Braiins OS vs LuxOS: Antminer Firmware Compared

If you run Antminer S19 or S21 machines, the two aftermarket firmwares you will hear about are Braiins OS and LuxOS. Both replace Bitmain’s stock firmware with per-chip autotuning, a fleet tool and an API, and both are tied to a mining pool business: Braiins runs Braiins Pool, Luxor runs Luxor Pool. This comparison is built from the two vendors’ own documentation, not from forum anecdotes, and it says where the documentation is silent.

Short answer: the feature lists overlap heavily. The practical differences are hardware coverage (Braiins OS still supports S9 and S17; LuxOS lists S19, S21 and MicroBT M50/M60 families), how the fee is charged (Braiins publishes a 2–2.5% dev fee; Luxor does not publish a firmware fee percentage on the pages we checked), the install path (Braiins Toolbox or SD card; Luxor Commander, with some newer control boards installed remotely by Luxor), and the pool rebate each vendor offers on its own pool. Pick the one whose supported-model list covers your fleet and whose pool you are willing to use.

Checked: 30 October 2026 against braiins.com, academy.braiins.com, luxor.tech and docs.luxor.tech. Tested: Not tested yet. We have not flashed either firmware on our own ASICs, so this page reports what the vendors document and gives no efficiency (J/TH) or stability figures. Soft4Mining Editorial.

Braiins OS vs LuxOS at a glance

Supported hardware: check the list before anything else

This is the first filter, because neither firmware is universal. Braiins says “All major Bitmain Antminer models supported” and lists the S21 and S21+ variants, T21, the S19, S19j and S19 XP variants, S17 (all variants) and the S9, S9i and S9j. It is the only one of the two that still covers S9 and S17 hardware.

Luxor’s compatibility page is explicit that support is “limited to the list below”. The list covers the Antminer S19 series, the S21 series including the hydro models and T21, the Z15 Pro, and MicroBT Whatsminer M50, M50S, M50S+, M50S++, M60 and M60S families. S9 and S17 are not on it. Luxor also notes two cases where you cannot self-install: machines with CVITEK control boards and any machine whose Bitmain firmware is dated March 2024 or newer need a remote installation by the Luxor team. Braiins, for its part, says Toolbox handles batch installation on the S21 and S19 control boards it lists (Zynq/Xilinx, Amlogic, BeagleBone Black and Cvitek/CV1835).

If your fleet is mixed Bitmain and MicroBT, LuxOS is the only one of the two that lists Whatsminer models. If it includes older S9 or S17 units, that points to Braiins OS. Either way, read the vendor list for your exact model and control board rather than trusting the family name.

Fees and licensing

Braiins is transparent about its fee. The homepage lists a 2.5% dev fee, and the FAQ says the fee is 2–2.5% depending on the hardware model. The fee is taken as a share of hashrate. Braiins Pool offsets it for its own users: the pool charges a 0% effective fee instead of its standard 2.5% for hashrate produced by Braiins OS miners, so running Braiins OS on Braiins Pool roughly cancels the firmware fee. The licence terms add two details worth knowing: if the firmware loses contact with the licence server for an extended period, it drops to 95% of its processing power until the connection is restored (sections 3.9–3.10 of the licence, for 23.04 and later), and Braiins does not provide installation or support services under the licence itself. Braiins also mentions a Community edition released under GPL v3.

Luxor is less explicit. The pages we read state that Luxor Commander Lite is free and that Luxor Pool charges 0% pool fee for LuxOS miners. We did not find a published LuxOS firmware fee percentage; the LuxOS changelog mentions a “FeeStatus” API field and a UI banner shown “when Dev Fee is inactive”, which implies a dev fee exists, but we could not confirm the rate. Commander Pro, the automation and reporting tier, is priced at $100 per megawatt per month or a 0.25% hashrate adder. Before committing a fleet, ask Luxor for the current fee terms in writing.

Autotuning and efficiency

Both firmwares tune each hashboard chip individually instead of running the whole board at one frequency. Braiins describes it as trial-and-error testing per chip: weaker chips get less work, so the board hits a power target at a better W/TH than stock. Two Braiins pages disagree on how long this takes. The Academy says machines can be tuned in about 10 minutes and that tuning runs once per power target; the FAQ on braiins.com says tuning usually takes 1–9 hours. Expect the first full tune to take longer than ten minutes and plan accordingly.

LuxOS calls its equivalent AutoTuner and says it reaches the ideal hashrate and power consumption within about one hour. One documented constraint: power targeting and profile-based tuning cannot run at the same time, so you pick one mode per miner. AutoTuner is enabled through a Commander command or the API.

Neither vendor’s documentation gives a J/TH number we could quote for a specific model, and we have not measured any. Treat efficiency claims from either side as something to verify on one machine before rolling out.

Power control, curtailment and demand response

Braiins OS has Dynamic Performance Scaling (DPS), which lowers power or hashrate targets when a miner reaches its HOT temperature and scales back up as chips cool, with cooldown and stability checks. Autotuning must be enabled before DPS can be configured, and in release 26.01 and newer DPS is on by default but stays idle unless the miner overheats. For grid programs, Braiins advertises “Curtailment & Demand Response Ready”: the Academy quotes about 2 seconds to pause and about 2 seconds to resume, triggered from Toolbox, Braiins Manager or the API.

Luxor’s pitch is load shedding: LuxOS cuts a miner to roughly 25 W in under 5 seconds and restores full power in under 60 seconds. In Commander the same thing is a bulk “Sleep / Wake Up” action. Both approaches are much faster than rebooting stock firmware; the difference is mostly how the trigger integrates with your site controller, which you will need to test.

