Zcash (ZEC) Mining Calculator
Break-even point (shutdown price)
ZEC can drop 85% before mining becomes unprofitable.
ZEC price and your shutdown price
Dashed line — your shutdown price for each day, at that day's average network difficulty and block reward.
Over the last year, your shutdown price went from $57.17 to $168.98: network difficulty rose 188%. ZEC never dropped below it.
Revenue and costs
| Item | Per day | Per month | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $45.53 | $1,366 | $16,617 |
| Pool fee | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Electricity | −$6.67 | −$200.16 | −$2,435 |
| Net profit | +$38.85 | +$1,166 | +$14,182 |
| Mined, ZEC | 0.0395 | 1.18 | 14.4 |
A month is 30 days and a year is 365 days at today's network difficulty and price; difficulty growth is not included.
Zcash (ZEC) mining: what to know
Zcash (ZEC) is a cryptocurrency on the Equihash algorithm, running since 2016. ASICs run the network: the Antminer Z15 Pro, Z15K, Z15 and older models.
Shutdown price
The calculator finds the shutdown price — the ZEC price at which the coins you mine are worth exactly what you pay for electricity. If the price falls below it, mining runs at a loss.
ZEC difficulty changes with every block and can move by tens of percent within a day, so the calculator uses the 24-hour average difficulty: that way daily revenue is closer to what your device actually mines.
FAQ
What is Zcash network difficulty right now?
The 24-hour average is 280.48 M. ZEC difficulty changes with every block, roughly every 75 seconds, and can move by tens of percent within a day, so the calculator uses the 24-hour average. Data on our server updates every 5 minutes. The history is on the ZEC difficulty page.
How much ZEC does a miner get per block?
1.25 ZEC — 80% of the block reward; the other 20% goes to the Zcash development fund. The reward halves roughly every 4 years: the next halving is expected around November 2028, after which miners will get 0.625 ZEC per block.
Can I mine Zcash with GPUs?
Technically yes: GPUs can compute Equihash. But ASICs run the network — the Antminer Z15 Pro does 840 kSol/s, hundreds of times more than a GPU, and at a typical electricity rate a GPU mines at a loss. You can check your own card with “Custom device”.
How often is the data updated?
Network difficulty comes from our server: it refreshes it every 5 minutes and cross-checks several sources. The ZEC price comes from an exchange. You can also enter your own price.
Why does ZEC profitability swing so much?
Over the past year the ZEC price has changed several-fold, and ASICs join and leave the network following the price — difficulty can shift by tens of percent in a day. So the result is a guide for today; recalculate before buying hardware.