What Is a Mining Pool?
Updated May 2026 · Based on live MiningBoard pool data
Mining Pools in Simple Terms
A mining pool is a group of miners who combine their computing power to increase their chances of earning block rewards. Instead of competing alone against the entire network, participants share their hashrate and split the rewards according to each miner's contribution.
Solo mining — finding a block on your own — has become nearly impossible for most cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin's network hashrate is so high that even a powerful ASIC would have a statistically tiny chance of finding a block. Pools solve this by smoothing out income: instead of waiting months for a lottery win, you receive smaller, predictable payouts every day or every few hours.
How Mining Pools Work
When you join a pool, you point your mining hardware at the pool's stratum server. The pool coordinates all connected miners to work on the same problem, dividing the work into shares — partial proof-of-work solutions that are easier to find than a full block hash.
Each share you submit proves you did work. The pool tracks your share count over a period (the "window") and pays you proportionally. When the pool finds a block, it collects the block reward, keeps its fee, and distributes the rest to miners based on the payout scheme.
Payout Schemes Explained
Not all pools pay the same way. The scheme determines how risk is split between the pool operator and the miners:
The pool pays you a fixed amount for every valid share you submit, regardless of whether the pool finds a block. The operator absorbs the variance risk. PPS+ typically charges a higher fee (2-4%) because the pool must maintain reserves to cover unlucky streaks. Best for miners who want steady, predictable income.
Payouts are based on your share of the last N shares submitted before a block is found. If you mine consistently, this averages out to fair pay over time. PPLNS usually has lower fees (0.5-2%) but your daily income can fluctuate with pool luck. Not ideal for miners who frequently start and stop.
You mine alone but use the pool's infrastructure to coordinate. If you find a block, you keep the entire reward (minus a small fee). High variance — you might earn nothing for weeks, then hit a full block reward. Only viable for very large hashrate operations.
The original fixed-pay model. Similar to PPS+ but without the "plus" — no transaction fee sharing. Most pools have migrated to PPS+ because transaction fees now represent a meaningful share of total block rewards.
How Pool Fees Affect Your Income
Pool fees are deducted from your gross mining revenue before payout. A 2% fee on $20/day in gross revenue means you receive $19.60. Over a year, that 2% fee costs you about $146 — enough to matter, but usually small compared to electricity costs.
Fee isn't everything. A pool with 1% fee but frequent downtime or payout delays can cost you more than a 2% pool with 99.9% uptime. Reliability, payout frequency, and minimum payout thresholds also affect your real take-home.
Current Bitcoin Mining Pools
| Pool | Fee | Scheme |
|---|---|---|
AntPool
|
Free | PPLNS, FPPS |
Binance Pool
|
4% | FPPS |
Braiins Pool
|
Free | FPPS |
CloverPool
|
Free | FPPS |
Cruxpool
|
2% | FPPS |
EMCD
|
4% | FPPS |
F2Pool
|
4% | FPPS, PPLNS |
Foundry USA Pool
|
Free | FPPS |
K1Pool
|
1% | PPLNS |
Kryptex
|
3% | PPS |
NiceHash
|
Free | RESELL |
Ocean
|
Free | TIDES |
Poolin
|
4% | FPPS |
SecPool
|
4% | FPPS, PPLNS |
SpiderPool
|
Free | PPLNS, FPPS |
ViaBTC
|
4% | PPS+, PPLNS |
WhitePool
|
2% | FPPS |
How to Choose a Mining Pool
Mining Pools vs. Hashrate Marketplaces
Mining pools are for miners who want to earn cryptocurrency by contributing hashrate to a blockchain. Hashrate marketplaces like NiceHash are different — you sell your compute power to a buyer who decides what to mine with it. You get paid in BTC (on NiceHash) regardless of which coin your hashes actually mined. It's less complex but typically pays slightly less than direct pool mining.