Gupax unifies P2Pool and XMRig in a lightweight Rust GUI for decentralized Monero mining. This 2026 review covers features, v2 updates, comparisons and setup.
Gupax originated from a 2022 Monero CCS proposal funded with 100 XMR and completed by developer hinto-janai. It was created to give miners a dedicated companion or standalone alternative to the Monero GUI’s built-in P2Pool support, with emphasis on full XMRig hashrate access.
The application’s core purpose is to serve as a unified manager for P2Pool, the decentralized Monero sidechain mining pool, and XMRig, the optimized RandomX CPU miner. It also provides optional integration with a local monerod node, an XMRig proxy, and XvB raffle hashrate splitting.
Written in Rust with the egui framework, Gupax runs on Windows, Linux, and macOS x86_64, with macOS ARM64 support and Linux ARM available through compilation. It bundles or manages the required binaries and offers both simple and advanced configuration modes.
Version 2.0.0, released March 9, 2026, merged features from the Gupaxx fork, including XvB support, an improved update manager, and UI changes that limit default tabs to P2Pool and XMRig. Version 2.0.1 followed on March 16, 2026 with maintenance updates, and a critical P2Pool binary update addressing a security issue was issued June 15, 2026.
P2Pool operates as a trustless PPLNS sidechain with 0% fees and direct coinbase payouts to miner wallets, eliminating custodial balances. Minimum payouts sit in the 0.0003–0.0004 XMR range across documented 2026 pool statistics.
Sidechain hashrate fluctuates with observation windows. Blocks.p2pool.observer recorded roughly 310 MH/s over the final seven days of its September 2026 snapshot, while p2pool.io measured 429–430 MH/s on 22 September 2026. Earlier reports placed sustained levels above 600 MH/s during January 2026.
Gupax handles binary management for P2Pool, XMRig, monerod and the optional proxy layer. It downloads, verifies and launches each component through its own update mechanism tied to GitHub releases, keeping separate configuration paths so users can adjust P2Pool sidechain selection, XMRig threads or monerod pruning without manual CLI intervention. This separation lets the GUI surface resource monitoring and remote node crawling while the underlying miners and node continue running their native logic.
| Feature | Gupax | Monero GUI | Manual Setup |
|---|---|---|---|
| UI simplicity | Unified egui interface with simple and advanced modes for P2Pool and XMRig | Integrated P2Pool tab but limited to basic controls | Separate terminal commands and config files for each binary |
| Auto-updates | Built-in via GitHub API with in-app notifications | Manual binary replacement required | User must download and verify each release |
| XvB support | Native raffle hashrate splitting since v2.0.0 (March 2026) | Not available | Requires separate proxy configuration |
| Resource usage | Approximately 10 MB memory on x86_64 | Higher overhead from full wallet integration | Minimal, but requires manual process management |
| Windows admin needs | System elevation prompts for huge pages and MSR | Similar requirements but handled outside the app | Manual privilege escalation each session |
| Remote node tools | Built-in crawling and connection manager | Basic node list only | Manual configuration of monerod flags |
| Update handling | Changelog viewer and one-click binary management | External downloads from getmonero.org | Full responsibility for verification and restarts |
Gupax therefore reduces the steps needed to maintain a full P2Pool plus XMRig stack while adding XvB raffle integration that the official Monero GUI does not provide. The ~10 MB footprint documented on gupax.io makes it lighter than running the complete Monero GUI wallet alongside separate miners. Users who prefer full control can still launch Gupax in daemon mode, yet most choose the GUI for its automatic handling of updates and remote nodes. Manual setups remain viable for advanced operators who already script their own monitoring, but they lose the convenience of in-app security notifications such as the June 2026 P2Pool binary patch.
Gupax supports Windows, Linux, and macOS on x86_64, plus macOS ARM64 and Linux ARM through compilation. Download the stable release binary from the GitHub repository, extract it, and launch the executable. The application then downloads and manages the required P2Pool and XMRig binaries automatically.
Configuration occurs in simple or advanced mode for each component. Simple mode presents only essential fields such as wallet address and pool sidechain selection. Advanced mode unlocks full XMRig flags, P2Pool network settings, optional monerod path, and XMRig-proxy parameters.
Daemon mode starts the application headlessly with the --daemon flag, suitable for servers or background operation. System tray integration keeps the miner running minimized while showing hashrate and connection status on click.
Built-in benchmarks measure CPU performance under RandomX load before mining begins. The payout calculator estimates daily XMR returns based on current P2Pool difficulty and sidechain hashrate. GitHub API checks trigger in-app notifications for new releases, including the v2.0.0 feature merge and subsequent security updates for bundled binaries.
Daily workflow consists of selecting the configuration mode, starting the components, monitoring resource usage in the interface, and allowing the auto-update process to apply patches when available.
Gupax maintains a documented footprint of roughly 10 MB memory on x86_64 platforms. Benchmarks listed on the project site show 0.5 percent CPU usage when unfocused and 4.5 percent during active interaction on a ThinkPad T440 with an i5-4300U.
Practical OPSEC begins with selective use of the remote node crawling feature; only connect to nodes whose addresses have been independently verified. On Windows, huge pages and MSR require administrator elevation for XMRig, so confine these elevated sessions to a dedicated user account or virtual machine. Disable automatic updates when running on air-gapped or high-risk hardware.
Clearnet exposure remains the primary limit. P2Pool peers and any local monerod instance can observe the miner’s IP address. The application provides no built-in Tor or proxy enforcement for its bundled components.
Monero’s ring signatures and stealth addresses still apply, yet the software does not eliminate timing analysis, exchange KYC on-ramps, or endpoint compromise. Users retain full responsibility for these remaining attack surfaces.
P2Pool issues direct coinbase payouts once a miner reaches the minimum threshold of roughly 0.0003–0.0004 XMR. Frequency depends on your hashrate share of the sidechain rather than any fixed schedule.
The application notifies users of critical binary updates through its built-in manager. A security fix for the P2Pool binary was released on June 15, 2026 after a vulnerability that risked stolen mining effort was identified.
Native macOS ARM64 builds are provided. Linux ARM users must compile from source; no official pre-built ARM binaries exist for that platform.
Version 2.0.0 merged XvB support that splits a user’s hashrate between regular P2Pool mining and the XMRvsBeast raffle according to an adjustable algorithm.
Community-maintained Docker images appeared in mid-2026. These packages include a noVNC browser interface and optional Tor routing for the containerised setup.
Users on Windows frequently overlook the need for administrator rights when enabling huge pages or MSR. Another frequent issue is selecting the wrong renderer (wgpu versus glow) on systems with limited GPU drivers, which can cause UI instability.
