Is whattomine accurate for Monero?

WhatToMine can give you a rough Monero profit estimate, but you should not treat it as a promise of what you will earn. Its usefulness depends on whether its Monero calculator has fresh network data and whether you enter your actual mining speed and electricity use—especially if you mine in a browser.

Check that you are using the right calculator

Monero uses RandomX, a mining algorithm—the set of computing tasks miners perform—that favors CPUs, your computer’s main processor. Monero has used RandomX since November 30, 2019.

WhatToMine is widely used for comparing mining returns, but a general graphics-card comparison is not a good stand-in for Monero mining. Check that the page you are using explicitly covers Monero, XMR, and RandomX. Do not use an old CryptoNight estimate; that was an earlier Monero mining algorithm.

Also check when the figures were updated. A calculator can do the math correctly and still give you a poor estimate because its inputs are old.

Your real mining speed matters most

Hashrate means how many mining calculations your device completes each second. For Monero, it is commonly shown in H/s, or hashes per second.

Enter a sustained speed measured on your own device, not a processor’s advertised benchmark. Your result can change with:

• Other apps competing for your CPU.
• Heat causing your processor to slow down.
• Memory and cache, the fast storage your processor uses while working.
• How many hours you actually leave mining running.

RandomX benefits from roughly 2 MB of L3 cache per mining thread, with each thread acting as a separate worker. Its fast mode also needs a dataset of about 2,080 MB in memory. These requirements help explain why two apparently similar computers can perform differently.

For browser mining, do not copy a speed measured with dedicated mining software. Browser limits, background-tab slowdowns, and the site's mining setup can make your actual credited work substantially different.

Revenue is not the same as profit

WhatToMine’s estimated coin output and its estimated cash profit answer different questions.

Revenue is the value of the XMR you earn before costs. Profit is what remains after costs. For a useful comparison, check whether the estimate includes:

• Your electricity price per kilowatt-hour, the unit on your power bill.
• Actual power use, preferably measured at the wall.
• Mining pool fees—a pool combines miners’ work and shares rewards.
• Any browser service fee or share retained by the site.

If your computer stays on only because you are mining, include its full power use. If it would already be running, measure the extra power mining adds.

A payout threshold can also delay when you receive money. That does not necessarily mean the calculator’s mining estimate is wrong.

Treat it as a snapshot, then verify

Monero targets one block about every two minutes, and mining difficulty adjusts every block. Difficulty describes how hard it is to earn rewards through mining. The ongoing base reward is 0.6 XMR per block, plus transaction fees.

Your estimated share changes as network competition changes. Its cash value also changes with XMR’s price.

Compare WhatToMine with a live Monero-focused calculator or explorer, then compare both with several days of your actual credited rewards.

The bottom line

WhatToMine is useful for a rough Monero estimate when its data and your inputs are right. For browser mining, your measured speed, actual fees, and electricity costs matter more than the headline profit figure.