10 Best Bitcoin Mining Pools in 2026

Learn about what Bitcoin mining pools are, how they work, mining pool fees and payouts, as well as the best Bitcoin mining pools to join in 2026.

What is a Bitcoin mining pool?

A Bitcoin mining pool is a group of crypto miners who combine their computational resources to increase the probability of successfully mining a block for rewards.

Read next: Bitcoin Mining Guide

Why join a Bitcoin mining pool?

With how competitive Bitcoin mining is these days due to increased hashrate, it's extremely unlikely that you'll see much success as a solo miner, unless you have a large-scale operation. As such, the vast majority of miners running a rig at home opt to join a mining pool to increase their chances of receiving mining rewards.

What are the best Bitcoin mining pools?

There are many ways to approach the choice of a mining pool. If your priority is predictable cash flow, large FPPS or PPS+ pools like Foundry USA, AntPool, or F2Pool make sense. If you are willing to accept more variance for potentially higher yield, lower-fee options such as ViaBTC or SpiderPool may appeal. If tooling and integrations are important, Luxor, Binance Pool, or WhitePool offer extra functionality. And if compliance and institutional backing matter most, Foundry USA, Luxor, and AntPool stand out.

We’ve presented the options in an order that strikes a balance across payout predictability, track record, tooling, scale, and diversity. It’s not best to worst, but a practical starting point. The best choice is to test your top two or three with a small share of hashrate and compare net payout per terahash, stale rate, and uptime.

Foundry USA (Foundry Digital)

Foundry USA is one of the largest Bitcoin mining pools in North America, launched in 2022 by Foundry Digital, a subsidiary of Digital Currency Group. The pool emphasises institutional-grade services and regulatory compliance, making it a common choice for professional operations. It uses the FPPS (Full Pay-Per-Share) payout method, which provides predictable rewards. Foundry USA’s scale and focus on compliance have helped it become a leading option in the US.

AntPool

AntPool, operated by Bitmain, is one of the longest-running and largest Bitcoin mining pools. It is especially popular among users of Bitmain hardware, but it's open to all miners. The pool uses the FPPS (Full Pay-Per-Share) payout method, offering predictable and steady rewards. AntPool’s scale and long history in the industry make it a well-established option for those seeking reliability.

F2Pool

F2Pool, established in 2013, is one of the earliest and most established mining pools with a strong global presence. It supports a wide range of cryptocurrencies in addition to Bitcoin, making it attractive for miners who want multi-coin options. The pool also integrates advanced monitoring and management tools, providing flexibility for both individual and large-scale miners.

ViaBTC

ViaBTC is a well-established global mining pool, founded in 2016 by Haipo Yang and originally backed by Bitmain. It serves both small-scale and enterprise miners with a versatile set of services. It was one of the first pools to adopt the PPS payout method, offering a stable base reward plus transaction fee sharing. It’s consistently among the top three Bitcoin pools by hashrate.

Luxor

Luxor is known as the first US-based Bitcoin mining pool and has evolved into a comprehensive mining services platform. It offers FPPS payouts and supports institutional features like SOC 2 compliance, API access, and granular workspace controls. Beyond pooling, Luxor provides financing and hedging tools—including derivative contracts and exchange-listed hashrate futures—plus the performance-optimizing LuxOS firmware, making it a full-stack solution for sophisticated mining operations.

SpiderPool

SpiderPool is a Bitcoin mining pool that uses the FPPS (Full Pay-Per-Share) payout method, ensuring predictable rewards. It is designed with institutional features in mind and operates a US-centric infrastructure, making it a suitable option for professional and large-scale miners looking for stability and compliance-focused services.

Braiins Pool

Braiins Pool, formerly known as Slushpool, is the oldest Bitcoin mining pool still in operation, active since 2010. Over time, it has adapted to industry standards and now uses the FPPS (Full Pay-Per-Share) payout method, providing transparent and predictable payouts that include both block rewards and transaction fees. Its long-standing reputation and frequent feature updates make it a trusted option for miners seeking stability.

Binance Pool

Binance Pool, launched by Binance in 2020, combines Bitcoin mining with direct access to the exchange’s trading and liquidity services. It supports multiple payout models (FPPS, PPS+, PPS, PPLNS) with predictable earnings. The integration with Binance’s wider ecosystem makes it a convenient option for miners who also want seamless conversion and trading tools

WhitePool

WhitePool is part of the WhiteBIT ecosystem, giving users the option to manage mining, trading, borrowing, and asset conversion within a single platform. Mined Bitcoin can be converted to other cryptocurrencies or fiat through the exchange, with straightforward withdrawal options. WhitePool also offers competitive payment rates per terahash and low mining fees, which may result in higher earnings compared to some other pools.

BTC.com

BTC.com is part of the Bitmain ecosystem and operates an FPPS (Full Pay-Per-Share) mining pool. It focuses primarily on Bitcoin (BTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH), offering a straightforward and reliable platform for miners. With the backing of Bitmain and a long presence in the industry, BTC.com remains a steady option among the best Bitcoin mining pools in 2025.

