How to compare mining pools without guessing
Forum screenshots rarely match your latency, power schedule, or settlement needs. Use a short scoring sheet before you change stratum endpoints.
Start with last month’s worker export from your current pool. Note average daily reward, fees deducted, and any unpaid balance that sat above the threshold. Those numbers are your baseline — not a marketing page’s claimed “luck.”
Score four dimensions
Fee clarity. Write down whether the pool quotes PPS, FPPS, or PPLNS and what that means for a quiet week versus a lucky week for your hash rate. Lower fees are not automatically better if variance empties your electricity buffer.
Endpoint distance. Measure round-trip time from the hall, not from a home laptop on a different ISP. A Bangkok site may prefer a regional endpoint even when an overseas pool advertises a thinner fee.
Payout rules. Minimum threshold, supported coins or wrapped assets, and how quickly the first payout arrives after a switch all belong on the sheet.
Operational signals. Status page honesty, worker naming conventions, and whether two operators can view the same dashboard without sharing a single password.
Run a controlled switch
Move a fraction of workers first, verify shares and the first micro-settlement, then cut over the rest. Keep the previous stratum details written down for a same-day rollback.
If you want a facilitated comparison with a written memo, see our mining pool selection coaching.