These 5 Staking calculators help DOT investors estimate real APY. For accurate projections, it’s recommended to revisit them whenever the rates change.
Just one year after the 2020 launch, Polkadot now ranks among the Top 10 most traded coins. Early traders earned 10X, not to mention staking rewards. And now with the parachain auctions, a $50 DOT might* be on the horizon.
Should you hold? Dollar-cost average? Time the market?
Whatever the price does, investors feel comfortable holding a project with such potential. And whether you hold or dollar-cost-average. Whether you own 1,000 DOT or 10, staking Polkadot (DOT) is worth looking into.
What is Polkadot (DOT) Staking?
PolkaDot follows the NPoS consensus algorithm (Nominated Proof of Stake). Which means high security, fast transactions, and token rewards. Staking allows you to earn passive crypto with DOT tokens.
In PolkaDot, NPoS users can stake DOT and choose up to 16 block validators. You can only get the best rewards by nominating the safest validators (or else they lose DOT from slashing). Which makes it more secure than traditional proof-of-stake.
So if you believe in its long-term potential, there’s no reason not to stake Polkadot. Whether you want to hold or dollar-cost average, you can make up to 15% APY from passive investing.
But why stake DOT over other coins?
“Any power structure — regardless of initial purpose — will ultimately view retention of power as its primary goal. It’s no surprise that those endowed with power find it difficult to hand over to a structure they don’t control.”
Gavin Wood, Co-founder of Polkadot
Polkadot rewards are consistently high because of their scalability and security. Validators need to have technical knowledge, stake hundreds of DOT, and manage responsibly (or else, they lose their rewards). There are about 297 DOT validators, and to become one, you need to (1) join the waitlist of ~700 candidates and (2) be nominated when there’s a spot.
As a nominator, you can nominate validators and share staking rewards. But there’s a minimum amount required for staking rewards (variable, 130 DOT as for November 2021), plus fees. The network has around 22,000 nominators out of the (new) 43,000 limit.
Now, the easiest way to stake DOT is by using exchanges (Binance, Kraken) or cold wallets (Ledger, Atomic Wallet):
- Buy any DOT amount
- Find the staking feature (if supported)
- Set up the DOT amount to stake and lock-up period
You can preview the yearly reward projection (APY), which is 5–15% depending on the platform. Once you confirm, you can generate rewards that same day. There’s a seven-day lock-up period (minimum), and if you withdraw sooner, you won’t collect rewards.
Important Note: APYs are projections. Staking rewards can change just like market prices. For more accurate estimations, investors use Polkadot staking calculators.
If you want to learn how it works first, check out “How to Stake Polkadot (DOT)? A Step-by-Step Guide.”
Best Polkadot Staking Calculators
Calculators track data from Polkadot Network to determine the most precise APY. But are they all the same?
We’ve used Polkadot.jss.org to verify the precision of each calculator. After testing the five best DOT calculators, here’s what we’ve found.
#1 Staking Rewards: The Most Accurate (Best Calculator Overall)
Staking Rewards shows more metrics than any other calculator. It offers live market data while keeping calculations simple.
How to use Staking Rewards:
- Enter the amount: either DOT or USD.
- Select the term: from 7 days to 10 years.
- Select the staking type: delegate (default), validate, or lend.
- Set your prediction from -50% to 1000%. Or leave the default “Current.”
- Set the compound toggle: OFF = simple interest (APR), ON = compound interest (APY)
Data will immediately update on the left.
Calculations show that Staking Rewards compounds 13.99% every week. When staking for a year (52 weeks), it shows 15.01% APY. For five years, it’s a 101.26% return (20.25% annually).
While it’s accurate when staking on Polkadot.jss, it’s not as useful for other platforms. Staking Rewards uses the network’s nominal reward only (14.7% APY) and doesn’t allow you to set custom APYs. For example, Binance offers ~11.50% DOT APY, but you can only calculate with 14.7%.
