Short answer: your electricity price decides which ASIC miner to buy.
- Under $0.05/kWh (hosted or industrial): buy for the fastest payback: Antminer S21 200T, Antminer KS7 or Antminer L9.
- $0.05–0.08/kWh: buy mid-efficiency machines: S21 XP, WhatsMiner M70S, Antminer L11.
- $0.08–0.12/kWh: only the most efficient machines survive: Antminer S23, S23 Hyd, Bitdeer SealMiner DL1.
- Above $0.12/kWh (most EU homes): no miner profits on its own. Host it, or use it as a heater.
This guide works through five questions in order. Every recommendation is a machine you can buy today, with numbers checked on 9 November 2026:
- Bitcoin hashprice: $31.62 per PH/day
- Litecoin + Dogecoin (Scrypt): about $0.387 per GH/day
- Kaspa: about $0.143 per TH/day
Question 1: Where will it run?
- At home on a normal socket: you are limited to roughly 1.7–2 kW per circuit, which means home-class miners (Fluminer T3, Avalon Q, Avalon Mini 3). Full-size machines draw 3–5.5 kW and need a dedicated 16–32 A circuit.
- At home with a dedicated circuit (garage or outbuilding): full-size air-cooled miners work, but at 75+ dB they don't belong in living space.
- Hosted: any machine, including hydro-cooled ones that need facility plumbing. See hosting vs mining at home.
Question 2: What do you pay per kWh?
This is the question that matters most. A miner's break-even power price is its daily revenue divided by the kWh it uses per day. Above that price it loses money every day.
| Your power price | What works | What doesn't |
|---|---|---|
| Under $0.05/kWh | Almost every current machine; optimise for payback | S9 and KS3-era machines lose money; S19-class barely breaks even |
| $0.05–0.08/kWh | 13–17 J/TH Bitcoin miners, L11, Antminer KS7 | 18–19 J/TH machines (T21, M60S) start losing money |
| $0.08–0.12/kWh | Only ≤11 J/TH Bitcoin (S23 family) and the DL1 on Scrypt | Everything else |
| Above $0.12/kWh | Nothing profits on its own; the S23 Hyd is the last to fall (break-even ≈ $0.139) | Home mining for profit. Host instead, or mine for heat |
Question 3: What is your budget?
| Budget | Best Bitcoin pick | Best altcoin pick |
|---|---|---|
| Under $1,000 | Antminer S21 200T ($735) | — |
| $1,000–$3,000 | Antminer S21 XP ($2,907) or WhatsMiner M70S ($2,547) | Antminer KS7 40T ($1,352, Kaspa) or Antminer L9 ($2,039, LTC+DOGE) |
| $3,000–$8,000 | Antminer S23 ($4,799) | Antminer L11 ($4,114) or SealMiner DL1 Air ($7,642) |
| $8,000+ | Antminer S23 Hyd ($11,198, hosted) | Several L11s or DL1s |
Question 4: Which coin?
| Miner | Coin | Revenue/day | Break-even | Payback hosted ($0.015/kWh) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antminer S21 200T | BTC | $6.32 | $0.075 | ~5 mo |
| Antminer KS7 40T | KAS | $5.72 | $0.077 | ~10 mo |
| Antminer S21 XP | BTC | $8.54 | $0.098 | ~13 mo |
| Antminer L9 16G | LTC+DOGE | $6.20 | $0.077 | ~13 mo |
| WhatsMiner M70S | BTC | $7.15 | $0.095 | ~14 mo |
| Antminer S23 | BTC | $10.06 | $0.120 | ~18 mo |
| Antminer L11 20G | LTC+DOGE | $7.75 | $0.088 | ~21 mo |
| Antminer S23 Hyd | BTC | $18.34 | $0.139 | ~23 mo |
| SealMiner DL1 Air | LTC+DOGE | $9.69 | $0.108 | ~30 mo |
Bitcoin is the most liquid and predictable: revenue depends on BTC price and difficulty, and nothing else. Litecoin + Dogecoin miners earn both coins at once, and about 83% of today's Scrypt revenue comes from DOGE, so you are mostly betting on Dogecoin. Kaspa pays back fastest right now, but its block reward falls every month (next step −5.6% on 5 December 2026), and older Kaspa ASICs became obsolete within two years. Only buy the newest generation.
Avoid buying for Alephium, Aleo or Kadena in 2026. Those coins have fallen 99%+ from their peaks, and Aleo now requires miners to stake coins to earn. See the 5 worst ASIC miners to buy.
Question 5: How much noise and heat can you live with?
- Quiet room (≤45 dB): Avalon Q or Avalon Mini 3. Read Avalon Q vs Fluminer T3.
- Garage or shed: any air-cooled miner, with good ventilation. Expect 75+ dB and 3–4 kW of heat.
- Neither: host it. Hydro machines like the S23 Hyd only make sense in a facility.
The decision in one table
| If you… | Buy |
|---|---|
| want the quickest payback and will host | Antminer S21 200T |
| want a machine that survives a falling hashprice | Antminer S23 or S23 Hyd |
| want a balanced Bitcoin miner for $2.5–3k | Antminer S21 XP or WhatsMiner M70S |
| prefer Dogecoin/Litecoin exposure | Antminer L9 (budget) or L11 (efficiency) |
| want the fastest altcoin payback and accept the risk | Antminer KS7 40T |
| want home heat with some Bitcoin back | Fluminer T3 (efficiency) or Avalon Q (quiet) |
| pay EU household rates and want profit | Any of the above, hosted. Don't run it at home |
New or used?
Used machines are cheap because their efficiency is poor. An Antminer S19j Pro sells for about $400 but breaks even only below about $0.045/kWh, and ageing hashboards and fans fail. A new S21 200T costs $735 and is about 70% more efficient. For most buyers in 2026, a new current-generation machine is the better buy. See what used ASICs are worth.
Payback assumes today's network revenue, 100% uptime and no pool fees. Mining income is not guaranteed. Prices and figures as of 9 November 2026.