The best cryptocurrency mining software
CGMiner
CGMiner has been around for a very long time, being originally made six years ago. It operates through a simple command line interface, which might be a little daunting for people used to a more polished UI. Being coded in C means it’s able to run on almost all operating systems, and is designed to run with hardware mining devices, but can also use any GPUs that your machine has available. The program will ask you for the URL, username and password of your chosen mining pool and will then automatically detect any connected hardware, such as an ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit) device. The software is highly customisable which is great if you like getting under the hood, but the Windows version can be a bit of a pain to install. A running theme with mining software is that it might have trouble with your anti-virus, either during the install or even when downloading it. Hackers have started trying to install mining software on machines without the user noticing, so these programs have become a priority for many anti-virus programs of late. If you’re having trouble with this, you’ll have to create an exception within your anti-virus to allow it to install or download.
Bitminter
Bitminter is one of the oldest, most reliable and fleshed out clients on the market. It can work with GPUs and ASICs equally well, and the slick graphical interface makes interacting with the software a breeze. Your hashrate in MH/s is displayed as a dial on the interface, and you can hit ‘Engine Start’ to begin mining. There is an easy to use stats section, where you can check the progress of your current mining session through detailed stats that you can reset at any time. The UI also features a text console at the bottom which provides you with informative updates for your hardware and software actions. The drawback with this software is that it is only designed for use with Bitminter’s mining pool. This means you’ll have to create an account through their website, and be happy with their process when it comes to sharing out the mining rewards.
BFGMiner
BFGMiner is based upon the design of the CGMiner, but is designed specifically for use with ASIC mining hardware rather than a mining rig with a GPU. BFG is somewhat of a speciality mining software, and so allows you to dive a bit deeper into it’s options and features to customise it to your liking (assuming you know what you’re doing!). It can monitor the temperature of connected devices, access multiple mining pools and will also not attempt connections to unreachable pools making it very efficient. The interface is less flashy, but nicely laid out and efficient. The software also comes with hotkeys that allow you to quickly enable and disable features at the tap of a key.
MultiMiner
MultiMiner offers a powerful graphical overlay for BFGMinger, making the advanced options that come with this software that much more accessible for new miners. MultiMiner has a wizard that will guide you through the process of connection to a pool. It will then automatically scan for mining devices and provide useful details about each one in a table, including your estimated daily profit based on which coin you’re mining, and what hardware you’re mining it on. Using the ‘Pools’ tab allows you to connect to multiple pools, while the ‘Strategies’ section allows your hardware to automatically mine the coin that will generate the most profit, or with the lowest difficulty.
EasyMiner
EasyMiner, much like MultiMiner, is a graphical frontend interface for CGminer and CPUminer. This software makes it very easy to get set up and started, as the name suggests, as it will automatically enter a mode that creates a paper Litecoin wallet and start mining right away. The dashboard is nicely laid out, and makes moving through the software a breeze with options easily displayed and accessible. When you’re using one of these programs, you must be sure to watch your anti-virus doesn’t stop them running or corrupt the installation. If you’re having problems, make sure to add an exception for the programs in your anti-virus whitelist.
