Four Tiers.
Four Parallel Races.
One Contest.

Yes. There is no minimum, and nothing in this competition is decided by the size of your following. You are placed in a tier with creators around your own size, and every round is scored inside that tier. What decides it is how many of your people turn up, and that has nothing to do with the number in your bio.

Any woman aged 18 or above with an Instagram account, in India or anywhere in the world. Your account should be public and in your own name.

₹189, including GST. It confirms you are a real person genuinely entering, which is what keeps the voting fair for everybody. You get it back once you finish Round 2 and cast one vote.

Only to read your follower count, which places you in your tier, and to confirm the account is yours. Nothing is ever posted from your account by us.

No. One entry per person and one per Instagram account.

Yes. Creators living abroad register and compete exactly as anyone in India does. Your tier, your rounds and your scoring all work identically.

Registration runs for 21 days before the main event week begins. The countdown on the home page shows exactly how long is left.

By your Instagram follower count at the moment you register. Nano is 1 to 5,000. Micro is 5,001 to 50,000. Macro is 50,001 to 2,50,000. Mega is above 2,50,000.

None of them. Every round is scored inside your own tier, against creators who have built something of a similar size. Your follower count decides which tier you are in, and nothing after that.

Every tier has a range, so there will always be creators above and below you inside it. But no round awards points for having a larger following. Rounds 1 and 2 are the same points for everyone who completes them, Round 3 counts votes, and Round 4 counts responses. All of those come from your people, not from your follower number.

Yes. Everything you have built works in your favour — more people who can vote for you, more people who can respond in Round 4, and more momentum when you ask. The tier system simply makes sure you are measured against creators who have built something comparable, so the comparison is a fair one. Keep the pace through all seven days and every bit of that reach counts.

You would not. Your scores are only ever compared with creators inside your own tier. The overall Top 100 is drawn from all four tiers, but your round scores are always measured within your bracket.

No. Your tier is locked when you register and confirmed once more before voting opens, so that nobody can move into a different bracket midway.

Your tier stays where it was at registration. Everything you gain during the event is yours to keep.

Yes. Every tier sends its own Top 100 through to the judges, and the overall winners are drawn from all four tiers together. The cover is not reserved for any tier.

A cover, and a number. The FHM Hot100 credential stays on your profile permanently, and Round 4 gives you a documented figure for how many people respond when you ask — which is exactly what brands are trying to estimate when they discuss your rate.

Round 1 is Calling, where you register. Round 2 is Community, where you tell your people. Round 3 is Connectivity, seven days of public voting. Round 4 is Conversion, which measures how many of your people respond when you ask.

21 days of registration, then a seven-day event week, then results. Your actual work is one post, one reel and one story at the start, a week of asking your people to vote, and one reel for Round 4.

Follow FHM India and FHM Hot100, join the WhatsApp channel, and put up 1 post, 1 reel and 1 story telling your people you have entered and sharing your referral code. It should be done within 48 hours of registering.

Every creator who registers using your code adds to your score, and the creators whose codes are used most win an iPhone.

On Day 1 of voting, to every creator at the same moment. Nobody sees it early, so a creator who registered on day one gets no more planning time than one who registered on day twenty. You then have 72 hours before Round 4 opens.

No. Several of the judges have said directly that raw beats polished, and the data across Indian creator content agrees. A phone and a real idea is the standard here.

Twenty of the hundred points come from the judges, and those are decided on the reel and nothing else. It is the one part of the competition where a single strong idea can move you a long way.

Two creators from the same tier appear side by side and the voter picks one. When someone picks you, you stay on screen and a new challenger appears beside you — so backing you repeatedly is a single repeated tap.

Anyone, anywhere in the world. Voters do not need to follow you. They sign in once, with Instagram or a mobile number.

No. Voting is unlimited across all seven days, for as many creators as a voter likes.

Yes. ₹1,000 to the top voter every hour, ₹5,000 every day, and three iPhones to the top voters of the whole contest. Voting is free.

Yes, and it counts.

Ask every day, and ask in a different way each time — a post one day, a reel the next, a story after that, and the same message on your other social handles. The creators who do well are the ones who keep asking all seven days, not the ones who ask once on day one.

Round 1 is 10 points, Round 2 is 10, Round 3 is 30, Round 4 is 30, and the judges account for 20.

No. They are about finishing. Complete them and the full 10 points are yours, exactly as they are for everyone else.

On a straight count of how many times your people respond. Not a percentage, not an estimate — the actual number, which is your conversion power.

Nine people, each chosen for a different kind of judgement — presence, craft, commercial sense, storytelling, grit and taste.

They see the reel and nothing else. No name, no city, no tier and no follower count travels with it. Each reel is assigned to four judges at random by the system after voting closes, so no judge chooses what they see and no creator knows in advance who will see hers. Twenty points are decided purely on the work.

Yes, in full, before you enter rather than after. It is on The Event page.

Your refund is unlocked as soon as you finish Round 2 and cast one vote — it does not depend on how you place, or on Rounds 3 and 4. It is paid out once the voting round closes, which is when the judges begin scoring the finalists. So everyone who qualifies is refunded in the same window.

You choose. Cash to your UPI, a shopping credit worth more than you paid, a tree planted in your name, or the collector's digital edition. Your choice has no effect at all on your score.

The deposit is returned once Round 2 is complete and one vote is cast. Before that point it is not returned.

Yes, any time before Round 4 closes.

The FHM India print cover, ₹5,00,000 in cash, an iPhone Pro Max, a feature podcast episode, a gift voucher and a certificate.

An FHM India digital cover, ₹3,00,000 and ₹1,00,000 respectively, an iPhone Pro and an iPhone, a podcast feature, a gift voucher and a certificate.

A full feature article about you inside FHM India, a podcast feature, a gift voucher and a certificate.

A gift voucher and a certificate naming you in the official FHM Hot100 of 2026.

Yes. All 400 finalists receive a certificate confirming they finished in the top 100 of their tier.

Yes. There is one print cover a year for a female creator, and it is not sold and not negotiated — it is earned through your own effort, in a process published in full before anyone enters. For a creator with an established profile it is one of the very few credentials still genuinely difficult to acquire, and the whole country will be watching who gets it.

Every voter signs in first, and the system watches continuously for unusual patterns across every round and every tier. Round 3 also rewards how often you win head-to-head matchups against random opponents, which is far harder to influence than a raw count. Confirmed manipulation means disqualification.

Disqualification, removal of their scores, and forfeit of the deposit. This applies identically at every tier and at any follower count.

If clear evidence of manipulation emerges afterwards, yes. Positions can be revised and the next creator moved up.

No. Individual rankings are never published and there is no public leaderboard anywhere on this site. Your follower count is shown on your profile by default, and every other number — engagement, responses, scores — is yours to show or hide as you choose.

It is used only to run the competition — verifying you, placing you in a tier, and paying out prizes or refunds. Full detail is in the privacy policy.

Never. The only things public on your profile are your name, city, tier and whichever numbers you have chosen to display.

Wait for the resend timer and request it again. If it still does not arrive, use the Instagram sign-in option instead, or write to us.

Failed payments are reversed automatically by the bank, usually within 5 to 7 working days. If your registration did not complete, write to us with your transaction reference.

Yes. Use the language button at the top of any page. Creating your content in any Indian language has no effect at all on your score.

No. Everything runs in your phone browser, and it is built mobile-first.