However, it does include reward rates from custodian staking providers, ranging from 5% to 15.89%.
#2 XCeres: The Most User-Friendly
If you’re looking for the simplest staking calculator, have a look at XCeres. It tracks the APY for DOT along with 83 other coins. It also shows where to stake to get the best rates:
As for the calculator, it’s not as informative as Staking Rewards, but if you’re looking for simplicity, it’s good enough:
- Enter the amount to stake
- Enter the APY rate of your platform (from 1% to 100%)
- Select the staking period (from 1 to 120 months)
While XCeres is simpler, it’s not as intuitive. Why is it 16.16 DOT? It compounds 14% APR every week, which yields ~15 DOT the first year and ~16.16 the second one. Following the same pattern, the third year would be 17.50 DOT.
Also, the XCeres metrics aren’t as precise:
- You can only set one-decimal APYs. You can try 14% or 14.5%, but not, say, 14.75%.
- You can only measure months. It excludes 7-day and 90-day staking.
- The exchange rates displayed can be misleading. E.g., Staking DOT in Binance yields ~11%, not 16%+.
Still, XCeres is useful when staking low volume. Especially for tracking staking rewards besides Polkadot.
#3 Everstake: The Best For DOT Nominators
Everstake is a Polkadot validator and staking provider. It offers a 15% yield and 0% fees for three months (for nominators only). One of the best performers, assuming you qualify.
Everstake includes a simplified calculator to display earnings per day, month, and year. After you enter your DOT amount, the results will appear with the 15% rate applied.
As a validator, Everstake pulls data from Polkadot.kss.org. But just because it’s accurate, that doesn’t mean it’s practical. The only input field is the DOT amount, which limits what you can do with this tool.
There’s the return (based on the fixed 15%), three earning terms daily/monthly/yearly), and nothing else.
Aspiring nominators will find the most value in Everstake. They offer high reward rates, there’s a user-friendly set-up guide, and you can contact the support team.
#4 WalletBurst: The Simplest
Walletburst has a Polkadot staking calculator, along with dozens of tools for saving and personal finance (not just crypto). Which makes it a decent all-in-one platform for investing.
- Enter your investment amount (USD only)
- Enter your custom APR
- Enter the year number
- Add a recurring deposit number (optional)
It’s called “Kraken Polkadot Calculator” because it uses the same default APR as the exchange (12%). But you can enter any rate you want. Also the exact Polkadot target, 14.7%.
WalletBurst also accepts any time frame. As long as it’s in the yearly format: 0.02 for one week (1/52), 0.084 for one month (1/12), 0.5 for six months, and so on. In the chart, you can see how much (compounded) interest you get each month.
At 14% APR, WalletBurst displays 14.9 DOT earned in one year. Close enough to Staking Rewards’ 15 DOT. As a little caveat, it rounds up to one decimal place.
Mind that staking rewards change due to DOT’s inflation (~8%) and the total staked (53.3%). Only WalletBurst allows custom APRs, which makes it the most precise Polkadot staking calculator so far.
#5 Staking Facilities: The Most Informative
Staking Facilities is, like Everstake, a Polkadot validator. Along with Staking Rewards, it’s one of the most informative calculators. If you’re staking the first time, you’ll find an exhaustive FAQ covering every question.
All you need to do is enter the token amount and turn on the Compound toggle. You can see this calculator uses the exact data as in the network (updating daily).
Staking Facilities yields 13.58% (14.55% if compounded weekly). It doesn’t support custom rates and only displays three timeframes. Unless you need advanced metrics, it’s more than enough.
The Truth About DOT Staking Calculators
There are no guarantees in crypto. As a short-term strategy, DOT staking calculators cannot predict your APY. Instead, they project the most likely return based on the current price and reward history.
That doesn’t make them useless, but rather essential. Crypto markets move quickly, and there are too many variables to handle without tools. When used regularly, staking calculators will help you minimize risk and maximize Polkadot rewards.