DARKBLOOM EARNINGS BY MAC
What a Mac like yours earns with Darkbloom
Real numbers from Darkbloom’s public network data, updated hourly. No sign-up.
Per Mac with a model loaded and working, with one model held (how BloomGauge runs it), at list price, before Darkbloom’s base reward. Paid work only, estimated from the requests these Macs served; hours with no requests count as $0. Each figure is for the best-paying model Macs like that run.
Pick your Mac
M4 Max with 64 GB
about $1.20–$2.70 a day while a model is loaded
on Gemma 4 26B, the best-paying model for this Mac, with one model held (how BloomGauge runs it), at list price, before Darkbloom’s base reward
- Paid work
- Busy most hours
- Model loaded
- Has a model loaded most of the time.
- Based on
- about 9 Macs like this on Gemma 4 26B
- Several models
- Macs running several models: about $0.50 a day (loading several models usually earns less per Mac)
Every Mac we have numbers for
Darkbloom needs 48 GB or more for new Macs. Below that, only small models fit, and they earn very little.
| Mac | Typical a day, one model | Paid work | Macs counted |
|---|---|---|---|
| M4 24 GB | very little | — | — |
| M4 Pro 24 GB | not enough data yet | — | — |
| M5 24 GB | very little | — | — |
| M5 Pro 24 GB | very little | — | — |
| M1 Pro 32 GB | not enough data yet | — | — |
| M1 Max 32 GB | $0.45–$0.60on gpt-oss 20B | Busy most hours | about 3, some hours |
| M2 Pro 32 GB | not enough data yet | — | — |
| M2 Max 32 GB | not enough data yet | — | — |
| M4 32 GB | $0.45–$0.60on gpt-oss 20B | Busy most hours | about 5 |
| M5 32 GB | not enough data yet | — | — |
| M6 32 GB | not enough data yet | — | — |
| M3 Pro 36 GB | not enough data yet | — | — |
| M3 Max 36 GB | not enough data yet | — | — |
| M4 Max 36 GB | $0.40–$0.55on gpt-oss 20B | Busy most hours | about 4, some hours |
| M5 Max 36 GB | $0.10–$2.20on Qwen3.8 27B | Paid work some hours | about 3, some hours |
| M3 Max 48 GB | not enough data yet | — | — |
| M4 Pro 48 GB | $0.60–$0.75on gpt-oss 20B | Busy most hours | about 9 |
| M4 Max 48 GB | not enough data yet | — | — |
| M5 Pro 48 GB | $0.75–$2.00on Gemma 4 26B | Busy most hours | about 9 |
| M5 Max 48 GB | $1.60–$3.00on Gemma 4 26B | Busy most hours | about 4 |
| M1 Max 64 GB | $0.60–$0.75on gpt-oss 20B | Busy most hours | about 10 |
| M1 Ultra 64 GB | $0.30–$0.50on gpt-oss 20B | Busy most hours | about 3 |
| M2 Max 64 GB | $0.60–$0.75on gpt-oss 20B | Busy most hours | about 5 |
| M2 Ultra 64 GB | $1.90–$3.70on Gemma 4 26B | Busy most hours | about 3, some hours |
| M3 Max 64 GB | not enough data yet | — | — |
| M4 Pro 64 GB | $0.35–$1.30on Gemma 4 26B | Busy most hours | about 4 |
| M4 Max 64 GB | $1.20–$2.70on Gemma 4 26B | Busy most hours | about 9 |
| M5 Pro 64 GB | $1.90–$3.10on Gemma 4 26B | Busy most hours | about 3 |
| M5 Max 64 GB | $2.70–$4.40on Gemma 4 26B | Busy most hours | about 4 |
| M2 Max 96 GB | not enough data yet | — | — |
| M3 Ultra 96 GB | $2.90–$3.80on Gemma 4 26B | Busy most hours | about 3, some hours |
| M5 Ultra 96 GB | not enough data yet | — | — |
| M1 Ultra 128 GB | not enough data yet | — | — |
| M2 Ultra 128 GB | not enough data yet | — | — |
| M3 Max 128 GB | not enough data yet | — | — |
| M4 Max 128 GB | $2.90–$3.80on Gemma 4 26B | Busy most hours | about 7 |
| M5 Max 128 GB | $1.90–$4.00on Qwen3.8 27B | Busy most hours | about 11 |
| M2 Ultra 192 GB | not enough data yet | — | — |
| M3 Ultra 256 GB | $4.30–$5.00on Gemma 4 26B | Busy most hours | about 4 |
| M5 Ultra 256 GB | not enough data yet | — | — |
| M3 Ultra 512 GB | $3.60–$4.60on Gemma 4 26B | Busy most hours | about 6 |
A Mac is listed once at least 3 Macs like it show up in Darkbloom’s public data; a row needs a day or two of Macs with a model loaded before it gets a figure. “Macs counted” is about how many Macs like it ran that model with it loaded, at a time.
What changes earnings
- Memory. More memory fits bigger models, and bigger models are paid more per request.
- Keeping the model loaded. A Mac only gets work while a model is loaded and ready.
- Staying online. A Mac that sleeps or drops off gets nothing for those hours.
- Which model it runs. Some models are in more demand than others. BloomGauge’s Manager keeps the model that pays best on Macs like yours.
- Demand on the network. Pay follows how many people use Darkbloom. More Macs joining can lower each Mac’s share.
Costs: electricity
A Mac serving Darkbloom mostly waits for requests, so over a day it draws far less than its maximum. Put in your price to see what’s left.
M4 Max with 64 GB: electricity about $0.24 a day. After electricity: about $0.95–$2.50 a day.
Watts × 24 hours × your price. 60 W is a rough whole-day average for a Max chip serving a model; a plug-in power meter tells you yours. More in Does Darkbloom cover its electricity cost?
Not included: the base reward
Darkbloom also pays a base reward every 5 minutes to a Mac with a model loaded, set by its memory (a target of about $0.33 to $1.33 a day). It comes from a shared pool and Darkbloom has said not to count on it lasting, so it isn’t in the numbers above. How Darkbloom pays providers.
Get started
BloomGauge sets up Darkbloom for you: about 5 minutes, no Terminal. It’s free, and it checks your Mac before it installs anything.
Your first day earns less: Darkbloom verifies a new Mac and the model downloads before paid work starts.
Download for MacDownload page and setup steps
BloomGauge runs on macOS 14+. To earn with Darkbloom you need an Apple Silicon Mac with 48 GB+ memory. Darkbloom accepts macOS 26, but update to macOS 27 first: it skips the MDM profile step, which Darkbloom is retiring.