Read next: Best Bitcoin Mining Software

How to choose a Bitcoin mining pool

If you’ve decided that BTC is the best crypto to mine, the next step is selecting a BTC mining pool. The choice isn’t one-size-fits-all, and it’s worth considering a few key factors before you commit. Here are some of the most important points to weigh up when evaluating BTC mining pools:

• Fees: Pools take a cut of your rewards, but the lowest fee isn’t always best. Some higher-fee pools offer better infrastructure and share transaction fees (common with FPPS and PPS+), which can increase your net payout.

  Minimum payouts: This is the minimum balance needed before rewards are paid. High thresholds can delay payouts for smaller miners, while lower ones provide faster access but may include higher withdrawal fees.

  Pool size: Larger pools find blocks more often, giving steadier payouts. Smaller pools may have more variable rewards but can charge lower fees and support decentralization.

But choosing the right mining pool isn’t as simple as picking the one with the lowest fee or the biggest size. Different miners have different priorities — whether it’s steady daily payouts, the absolute highest yield, or compliance and advanced tools. You can use our checklist below to help you match your situation to the factors that matter most, so you can shortlist pools and test them with confidence.

Start by defining your profile

• Small or home miner: prioritise steady payouts and low minimums.

• Mid-size farm: blend predictability with cost control.

• Institutional: add compliance, SLAs, APIs, and hedging.

If you are a small or home miner

• Choose FPPS or PPS+ so fees are shared, and variance is low.

• Pick pools with low minimum payouts that you can reach daily or weekly.

• Favour nearby stratum servers to reduce stale shares.

• Judge by net payout per TH, not the fee alone.

If you run a mid-size farm

• Split the hashrate across two pools to compare the net payout per TH over 48 to 72 hours.

• Balance the fee level with tooling, dashboards, and alerting.

• Look for server redundancy across regions.

If you are institutional

• Require FPPS or PPS+ with daily settlement and clear audit trails.

• Ask for SLAs, named support, API access, and payout approvals.

• Check jurisdiction, KYC, and policy on transaction filtering.

• Consider firmware compatibility and risk hedging tools.

Universal checks

• Payout method: FPPS or PPS+ for predictability; PPLNS only if you accept variance for lower fees.

• Fees and sharing: Confirm the pool fee and that transaction fees are shared in payouts.

• Minimum payout: Model how often you will be paid at your hashrate; high thresholds increase counterparty risk.

• Latency and stale rate: Test closest servers; prefer consistently low stales.

• Transparency: Public luck stats, clear payout math, and recent incident history.

• Security: 2FA, withdrawal controls, and multi-region failover.

• Payout logistics: Currency, cadence, thresholds, and any withdrawal fees.

• Tooling: Monitoring, alerts, device management, Stratum v2 readiness, auto-conversion options.

Two popular options to help you trial different Bitcoin mining pools include:

Option A

1. Shortlist two large FPPS or PPS+ pools with nearby servers.

2. Point 10 to 20 percent of the hashrate to each for 48 to 72 hours.

3. Compare net payout per TH, stale rate, and actual payout timing. Pick the leader.

Option B

1. Pair one low-fee PPLNS or PPS+ pool with one FPPS pool.

2. Split hashrate and test as above.

3. Keep most hashrate on the higher net payer; leave a smaller slice on the second pool to hedge risk.

Read next: Best Crypto Mining Hardware

How do Bitcoin mining pools work?

Bitcoin mining pools let miners combine their computing power to increase the chances of finding a block. When the pool finds a block, the reward is shared among participants based on their contribution, measured in "shares" of work.

The pool's software tracks these shares and distributes payouts accordingly, usually in the mined cryptocurrency. Most pools follow common reward systems:

• Proportional pools: Miners earn rewards based on how many shares they submit while the pool searches for a block.

• P2P pools: Designed to reduce centralization, these use a separate blockchain to prevent cheating and improve transparency.

Not all mining pools operate the same way, but these models are among the most common.

Read next: Best Bitcoin Cloud Mining Platforms

Bitcoin mining pool payout methods

Most Bitcoin mining pools use one of four common payout systems:

• Pay-Per-Share (PPS): You’re paid a fixed amount for each valid share you submit, regardless of whether the pool finds a block.

• Full Pay-Per-Share (FPPS): Like PPS, but also includes a share of transaction fees from the block.

• Pay-Per-Share Plus (PPS+): Combines PPS for the block reward with PPLNS-style payouts for transaction fees.

• Pay-Per-Last-N-Shares (PPLNS): You’re paid only when the pool finds a block, based on your contribution in the most recent “N” shares. Staying connected is key, as disconnecting may reduce or cancel your payout.

Each method balances risk and reward differently depending on how often blocks are found and how fees are handled.

Read next: How to Soundproof a Bitcoin Miner

Don't forget the tax bill...

Mining rewards are usually taxable. In most countries, you’ll owe income tax based on the fiat value of the coins when you receive them. Use a crypto tax calculator to help you figure out your income from mining rewards, or learn more in our crypto mining tax guide.