It may be the depths of winter, but now is the time for Open Source organizations to be preparing their applications for Google Summer of Code. After a record-breaking year in 2025, Google is hoping to attract around 30 new mentoring organizations in 2026.

The idea for the Summer of Code came directly from Google's founders, Sergey Brin and Larry Page. Since the outset it has been a remote, online program designed to mirror the way open-source software is actually developed - through distributed teams, mailing lists, and version control systems.

The program's original aim was to encourage university students studying Computer Science to engage in Open Source projects during their summer vacation, hence its original motto of "flip bits not burgers". While the main activity of contributors was coding, the rubric suggested other tasks, including  that could be done by participants. Now the emphasis seems to be more about forming lasting relationships between new volunteers and open source organizations and the program is no longer restricted to students. Since 2022 it has been open to anybody aged 18 and over who wants to get involved with open source as a new contributor.

The latest description of the program is:

Over 3+ months, contributors spend their time collaborating on real-world projects right alongside experienced mentors and their communities. This isn't just about coding; this deep immersion in open source does more than build valuable technical skills. It cultivates a strong understanding of community dynamics, best practices, and the soft skills needed to become a truly impactful open source contributor.

The first iteration of the program was held in 2005. It  had been planned for 200 student positions but due to the overwhelming response - more than 8,740 project proposals were submitted Google expanded the program to 419 positions.

The program flourished. According to the latest blog post: 

GSoC has connected more than 22,000 contributors with over 20,000 mentors from 1,000+ open source organizations, all collaborating to keep this vital community thriving.

As previously reported on I Programmer, 2025 saw

 "a whopping 15,240 applicants submitting proposals (an increase of 130% of our previous high - a new record!) from 130 countries. These folks submitted 23,559 proposals, a 159% increase over last year!"

This quote came from Stephanie Taylor who since 2016 heads the Google Open Source team responsible for Google Summer of Code who also provided the statistics than in 2025, its 21st year, GSoC had 1280 Contributors from 68 countries working with 185 Mentoring Organizations.

The application period for Mentoring Organizations is January 19th - February 3rd and for 2026 have an expanded focus on the AI, Security, and Machine Learning domains. Prospective applicants are advised to visit the GSoC website and to read the Mentor Guide.

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