BitMinter is closed. It was one of the first Bitcoin mining pools, started in June 2011 by a developer known as DrHaribo, and it came with a desktop miner that let people mine on Windows, Linux and macOS without the command line. Mining on the pool stopped on July 1, 2020, after an announcement around the start of June, and the website went offline on July 2, 2021, according to the Bitcoin Wiki entry. Its hashrate had already shrunk after the small USB ASICs its users favored stopped being competitive.
BitMinter's client was Java-based and ran on almost anything, and Computer Hope notes BitMinter's own estimate that it produced about 1% of the bitcoins in circulation. None of that hardware is useful now. Bitcoin is mined with SHA-256 ASICs, and the block reward is 3.125 BTC.
The seven picks below are live Bitcoin pools or pool software, from hobby-sized to industrial. Fees and payout rules differ more than most people expect, so they are listed for each. Pool choice does not make mining profitable; your hardware's efficiency and power price decide that, and bitcoin's price can fall faster than any fee saving.
Prices below are as of November 6, 2026. Our method is on How we review tools.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Best for | Price | Platforms |
|---|---|---|---|
| Braiins Pool | BitMinter's closest heir: an old pool with small, cheap payouts | 2.5% FPPS; 0% with Braiins OS | Any SHA-256 ASIC |
| OCEAN | Payouts straight from the block, no pool custody | 2%; 1% with DATUM | Any SHA-256 ASIC |
| ViaBTC | Steady PPS+ income and many coins in one account | PPS+ 4% plus 2% on fees; PPLNS 2% | Any SHA-256 ASIC |
| Solo CKPool | Solo mining with no sign-up | 2% fee | ASICs above 100 GH/s |
| Bitaxe | The modern take on a USB hobby miner | Hardware from resellers | Standalone device |
| Public Pool | Running your own stratum server against your own node | Free, open source | Node.js, Docker |
| Foundry USA | Institutional miners that need a US counterparty | Contact sales | Industrial ASIC fleets |
Braiins Pool
BitMinter and Slush Pool were both born in the early pool years. Slush survived and is now Braiins Pool, running since 2010 with more than 1.3 million BTC mined, according to its pool page.
It pays on FPPS, so transaction fees are shared, and small balances are cheap to move: Lightning payouts run from 1 satoshi up to 0.005 BTC with no fee. On-chain payouts start at 0.0002 BTC.
Best for: Home and small-farm ASIC owners who want daily payouts and a long track record.
Pricing:
- FPPS: 2.5%
- 0% for machines running Braiins OS
- On-chain payout fee: 0.0001 BTC below 0.005 BTC
Watch out for:
- The 0% rate depends on running Braiins OS, which only supports Bitmain Antminers and takes its own 2% to 2.5% dev fee in hashrate.
Official site: Braiins Pool.
OCEAN
OCEAN does not hold your coins. When it finds a block, miners are paid directly in that block's coinbase transaction; its homepage cites a 2026 block with 57 payout outputs. Rewards follow TIDES, a share window that includes transaction fees and can be audited.
The fee is 2%, or 1% if you build your own block templates with DATUM. That gives miners control over which transactions go into the blocks they help find.
Best for: Miners who care about self-custody and choosing their own block templates.
Pricing:
- Standard fee: 2%
- With DATUM templates: 1%
- Payout threshold: 0.01048576 BTC; Lightning payouts below that
Watch out for:
- Small miners can wait a long time to cross the 0.01048576 BTC threshold unless they set up Lightning.
- Payouts depend on OCEAN finding blocks, so income is lumpier than on an FPPS pool.
Official site: OCEAN.
ViaBTC
Large and multi-coin, ViaBTC found about 9% of Bitcoin blocks in the past month on mempool.space. It offers both PPS+ and PPLNS, so you choose between a fixed rate per share and a share of actual blocks.
The payout explainer dated August 27, 2026 puts PPS+ at 4% on block rewards and 2% on transaction fees, and PPLNS at 2%. The same account works for Litecoin and other coins.
Best for: Miners who want predictable PPS+ income and other coins under one login.
Pricing:
- PPS+: 4% on the block reward, 2% on transaction fees
- PPLNS: 2%
Watch out for:
- Its 4% PPS+ block fee is among the highest of the picks here.
Official site: ViaBTC.
Solo CKPool
Solo mining means keeping the whole block reward if you find one. Solo CKPool is the best-known service for it: an anonymous, not-for-profit service running since 2014, with no registration. You set your Bitcoin address as the username and point the miner at stratum.ckpool.org.
