Firmware for miners – Vnish, Braiins OS and LuxOS compared

The manufacturer's firmware runs all the chips in a miner at the same values. Third-party firmware sets each chip individually. That is where the headroom discussed here comes from.

What autotuning does

No two chips are alike. Some reach their frequency with less voltage, others need more. The firmware measures this and gives each chip exactly as much as it needs. In total, power consumption drops at the same hashrate.

Profiles build on this, and you switch between them:

• Efficiency profile: less hashrate, much less power per terahash. Makes sense with expensive electricity and for quiet operation.
• Performance profile: more hashrate than stock, at worse efficiency. Makes sense with very cheap electricity and only with cooling that can handle it.

The three common systems

Vnish works with ready-made profiles from economical to heavily overclocked. According to Vnish, the developer fee is 2 to 2.8% of the hashrate.

Braiins OS focuses on efficiency: you set a power target in watts and the firmware regulates to it. The developer fee is 2 to 2.5%, depending on the model. It still applies in Braiins Pool; in return, the pool fee is waived there.

LuxOS from Luxor comes with features for running many units, such as rollout across an entire installation and fast curtailment. The fee is 2.8%; in Luxor's Bitcoin pool the pool fee is waived.

Why we prefer Vnish

Vnish is what we like to use most ourselves. The ready-made profiles cover the whole range, from throttled heating operation to overclocking, and switching between them needs no tuning of your own.

What matters beyond tuning

• Power limit via interface: Vnish and Braiins OS can be controlled through Home Assistant, for example to regulate the miner according to solar surplus.
• Fan control: fixed speed or target temperature, important for quiet operation.
• Protective shutdown: limits for chip temperature that you set yourself.

Warranty

Bitmain lists unauthorised firmware and overclocking as reasons that void the warranty. If you reflash a unit during the warranty period, you give up that protection. The safe order: stock firmware while the warranty runs, then switch. With used units that have no warranty, there is no reason not to switch straight away.

Is the fee worth it?

The fee costs 2 to 3% of the hashrate. An efficiency profile usually saves much more electricity than that is worth. If, on the other hand, you stay on stock settings and just like the interface better, you pay the fee and get nothing in return.

Sources

• Vnish: firmware, profiles and developer fee
• Braiins: Braiins OS, developer fee and pool fee
• Braiins Academy: autotuning to a power or hashrate target
• Luxor: LuxOS, introduction and fee
• Luxor: LuxOS, features for running many units
• Bitmain: After-Sales Maintenance Policy, warranty exclusions

As of October 2026. Fees and warranty terms change; check them with the provider.