders actually get merged, how fast, and how many issues are labelled for a first contribution. Alongside, mentored programs and fellowships, many of them with stipends.

Programs & fellowships

Mentored and remote, and many pay a stipend. Status is worked out from the dates each time the page loads.

Dates verified by hand; the source link on each card is where we checked.

On F-1 or another student visa?

Unpaid contributions to open source are generally fine. Stipends and paid fellowships can count as employment: Outreachy and the MLH Fellowship both say F-1 students may need CPT, and some past MLH Fellows used OPT. Ask your DSO before you accept a paid place. More in our guide.

Applications openevent
Hacktoberfest 2026
DigitalOcean, MLH and DEV · Remote
Apply
by Oct 31, 2026
Runs
Oct 1 – 31, 2026
Stipend
No stipend; sticker packs and swag for participation
Who
Anyone with a GitHub or GitLab account. Register with a MyMLH account on hacktoberfest.com.
The 2026 edition changed the rules: rewards come from attending Fests, livestreams and DEV challenges rather than from pull-request counts. It is still the month when the most repos tag issues for newcomers.
- Beginner friendly
- beginner
- october
- events
Apply Verified Oct 17
Opens soonmentorship
LFX Mentorship, Spring 2027 term
The Linux Foundation · Remote
Apply
Feb 3 – 16, 2027
Runs
Mar 8 – May 28, 2027
Stipend
Stipend scaled by country, paid half at midterm and half at completion
Who
18+ and able to receive a stipend. No student requirement; one project at a time.
Dates are from CNCF's term plan, which was still marked Planning when we checked; projects are proposed by Jan 27. Applications close Feb 16 at 23:59 UTC, review runs Feb 17 to Mar 2 and selections go out Mar 3 to 5. Projects from CNCF, Hyperledger, the kernel and other LF communities are listed on the LFX platform.
- Beginner friendly
- cncf
- paid
- mentored
Details
Closedinternship
Outreachy, December 2026 cohort
Software Freedom Conservancy · Remote
Apply
Aug 24 – 31, 2026 (closed)
Runs
Dec 7, 2026 – Mar 8, 2027
Stipend
USD 7,000 for the three-month internship
Who
18+, able to commit around 30 hours a week, and part of a group underrepresented in the tech industry of your country. Run their eligibility checker before the window opens.
Initial applications closed Aug 31. Approved applicants are in the contribution period (Oct 12 to Nov 9); interns are announced Nov 30.
Student visas: Outreachy says your visa must allow 30 hours of work a week, that F-1 students in the US may need to apply for CPT, and that it provides documents for the CPT application once you are selected. It can shift dates by up to five weeks for student-visa work limits (outreachy.org/docs/applicant).
- Beginner friendly
- paid
- underrepresented
- mentored
Dates TBAmentorship
Code for GovTech, Dedicated Mentoring Program 2026
Code for GovTech (Samagra) · Remote
Apply
Apr 8 – May 1, 2026 (last cycle)
Stipend
INR 1,00,000 for the three-month program
Who
Students and early-career developers; projects are Indian digital public goods.
2026 applications ran Apr 8 to May 1 for a three-month summer program. Expect a similar window in spring 2027.
- Beginner friendly
- india
- paid
- civic tech
Details Verified Oct 17
Dates TBAcontest
Codeheat
FOSSASIA · Remote
Apply
TBA
Stipend
No stipend; prizes include trips to the FOSSASIA Summit
Who
Open to anyone regardless of age or background; contribute to FOSSASIA repos on GitHub.
Usually runs from December to March; the 2026-27 edition had not been announced when we checked. Five merged issues earn a certificate.
- Beginner friendly
- contest
- fossasia
- winter
Details Verified Oct 17
Dates TBAprogram
GirlScript Summer of Code 2026
GirlScript Foundation · Remote
Apply
Jan 20, 2026 (last cycle)
Runs
May 15 – Aug 15, 2026
Stipend
No stipend; top contributors receive cash prizes and swag
Who
Open to everyone, not only women; large India-based community.
A points-based program across hundreds of participating repos. The 2026 contribution period ran May 15 to Aug 15; the 2027 announcement usually lands in January.
- Beginner friendly
- beginner
- india
- leaderboard
Details Verified Oct 17

7 more programs· closed for now, dates not yet announced, or endedShow

Dates TBAprogram
Google Summer of Code 2027
Google Open Source · Remote
Apply
TBA
Stipend
Stipend scaled by project size and your location; the 2026 range was roughly USD 750 to 6,600
Who
18+ and new or relatively new to open source. Students and non-students alike; most countries eligible.
2027 dates are not published yet. In 2026 orgs were announced Feb 19 and contributor applications ran Mar 16 to 31, so expect a similar window. Start contributing to a target org in January.
- Beginner friendly
- mentored
- summer
- stipend

Repos that merge first PRs

Merge odds count pull requests from people outside the maintainer team that were closed in the last 90 days, and how many were merged. Very busy repos close thousands of PRs in that time, so for them we measure the most recent stretch we can see in full, and the card says how many days that is. Bots are left out, and so is anyone who looks like staff: GitHub hides private org membership, so we treat as staff anyone who opens PRs from branches in the repo itself (which needs write access), merges their own PRs, or lists the org as their company, plus anyone with 12 or more PRs in 90 days. Everyone else counts for at most 3 PRs. Repos are ranked by the merge rate the numbers support with confidence, so a small perfect record does not outrank a large good one. The “Merges outside PRs” badge needs at least 10 outside PRs from 8 or more people, 60% of them merged. Good first stops are repos we would point a brand-new contributor at first.

All136 AI & ML33 Infra13 Web19 Data18 Dev tools

First-PR checklist

Read the last ten merged PRs before writing a line.
They show the expected size, test style and tone of a change that gets accepted in this repo. Match them.
Claim the issue with one or two sentences.
Say what you plan to change and roughly how. Maintainers would rather redirect you before the work than after it.
Keep the first PR reviewable in five minutes.
One bug, one doc page, one test. Large first PRs stall because nobody has an hour to review a stranger.
Run the project's own checks locally and say so.
Formatter, linter, tests. A large share of first PRs fail CI on formatting alone, which is a bad first impression for free.
Write the description for someone with no context.
What was broken, what you changed, how you verified it, and a screenshot if anything is visual. Link the issue.

Open source

Programs & fellowships

Hacktoberfest 2026

LFX Mentorship, Spring 2027 term

Outreachy, December 2026 cohort

Code for GovTech, Dedicated Mentoring Program 2026

Codeheat

GirlScript Summer of Code 2026

Google Summer of Code 2027

Repos that merge first PRs

First-PR checklist

Read the last ten merged PRs before writing a line.

Claim the issue with one or two sentences.

Keep the first PR reviewable in five minutes.

Run the project's own checks locally and say so.

Write the description for someone with no context.

MLH Fellowship

Open Source Promotion Plan 2026

Outreachy, May 2027 cohort

Season of KDE 2027

Summer of Bitcoin 2027

Google Season of Docs

actual

Reply to review within a day and stay in the repo.

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