Cpuminer is a free, open-source, command-line miner that uses your processor rather than a graphics card to mine cryptocurrency. It is aimed at hobbyists who want to experiment with CPU mining on Bitcoin or Litecoin, and at developers who want a readable, long-established codebase to study.
The project is a multi-threaded fork of Jeff Garzik's reference cpuminer. It takes advantage of modern processor instruction sets such as AVX, AVX2 and XOP where they are available. Keep in mind that the project has not received code updates since April 2021, so it is best treated as a legacy tool rather than a fast-moving product.
What Is CPU Mining and Who Is It For?
CPU mining means using the central processor, rather than a dedicated graphics card or specialized ASIC, to solve the proof-of-work puzzles that secure a blockchain. Each attempt produces a hash, and the miner keeps trying until one meets the network's difficulty target.
Today, CPU mining rarely earns meaningful revenue for Bitcoin, because the network's difficulty is far beyond what a desktop processor can achieve. It remains popular for learning how proof of work functions, for testing software on a home machine, and for small experiments on lower-difficulty coins such as Litecoin at a modest scale.
How Cpuminer Works Under the Hood
The miner connects to a mining pool or a node, receives a block template and repeatedly varies a nonce value, hashing each candidate with the algorithm of the target coin. Each thread works on its own share of the nonce space, which is why adding threads generally increases the number of hashes per second, up to the limits of the hardware.
Because the software is built around standard stratum-style communication, it can work with pools that accept CPU miners. Understanding this flow helps users diagnose connection problems and tune thread counts for their processor.
Key Concepts for New CPU Miners
Hashrate is the number of hashes a miner computes per second, and it is the basic measure of mining speed. Difficulty is the adjustable target that controls how hard a valid hash is to find. Together they determine how often a miner finds a share or block.
A seed phrase is the recovery words for a crypto wallet and is not needed by a miner itself, but the wallet address you mine to is essential. Always double-check that address before starting, because a mistyped address sends rewards to the wrong place.
Key features
Multi-threaded mining
Modern instruction set support
Bitcoin and Litecoin support
Free and open source
Command-line control
Supported coins
The documentation mentions mining for Bitcoin (BTC) and Litecoin (LTC). Because the program is a fork of a general-purpose CPU miner, its scope is focused on these networks rather than a broad list of coins.
How to install Cpuminer on Windows
- 1
Download the program
Get the release from the official GitHub repository or its Releases page, which is the project's own distribution point. Avoid mirror sites and third-party download portals.
- 2
Verify the file
Compare the SHA-256 checksum of the downloaded archive with the value published on the release page. If the checksum does not match, do not run the file.
- 3
Extract the archive
Unpack the archive to a dedicated folder, for example C:\Miners\cpuminer, so the executable and configuration files stay together and are easy to manage.
- 4
Choose the right build
Select the Windows build that matches your processor. Builds with AVX support need a compatible CPU; if the program crashes at startup, try a more basic build.
-
Run from the command line
Open a Command Prompt in the folder and start the miner with your pool URL, worker name and thread count. Test with a short run before leaving it unattended.
System requirements
- A 64-bit x86 processor; AVX-enabled CPUs can use the faster instruction paths
- Windows 7 SP1 or newer, as AVX support is described from that version onward
- Enough RAM and a stable power supply for sustained full-load operation
How to use Cpuminer
Cpuminer is controlled entirely from the command line, so a basic understanding of Windows Command Prompt helps. Before you start, choose a mining pool that accepts CPU miners and create a wallet address for the coin you plan to mine.
The general workflow is:
- Open Command Prompt in the folder containing the executable.
- Enter the pool address, port, username and password provided by your pool.
- Set the number of threads, usually matching or slightly below your logical processor count.
- Press Enter and watch the output for accepted shares and the reported hashrate.
- Stop the miner with Ctrl+C when you are finished, and review the results over several hours before drawing conclusions.
Pros & cons
- Free and open source under GPLv2
- Simple command-line operation with clear options
- Multi-threaded design uses all available cores
- Supports modern AVX-family instruction sets
- Long history as a reference-style CPU miner
- Limited to a small set of coins, mainly Bitcoin and Litecoin
- No code updates since April 2021
- Little or no graphical interface
- CPU mining earns very little on high-difficulty networks
- Windows support is described mainly through documentation rather than a dedicated Windows release
Is Cpuminer safe?
Mining software handles your wallet address and runs at full processor load, so treat it carefully. Download only from the official GitHub repository, verify the SHA-256 checksum against the published value, and never enter a seed phrase on third-party websites. Antivirus tools sometimes flag mining programs, so review the file and its source instead of disabling your protection entirely. Because the project has been inactive since 2021, consider the security risks of older code and keep your system fully updated.
- Official source only. Download from github.com/pooler/cpuminer. Ignore ads and lookalike domains.
- Check the SHA-256. Compare the installer hash with the value the developer publishes before running it.
- Never share your seed phrase. No developer, support agent or website — including CryptApps — will ever ask for it.
Alternatives
Cpuminer is a general-purpose CPU miner focused on Bitcoin and Litecoin. Cpuminer Multi is the closest relative: it is also CPU-based but supports a wider set of algorithms, making it more flexible if you want to mine other coins. GPU miners such as GMiner and BzMiner target graphics cards and offer far higher hashrates for many algorithms, though they require different hardware and more power. ccminer variants focus on CUDA-capable NVIDIA cards, and BFGMiner is built for ASIC and FPGA hardware. If your goal is simply to run a CPU miner on a single coin family with minimal setup, Cpuminer remains a straightforward choice; for broader algorithm support, Cpuminer Multi is the better fit.
Specifications
- Price
- Free
- Type
- Open source
- License
- GPLv2
- Latest version
- v2.5.1
- Last update
- 29 Apr 2021
- Windows support
- Unverified (Windows mentioned in docs)
- Source code
- github.com/pooler/cpuminer
Frequently asked questions
Yes. Cpuminer is free and released under the GPLv2 open source license, so you can download, use, study and modify it at no cost. There are no paid versions or license fees for the program itself.
The documentation covers Bitcoin (BTC) and Litecoin (LTC). Mining these coins with a CPU is mostly suited to experimentation, because network difficulty makes profitable CPU mining unlikely for most users.
The project documentation mentions Windows support and notes that AVX support is available from Windows 7 SP1. Make sure you download the build that matches your processor and Windows version, and test it with a short run first.
It can be, if you obtain it only from the official GitHub repository and verify the SHA-256 checksum before running it. Never enter a seed phrase on a third-party site, and check any flagged file rather than disabling your antivirus entirely.
The project has had no code updates since April 2021, which means it is a stable but inactive codebase. Users should expect fewer fixes for new hardware or changing network conditions than they would from actively maintained software.
CPU mining rarely produces meaningful income on Bitcoin because of its difficulty. Results depend on your hardware, electricity costs and the coin's price and difficulty, so no profit should be expected, and this is not financial advice.
Cpuminer focuses on Bitcoin and Litecoin, while Cpuminer Multi supports a wider range of algorithms. If you need more coin options from a CPU miner, the multi-algorithm version is the more flexible choice.
Verdict
Cpuminer suits people who want a free, transparent, command-line CPU miner for Bitcoin or Litecoin, especially for learning and small experiments. It is not a practical route to meaningful earnings, and its lack of updates since 2021 is a real limitation. Anyone choosing it should verify downloads carefully and consider a more actively developed alternative for long-term use.