There are no payout schemes and no operator wallet. If your machine solves a block, the reward goes to your address, minus the 2% fee.
Best for: Hobby miners who accept long odds in exchange for the full block reward.
Pricing:
- Fee: 2% on top of Bitcoin's transaction fees
- No account or minimum payout
Watch out for:
- Most solo miners never find a block. The service page says hashrates below 100 GH/s are not recommended and CPU, GPU and FPGA mining never are.
- It comes with no warranty, and the operators take no responsibility if something goes wrong.
Official site: Solo CKPool.
Bitaxe
Many BitMinter users mined with small USB ASICs. Bitaxe is today's open source equivalent: a small board with one modern mining chip. The Gamma uses the BM1370 from Bitmain's Antminer S21 Pro and makes about 1.2 TH/s.
It runs ESP-Miner firmware, mines to any Stratum pool, and its hardware files are published under CERN-OHL-S-2.0, per the Bitaxe Gamma repository.
Best for: Tinkerers who want a quiet Bitcoin miner on a desk, paired with a solo pool or their own node.
Pricing:
- Design: free and open source
- Units: sold by third-party resellers; prices vary by seller
Watch out for:
- It needs a 5V supply rated 25 to 30 W; any other voltage damages the board.
- At 1.2 TH/s it earns very little in a shared pool.
Official site: Bitaxe.
Public Pool
Some BitMinter users would rather run the pool than join one. Public Pool is a Bitcoin stratum server written in TypeScript on NestJS, licensed GPL-3.0, that you host next to your own Bitcoin node.
It ships with Docker Compose files, and the README notes that cluster mode needs Node.js 22.12.0 or newer. Point a Bitaxe or an Antminer at it and every block template comes from your node.
Best for: Home miners with a Bitcoin node who want no third-party pool at all.
Pricing:
- Free and open source (GPL-3.0)
- Self-hosted: you pay only for your own server and node
Watch out for:
- You need a synced Bitcoin node with RPC access, which is a project in itself.
- Self-hosting a pool is solo mining by another name, so payouts only come if your hardware finds a block.
Official site: Public Pool.
Foundry USA
Foundry USA is the largest Bitcoin pool. Foundry describes it as a "U.S.-based, institutional-grade Bitcoin mining pool", and it sits inside a wider business that sells software and services to institutional miners.
On mempool.space, Foundry USA found 1,191 of 4,637 blocks over the past month, about 25.7%. It suits public miners and funds that need a US counterparty more than hobbyists.
Best for: Institutional and listed mining companies.
Pricing:
- Fees: not published; contact sales
Watch out for:
- Its size is a concern for decentralization: a quarter of blocks from one pool, per mempool.space pool data, concentrates transaction selection in one company.
Official site: Foundry USA.
How to choose
| If you need | Pick |
|---|---|
| A long-running pool with free Lightning payouts | Braiins Pool |
| Payouts straight from the block | OCEAN |
| PPS+ income and many coins | ViaBTC |
| Solo mining with no account | Solo CKPool |
| A small hobby miner for the desk | Bitaxe |
| Your own pool on your own node | Public Pool |
| An institutional pool in the US | Foundry USA |
When to stay with Bit Minter
There is nothing to stay with: BitMinter stopped accepting work in July 2020 and its site closed in July 2021. Any site using the BitMinter name today, or anyone offering to recover old BitMinter balances for a fee, is not the original service. If a Java miner or old config still points at BitMinter, change the stratum address to one of the pools above. Our MinerGate alternatives guide covers another early mining brand that faded.
Frequently asked questions
What happened to BitMinter?
BitMinter announced its closure around the start of June 2020, stopped mining on July 1, 2020, and took its website offline on July 2, 2021. It had run since June 2011 and was one of the oldest Bitcoin pools.
Which Bitcoin mining pool has the lowest fee?
Braiins Pool charges 0% to machines running Braiins OS, and a self-hosted Public Pool has no fee at all. Among standard options, OCEAN's 2% (1% with DATUM) and ViaBTC's 2% PPLNS are low. Compare the payout method too: FPPS and PPS+ cost more but pay steadily.
Can I still mine Bitcoin at home?
Yes, with an ASIC. A Bitaxe at about 1.2 TH/s is a hobby device, while a full Antminer needs strong power and cooling. Neither CPUs nor GPUs make sense for Bitcoin any more, and electricity is usually the cost that decides the result.
Is solo mining Bitcoin worth it?
Only as a lottery. Solo CKPool and Public Pool pay the full block reward if you find a block, but a small miner may never find one. A shared pool such as Braiins Pool pays small, regular amounts instead.
