How do I calculate the break-even point for a Monero mining rig?
Your Monero mining rig breaks even when the money you earn from mining covers the cost of the rig and everything you spend to run it. To estimate that point, divide your upfront cost by your daily profit after expenses—not by your total daily mining revenue.
Start with your upfront cost
Add up what you spend specifically to get the rig mining:
- The computer or parts, including its CPU—the main processor that does Monero’s mining work.
- Memory, storage, power supply, and cooling.
- Shipping, taxes, and any setup costs.
If you already own the computer, decide what you want to measure. Recovering only your new spending is different from recovering the computer’s full purchase price. Both are useful calculations, but keep them separate.
Subtract any rebates or discounts. Only subtract an expected resale value if you are deliberately calculating a scenario where you sell the equipment later. That money is not available to pay your bills today.
Estimate your daily mining revenue
Measure your rig’s hashrate, meaning how many mining calculations it performs each second. Use a sustained result after the computer warms up, rather than a short peak.
Monero uses RandomX, a mining method designed to favor CPUs. If you plan to mine in a browser, measure that actual browser setup. Do not assume it will match dedicated mining software.
Enter your measured hashrate into a live Monero mining calculator. Use current network conditions and a current XMR price, where XMR is Monero’s currency symbol.
Then calculate:
Daily revenue = estimated XMR earned per day × price per XMR
Check whether the estimate already subtracts pool fees. A mining pool combines miners’ work and distributes rewards; it usually charges a fee. Also account for any platform fees and the hours your rig is actually mining.
Work out your real daily profit
Measure electricity use at the wall with a plug-in power meter. A CPU’s advertised power rating does not include the whole rig.
Use these formulas:
Daily electricity cost = watts ÷ 1,000 × hours running × electricity price per kWh
A kilowatt-hour, or kWh, is the energy unit on your electricity bill.
Daily profit = daily revenue − electricity − fees − other running costs
Include extra cooling, likely maintenance, and withdrawal or selling costs where applicable. Avoid subtracting fees twice if your revenue estimate already includes them.
If daily profit is zero or negative, there is no break-even date under those assumptions. Running longer will not recover the hardware cost.
Calculate the payback time—and test it
Suppose you use these made-up figures, not current Monero earnings:
- Upfront cost: $600
- Revenue after mining fees: $1.20 per day
- Wall power: 120 watts, running 24 hours
- Electricity rate: $0.20 per kWh
- Other running costs: $0.10 per day
Electricity costs $0.576 per day, leaving $0.524 daily profit.
Break-even time = $600 ÷ $0.524 ≈ 1,145 days, or about 3.1 years.
Repeat the calculation with lower XMR prices, lower mining rewards, and higher electricity costs. Monero’s mining difficulty—the measure of how hard earning rewards is—changes every block, so today’s estimate is not a promise.
The bottom line
Base your break-even estimate on measured performance, wall-power readings, and profit after all costs. Track cumulative revenue minus cumulative expenses: you truly break even when that balance covers your upfront spending. Taxes may change the result, so check your local rules.