Fleet tools and installation

Braiins Toolbox is a free desktop application that scans the network, installs and upgrades Braiins OS in batch, and pushes configuration. For the S21 and S19 series this is the recommended path. For older hardware (S19 on Zynq or BeagleBone Black boards, S17, S9) Braiins documents an SD-card install. The SD card has to be flashed with the image, not just copied; while the card is in, the miner boots Braiins OS, and when you remove it, the stock firmware boots with its previous settings. On S17 and S9 there is an optional step to write the system to NAND permanently.

LuxOS is installed through Luxor Commander. You create an Agent in Commander, install it on a machine on the miners’ network, add miners, and run a bulk “Install LuxOS” action with batch size and delay settings. Two preconditions: the miners must be on stock Bitmain or MicroBT firmware (Commander has an “Uninstall Custom Firmware” action to remove Braiins OS or Vnish first), and the hardware cases noted above need Luxor’s remote install. A command-line “LuxOS Installer” exists for scripted or offline installs. The desktop Commander installers were at version 1.12.3 on the download links when we checked.

If you manage a large ASIC fleet you may already use a vendor-neutral tool such as APMinerTool for discovery and batch IP configuration; neither Toolbox nor Commander replaces that for stock-firmware machines, but each becomes the management console once its firmware is installed.

Pools and protocols

Braiins built Stratum V2 and calls Braiins OS “the first firmware ever providing users the benefits of Stratum V2”; the FAQ confirms it is fully backwards compatible with Stratum V1, so you can keep any pool. LuxOS documentation does not mention Stratum V2 on the pages we read. Its changelog added TLS-encrypted pool connections (stratum+tls://) in March 2026, which encrypts the V1 connection but is not the same protocol. Both firmwares let you point at any pool; the 0% pool-fee offers apply only when you mine on the vendor’s own pool.

Going back to stock firmware

Both vendors document a way back, which matters if you resell machines or need a warranty claim. For Braiins OS on S21 and S19, uninstall runs from Toolbox; on SD-card installs, removing the card returns the miner to stock. For LuxOS, the API has an uninstallluxos command that “uninstalls LuxOS from the miner and restores stock firmware”, and Commander exposes the same as a bulk action. Neither vendor states on the pages we read what flashing third-party firmware does to Bitmain’s warranty, so check your purchase terms before you install either one.

Which one should you choose?

1. Fleet includes S9 or S17 units. Braiins OS; LuxOS does not list them.
2. Fleet includes Whatsminer M50 or M60 machines. LuxOS; Braiins lists only Antminer models.
3. You already mine on Braiins Pool or Luxor Pool. Stay with that vendor’s firmware to get the pool rebate; switching firmware without switching pool means paying a fee with no offset.
4. You need published fee terms up front. Braiins publishes 2–2.5%; for LuxOS get the fee terms from Luxor in writing.
5. Newer S19/S21 control boards or firmware dated March 2024 or later. Either can work, but LuxOS may require Luxor’s remote install; Braiins says Toolbox covers Cvitek/CV1835 boards.
6. Stratum V2 is a requirement. Braiins OS.

For GPU rigs none of this applies; see our free mining software catalogue and the Hive OS page for rig operating systems.

FAQ

What is the Braiins OS dev fee?

Braiins publishes 2–2.5% depending on the hardware model (the homepage shows 2.5%). Braiins Pool charges a 0% effective pool fee on Braiins OS hashrate, which offsets the dev fee for miners on that pool.

What is the LuxOS dev fee?

Luxor does not publish a firmware fee percentage on the pages we checked (luxor.tech/firmware, the Getting Started guide and the Commander pricing page). The changelog refers to a Dev Fee status, so assume a fee exists and confirm the rate with Luxor. Commander Lite is free; Commander Pro is $100 per MW per month or a 0.25% hashrate adder.

Does LuxOS support Antminer S9?

Not on the current compatibility list, which covers the S19 and S21 series, the Z15 Pro and selected MicroBT models. Braiins OS lists the S9, S9i and S9j.

Can I switch from Braiins OS to LuxOS?

Yes, but LuxOS must be installed over stock firmware. Luxor Commander has an “Uninstall Custom Firmware” action to remove Braiins OS or Vnish first; Braiins also documents uninstalling via Toolbox.

How long does autotuning take?

Luxor says about an hour for AutoTuner. Braiins gives two figures: about 10 minutes per power target in the Academy, and 1–9 hours in the FAQ. Plan for hours on the first run.

Is Braiins OS or LuxOS better for curtailment?

Both are designed for it. Braiins quotes roughly 2 seconds to pause and 2 seconds to resume; Luxor quotes under 5 seconds to shed load to about 25 W and under 60 seconds to restore full power. Which fits better depends on how your site controller triggers it, which we have not tested.

Sources: braiins.com/os (features, pricing, FAQ) and braiins.com/os/plus/license (licence terms); academy.braiins.com: Braiins OS about, Install, Uninstall, Autotuning and DPS pages; luxor.tech/firmware; docs.luxor.tech/firmware: Getting Started, Compatible Miners, AutoTuner, API available commands, Changelog; docs.luxor.tech/platform/commander/pricing. Fees, model lists and features are as published by each vendor on 30 October 2026 and may change.

Last updated: 30 October 2026 · soft4mining editorial team. Licence, version and platform details are checked against each developer's official documentation.