- Nov 21, 2024
When it comes to mining bitcoins, the hardware is considered to be the most important aspect of it. However, the bitcoin mining software is a critical element of mining bitcoins too.
However, Bitcoin mining software alone isn’t the only thing that could get you bitcoins. In order to mine for Bitcoins, you need a combination of these four:
Bitcoin Mining Software (Read Further)
The hardware does the actual mining, the bitcoin mining software connects your hardware to the blockchain and to the pool. A pool of users mine together and divide the profits among themselves. Wallets are like digital accounts where your bitcoins are stored. All four of these need to be chosen with care as one mistake can ruin everything.
Miners need to make sure the hardware they buy generates enough bitcoins which help them break even fast and are safe to use. (Also Read: How to choose the best Bitcoin Mining Hardware) The software must be compatible with the hardware as well as the PC you will be running it on. The wallet needs to be secure so that your bitcoins don’t get stolen away. The pool needs to be fair and one needs to know all the regulations and rules of the pool they are joining.
You can read our detailed analysis of how to mine for bitcoins
However, here we take a detailed look at the various bitcoin mining software and their benefits -
Before you choose the software which you are going to use for mining, you need to ensure that the software is suitable for your needs.
What is the function of Bitcoin Mining Software?
Bitcoin Mining Software, as mentioned above, acts as a link between the mining rig and the blockchain as well as the pool. Basically, the software ensures that the bitcoins you have mined get communicated to the blockchain and updated there. Moreover, the bitcoin mining pool will also know how much you have mined and you will be rewarded according to your contribution which will be communicated to the pool via the bitcoin mining software.
In addition to accounting for the bitcoins mined, the bitcoin mining software has other functions too. It can display other statistics too, which are important for bitcoin miners. These stats include the likes of temperature, hash rate, fan speed, as well as the average speed of the bitcoin mining hardware. The miner can then tweak things accordingly to get optimum results and ensure that their hardware does not get damaged.
The best bitcoin mining softwares run on all Operating Systems such as Windows, MacOS and Linux. There are some which have also been ported to Raspberry Pi! In our list below we shall take a look at some of the best bitcoin mining software for all Operating Systems:
Runs on Windows 10 and Windows 8.1
Easy to use interface
Power saving mode
Pool support
Fast share submissions
Profit Reports
Link: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/store/p/bitcoin-miner/9wzdncrdhxb6
Supports ZTEX USB-FPGA modules 1.5
The software automatically chooses the frequency with the highest number of hashes
Ready to use Bitstream without the need for additional software
Also supports FPGA boards
Link: http://www.ztex.de/btcminer
One of the most popular Bitcoin Mining Software
Fan speed control
Multi GPU support
CPU mining support
Self-detection of new blocks
Remote interface
Link: https://github.com/ckolivas/cgminer
Designed specifically for ASICs
Allows mining with free Mesa/LLVM OpenCL
ADL Device reordering
Integrated controls for overclocking and fan speed control
Link: http://bfgminer.org/
GUI based miner
Supports Getwork Mining protocol
Supports Stratum Mining protocol
Supports solo mining as well as pooled mining
Generates performance graphs for the miners.
Link: https://sourceforge.net/projects/easyminer/
Belongs to a mining pool
Can mine on GPUs, FPGAs as well as ASICs
One of the oldest bitcoin mining software
Aforementioned BTC Miner, CG Miner and BFG Miner also work with Linux PCs.
Bitcoin Miners for Mac OS X Users
Works on MacOS 10.6 and higher
Pool Miner Client
Features integration with MacOS APIs
Link: https://www.bitcoin.org/smf/index.php?topic=2444.0
Notification Updates
Automatic Alerts
Allows setting strategies for mining different currencies
Bult-in stratum proxy
Allows remote monitoring
Comes with a mobile app and web version
Easy installation and familiar UI
Link: http://releases.multiminerapp.com/
Built specifically for the MacOS users.
Supports CGMiner and BFGMiner backends
Supports mining for Bitcoins, Litecoins, dogecoin, darkcoin, vertcoin and various other currencies.
Supports CPU, GPU, FPGA and ASIC mining.
Link: http://macminer.fabulouspanda.com/
You can use our Bitcoin Mining Calculator to calculate profitability.
OS Compatibility: Before you start off with a bitcoin mining software, you need to ensure that it is compatible with your OS. Most software runs on Windows, Mac and Linux platforms, but sometimes there are platform exclusive software too.
Hardware Compatibility: You need to ensure that the bitcoin mining software that you are using is compatible with the kind of hardware that is in use. Some software which were meant for mining using Graphics Cards are not compatible with ASIC devices and vice versa.
Coin Support: While Bitcoin mining is the key objective, there are a number of other alternative crypto currencies that could be mined too. You should check out if your software supports mining of other currencies, just in case your plans change in the future.
GUI/CLI: There are many Bitcoin mining software which do not offer a proper Graphics Interface and function mainly on a command line interface - this might not be user friendly for most users, especially those who are beginning their mining journey.
Mobile and Web support: Some Bitcoin mining software also come along with a mobile app or web support to monitor the performance of your mining process. Do check if your app supports that!
So which app do you use when it comes to mining Bitcoins? Comment below and let us know!
