Build the challenge
Create the competition content and define what participants need to investigate, exploit, or solve.
Hosted CTF infrastructure
Run the competition. CourseStack runs the CTF infrastructure.
Build challenges, launch isolated player environments, generate dynamic flags, and score the event live—without provisioning another competition stack.
Environment deploy00:42
Player environment, dynamic flags, and live scoring are ready.
Definition
What is a hosted CTF platform?
A hosted capture-the-flag platform gives organizers the competition experience and the technical environments participants need to solve challenges. Players work through containers, virtual machines, or connected systems while the platform manages access, flags, and scoring.
For the organizer, challenge infrastructure becomes part of the event delivery system—not a separate server project. Registration, teams, player environments, dynamic flags, and the scoreboard can operate together.
Competition proof
See the field move while the CTF is live.
A live scoreboard gives organizers and participants a shared view of competition progress while hundreds of individual challenge paths unfold.
01Live competition scoring
02Per-player challenge progress
03One shared event view
04Hosted competition delivery
How it works
Build the challenge. Launch the competition.
Configure the environment
Attach the hosted containers, virtual machines, or connected systems required by the challenge.
Launch the event
Open registration and give each player or team access to the competition experience.
Score in real time
Use dynamic flags and live scoring to keep progress visible while the event is running.
Review the competition
Use event and participant data to understand engagement and improve the next CTF.
Competition system
Match the platform to the CTF you want to run.
Start with challenge integrity and the participant experience—not a generic infrastructure checklist.
| Requirement | CourseStack capability | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Player isolation | Dedicated challenge environments | Give participants a fresh environment instead of sharing one instance. |
| Challenge integrity | Dynamic flags | Generate flags per player or team so copied answers do not resolve the same way. |
| Competition delivery | Registration, teams, and live scoring | Keep the event experience and challenge infrastructure connected. |
| Infrastructure | Hosted containers and virtual machines | Run system-level and multi-service challenges without provisioning a separate CTF stack. |
| Operations | Managed delivery infrastructure | CourseStack operates the challenge delivery layer while your team runs the competition. |
Environment availability, participant capacity, and usage vary by plan. See CourseStack pricing for current details.
Delivery model
Hosted CTF platform vs. a self-managed competition stack.
A self-managed stack can fit teams with dedicated infrastructure engineering. A hosted platform fits organizers who want to focus on challenges, participants, and the event itself.
One competition experience, from player access to the live scoreboard.
Operational area
Self-managed CTF
CourseStack CTF
Challenge hosting
Your team provisions and maintains the challenge servers
Hosted challenge infrastructure is part of the platform
Player environments
Participants may share instances or require custom provisioning
Each participant can receive an isolated environment
Flags
Your team builds and operates the flag workflow
Dynamic flags are generated per player or team
Scoring
A separate scoreboard must be configured and connected
Live scoring is built into the CTF experience
Event operations
Registration, teams, infrastructure, and scoring are assembled across tools
Competition delivery is managed in one platform
Ongoing ownership
Your team owns servers, networking, scaling, and support
CourseStack manages the delivery infrastructure
CTF use cases
Built for more than one kind of competition.
Technical training
Turn practical skills into scored challenges with real environments.
Conference competitions
Run a public or attendee-only CTF without assembling a one-off infrastructure stack.
Recruiting events
Use hands-on challenges to create a practical technical experience for candidates.
Student and community clubs
Give organizers a managed foundation for recurring competitions and practice events.
Organizer checklist
What to evaluate before choosing CTF software.
Challenge environment
Can the platform reproduce the operating systems, containers, services, and network topology your challenges require?
Player isolation
Does each participant or team receive an environment that prevents interference from other players?
Flag integrity
Can flags be generated dynamically so copied answers do not undermine the competition?
Competition workflow
Are registration, teams, challenge delivery, and live scoring connected?
Operational ownership
Who is responsible for provisioning, networking, scaling, resets, and event support?
Capacity and usage
Do the current plan limits fit your expected participants, environment size, and event duration?
See current plans and usageFrequently asked questions
Hosted CTFs, answered.
What is a hosted CTF platform?
A hosted CTF platform provides the competition experience and the technical infrastructure used to deliver challenges. CourseStack combines registration, teams, hosted challenge environments, dynamic flags, and live scoring in one managed platform.
Does each player get a separate environment?
CourseStack supports isolated per-player challenge environments so participants do not have to share one challenge instance.
What are dynamic flags?
Dynamic flags are unique answers generated for a player or team. They reduce answer sharing because a flag accepted for one participant does not resolve the same way for another.
Can CourseStack host virtual machines and containers for CTF challenges?
Yes. CourseStack supports hosted containers and virtual machines for challenge delivery, including connected systems where the exercise requires them.
Does CourseStack include live scoring?
Yes. CourseStack includes live scoring so participants and organizers can follow competition progress while an event is running.
Can I use CourseStack for a conference or recruiting CTF?
Yes. CourseStack supports CTFs for training, conferences, recruiting events, student clubs, and community competitions.
Do I need to provision the CTF servers myself?
No. CourseStack manages the challenge delivery infrastructure so your team can focus on challenge design and competition operations.
How many participants can join a CourseStack CTF?
Competition capacity depends on the environments, event configuration, and current plan limits. Review CourseStack pricing or talk with the team before launching a large event. See current pricing and limits.
Hosted CTF infrastructure
Build the challenges. CourseStack runs the competition infrastructure.
Launch isolated player environments, dynamic flags, and live scoring in one managed CTF platform.