Cryptocurrency mining, especially Bitcoin mining, rose in popularity as the price of Bitcoins skyrocketed. Though Bitcoins are available for purchase, a rewarding means of obtaining cryptocurrencies is through mining.

On Windows and Mac, many miners are available. Similarly, for Linux users, Bitcoin mining options are plentiful. Learn how to mine Bitcoin on Linux with these best free apps!

Before You Mine Bitcoin With Free Apps

Primarily, when mining Bitcoin with free apps for Linux, think about your software and hardware. Most Ubuntu and Debian derivatives should foster a suitable environment for installing these free Bitcoin miners. Still, it's best to check with each option.

Aside from software, you'll need to make sure your hardware is compatible as well. You may mine Bitcoin with a GPU, ASIC or FPGA device, and a CPU. Depending on which device or devices you prefer to use, you'll need different software.

Although Bitcoin holds its status as the most well-known cryptocurrency, plenty of crypto alternatives exist, from Litecoin to Ethereum and Monero. If you plan to mine other currencies, you may consider software that's capable of mining multiple cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin and Litecoin.

Finally, how you plan to mine ultimately dictates which free Bitcoin mining apps are best. There's solo mining, which is single-user mining. Then there's cloud mining, for the benefits of mining without maintaining the hardware. Pool mining is a popular choice as well where miners join a group and share processing power over a network, splitting rewards equally according to workload contributed to the pool.

The Best Free Apps for Mining Bitcoin on Linux

To mine Bitcoin on Linux with these free apps for desktops and laptops, you'll also need a GPU capable of mining and a decent CPU as well.

Unfortunately, with fluctuating values of cryptocurrencies the best time to purchase a GPU varies. For purely gaming, you've got plenty of GPU options for surviving the Bitcoin era.

CGMiner

Among the most common free apps for Bitcoin mining on Linux, CGMiner ranks as a top choice. It's derived from the code of the original CPU Miner. Within the CGMiner software, you'll find a bevy of options ranging from multi-GPU support to CPU mining capabilities and fan speed control.

You can download CGMiner from its GitHub page. Documentation is fantastic, and it's simple to set up.

MinerGate

MinerGate - Mine Bitcoin on Linux With These Best Free Apps

For a wide-ranging option, check out MinerGate. For Linux users, Bitcoin mining with Minergate takes a different approach than the likes of CGMiner. Instead of solo mining, Minergate employs cloud mining. You can mine Bitcoin on Linux using its Ubuntu and Fedora installers.

Because MinerGate is a cloud mining solution, you'll need to create a mining contract and choose how much to invest or a hash rate. Aside from Bitcoin, MinerGate allows you to mine a bevy of cryptocurrencies including Aeon, Ethereum, Monero, DigitalNote, and Zcash.

Options include selecting GPU and CPU mining, as well as intensity for GPU mining and number of cores for CPU mining. The smart miner automatically suggests a currency with the highest exchange rate in the last hour. A neat feature is a benchmarking tool which allows users to determine the capabilities of their hardware for mining specific coins.

I appreciated the gamification within Minergate as well. For instance, you earn badges while you complete certain tasks, such as using the easy miner or reaching 100 shares.

BFGMiner

Like CGMiner, BFGMiner concentrates on solo mining ventures. However, instead, of targeting GPUs for mining, BFGMiner instead provides a means of mining on Linux with ASIC and FPGA devices. It's available for Arch Linux, Gentoo, Ubuntu, OpenWRT, and Debian.

Additionally, BFGMiner offers Windows 64-bit and 32-bit installers. On the technical side, BFGMiner is written in C and includes monitoring, dynamic clocking, and a remote interface. Installing BGFMiner via the command line is pretty simple, though you should add the PPA for the latest version.

BTCMiner

An open-source Bitcoin miner for Linux, BTCMiner is a top choice for USB FPGA devices. It's an FPGA miner board with a USB interface. If you're mining with one of these Bitcoin USB miners, you'll need the BCTMiner software.

Multiminer

Multiminer for Linux - Mine Bitcoin on Linux With These Best Free Apps
Image Credit: Multiminer

Begin mining Bitcoin with Multiminer, a fantastic Bitcoin mining for Linux alternative. Aside from the Linux installer, you'll find macOS and Windows installers. While it's an awesome means to mine Bitcoin on Linux, you may also mine other cryptocurrencies such as Litecoin.

Moreover, Multiminer maintains compatibility with hardware ranging from GPUs to ASICs and FPGAs. Because it caters to both novice miners and seasoned power users, Multiminer is a great choice for mining Bitcoin on Linux.

Multiminer is a bit like MinerGate in that it's intuitive and features loads of coin mining options. Command line installation is quick and painless, though like BFGMiner you'll need to add the PPA. Once it's up and running, Multiminer is a breeze to use and boasts a smattering of configuration options for GPU, CPU, and ASIC mining.

EasyMiner

As the name suggests, EasyMiner is, well, super simple. With a lovely graphical user interface, it's a means to mine Bitcoin and Litecoin on Linux. In addition to a GPU miner, EasyMiner sports a CPU miner. It's fairly lightweight, using few system resources with the exception, of your GPU of course.

With its Getwork mining protocol, EasyMiner supports solo and pooled mining. You can download EasyMiner from its official Sourceforge page. This free, open-source Linux Bitcoin mining software presents real-time stats such as total shares, hash rate, and more.

Mine Bitcoin on Linux With These Best Free Apps

There's no shortage of software options to mine Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies on Linux. You can start to mine Bitcoin on Linux with these best free apps, ranging from solo miners like CGMiner and BFGMiner to pooled and cloud mining options such as EasyMiner or MinerGate. With these free Bitcoin miners, you'll generate cryptocurrency with ease.

When deciding upon an application for mining Bitcoin, all you need to do is figure out which option is best for your hardware and software configuration. Remember to consider if you'd prefer to mine solo, in a pool, or via cloud mining.

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