Mining Pool Payout Schemes Compared — PPS, FPPS, PPLNS, SOLO & TIDES
Every Bitcoin mining-pool payout scheme compared: PPS, FPPS, PPS+, PPLNS, PROP, SCORE, SOLO and TIDES — how each works, payout variance, transaction-fee sharing and who bears the risk. Free CSV/JSON + REST under CC BY 4.0.
Quick answer
A mining-pool payout scheme decides how a pool turns the shares you submit into Bitcoin in your account — and who absorbs the luck. The big split: PPS-family schemes (PPS, FPPS, PPS+) pay you a steady, low-variance amount and the POOL absorbs the luck (for a higher fee), while PPLNS-family schemes (PPLNS, PROP, SCORE, TIDES) pay from the actual blocks found so YOUR income rises and falls with the pool's luck (usually at a lower fee, and they reward loyalty). SOLO is the lottery — you keep the whole block, but only if your hardware finds it. This reference compares 8 schemes by variance, transaction-fee sharing, risk bearer and best use.
Want a steady paycheck? Choose FPPS (the modern default — PPS that also pays transaction fees). Mining long-term and willing to ride variance for lower fees? PPLNS. Chasing a full block (or self-custody of block-finding)? SOLO. The trade is always the same: the pool charges more to absorb your variance, or you keep more and absorb it yourself.
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| Scheme | Full name | Variance | Tx-fee share | Who bears variance | How it works | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PPS | Pay Per Share | Low | No (subsidy only) | Pool | A fixed payment for every valid share at the pool's set rate, paid whether or not the pool finds a block. The pool absorbs all luck and orphan risk, so it usually charges a higher fee for that certainty. | Steady, predictable income; operations that cannot absorb payout variance. |
| FPPS | Full Pay Per Share | Low | Yes | Pool | PPS for the block subsidy PLUS a proportional share of the network's average transaction-fee reward. The pool still absorbs variance. The de-facto standard for most large pools today. | Steady income that also captures transaction-fee revenue. |
| PPS+ | Pay Per Share Plus | Low | Yes (PPLNS-style) | Pool (subsidy) | A hybrid: PPS for the block subsidy and PPLNS-style sharing for the transaction fees. Steady subsidy income with contribution-based fee distribution. | A steady subsidy with fairer, contribution-weighted fee sharing. |
| PPLNS | Pay Per Last N Shares | Medium | Yes | Miner (shared) | Pays out from the actual block reward, split across the shares submitted in the last N-shares window when a block is found. Miner income fluctuates with the pool's luck; it rewards loyalty and penalises pool-hopping, and usually carries no risk premium (lower effective fee). | Long-term, loyal miners willing to ride short-term variance for lower fees. |
| PROP | Proportional | Medium | Yes | Miner (shared) | The whole block reward is split proportionally to each miner's shares in the round. Simple, but vulnerable to pool-hopping; largely superseded by PPLNS. | Mostly historical interest; superseded by PPLNS in practice. |
| SCORE | Score-based (time-weighted) | Medium | Yes | Miner (shared) | Shares are weighted by recency — recent shares count more than older ones (the original Slush scheme). Designed to discourage pool-hopping. | Miners who value hopping resistance and recency-weighted rewards. |
| SOLO | Solo (via a pool) | Very high | Yes (full block) | Miner (you) | You mine through the pool's infrastructure but keep the FULL block reward (minus a small fee) only if YOUR work finds the block. Extreme variance — effectively a lottery — with near-zero income between blocks. | Lottery-style mining, or larger miners who want to find (and keep) their own blocks. |
| TIDES | TIDES (OCEAN) | Medium | Yes | Miner (shared) | A transparent, share-window scheme (a PPLNS-style method with a defined share window) that pays non-custodially. Designed around transparency and miner sovereignty. | Decentralisation-minded miners who value transparent, non-custodial payouts. |
See D-Central’s payout-methods explainer, the pool-payout calculator, the mining-pool database, and glossary on FPPS, PPLNS, PPS and solo mining. Definitions are the de-facto conventions; confirm exact terms with your pool.
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Last reviewed June 19, 2026.