Cointelegraph recently publish part one of its review of the most popular cloudmining services. Technical details covered, we now turn to the all-important user experience: is cloud mining genuinely a safe, enjoyable feature of Bitcoin?
As with several areas of the Bitcoin community, cloudmining entities have occasionally come under scrutiny and received negative attention over certain issues occurring. Accordingly, we include our providers’ support and reference materials in our statistics, in addition to usability features such as interface and website design.
PB Mining
Support and FAQ
Users can contact the company via email and the Bitcointalk forum, but these options are not made immediately obvious on the website. Online support is not currently available.
PB Mining does not provide an accessible FAQ section at the time of writing.
User interface and website design
While the website features a streamlined, one-page design commonly favored among Bitcoin entities, it is of limited use until after registration is completed, when full functionality is unlocked.
| FAQ questions quality: | N/A |
| FAQ answers quality: | N/A |
| Usability (before/ after registration): | 4 |
| Website design: | 3 |
| Total average support score: | 1 |
| Total average interface/ design score: | 4 |
| Overall: | 3.25 |
Eobot
Support and FAQ
Users have the ability to contact other members via a public chat service online with any issues encountered. Separately, the company may be contacted via email.
Eobot’s online FAQ contains a good selection of preanswered queries, although responses are often not exhaustive and further private correspondence may be necessary.
User interface and website design
Site functions are fairly easily accessible both before and after registration. The design itself however leaves a lot to be desired, with a basic finish and signs of few resources being pooled during production. Basic text is accompanied by a lack of uniform appearance and unappealing additions such as a Google Translate option at the bottom of the page for non-English speaking users.
| FAQ questions quality: | 4 |
| FAQ answers quality: | 3 |
| Usability (before/ after registration): | 3 |
| Website design: | 2 |
| Total average support score: | 3 |
| Total average interface/ design score: | 3 |
| Overall: | 3.83 |
MineOnCloud
Support and FAQ
MineOnCloud features almost instantaneous online support for users and can also be contacted by email if necessary.
Currently, however, there is no FAQ available.
User interface and website design
The site has practically no functionality before registration, with subheadings often leading to blank pages. The design is also poorly executed, with a lack of cohesion and slow loading.
| FAQ questions quality: | N/A |
| FAQ answers quality: | N/A |
| Usability (before/ after registration): | 1 |
| Website design: | 2 |
| Total average support score: | 2 |
| Total average interface/ design score: | 1 |
| Overall: | 1.75 |
CEX.IO
Support and FAQ
Users have the option of a public chat service to get help from other members, as well as a ticket system for email-based customer support.
In addition, the company provides a thorough FAQ with answers to many of the most common queries, resulting in an all-round highly dependable support service.
User interface and website design
CEX.IO’s website provides an undoubtedly professional environment, balancing excellent functionality with use of access and intuitive arrangement of content. Its design is furthermore of excellent quality and shows considerable attention to detail.
| FAQ questions quality: | 5 |
| FAQ answers quality: | 5 |
| Usability (before/ after registration): | 5 |
| Website design: | 5 |
| Total average support score: | 5 |
| Total average interface/ design score: | 5 |
| Overall: | 4.83 |
Group Bitcoin
Support and FAQ
Customers may get in touch using the online chat function, but this is not manned 24/7. There is also a contact form as well as a general email address and telephone number from non-urgent queries.
An FAQ section is available with limited topics covered. Information which has been made available however is well-written and thorough.
User interface and website design
GroupBitcoin has created a high-quality website which succeeds in balancing accessibility and functionality well, both before and after registration. The design also appears fairly professional, with a clear theme carried throughout the various pages.
| FAQ questions quality: | 1 |
| FAQ answers quality: | 4 |
| Usability (before/ after registration): | 4 |
| Website design: | 4 |
| Total average support score: | 3 |
| Total average interface/ design score: | 4 |
| Overall: | 3.75 |
Genesis Mining
Support and FAQ
Genesis does not provide instant customer support but is contactable via email.
Its FAQ section provides answers to some questions, but it is not exhaustive as a resource at present.
User interface and website design
The website is clearly arranged and has good functionality, which only increases following registration. The clarity of presentation is a great feature of the design, which in turn produces a clean, professional image.
| FAQ questions quality: | 3 |
| FAQ answers quality: | 5 |
| Usability (before/ after registration): | 4 |
| Website design: | 5 |
| Total average support score: | 4 |
| Total average interface/ design score: | 4 |
| Overall: | 3.83 |
Bitcoincloudmining.com
Support and FAQ
The company provides an integrated contact form for queries, although no instant support.
There is currently no FAQ available to users.
User interface and website design
The company’s website succeeds in providing good functionality and well-structured presentation for users. Its design is a little unrefined, however, with price plans being the first feature to appear on the homepage and pages taking quite long to load.
| FAQ questions quality: | N/A |
| FAQ answers quality: | N/A |
| Usability (before/ after registration): | 4 |
| Website design: | 3 |
| Total average support score: | 1 |
| Total average interface/ design score: | 4 |
| Overall: | 2.25 |
Cloudhashing
Support and FAQ
Cloudhashing provides a pop-up contact form for users, but currently no real-time support.
There is also a fairly good FAQ section available, although topics covered are more basic than for every eventuality, for which the private contact method should presumably be used.
User interface and website design
Cloudhashing’s website is eyecatching yet lacks the structure which makes others so appealing for users. Information is not arranged in an intuitive manner and it is not obvious where to find specific content, both before and after registration. The design is attractive, however, featuring a consistent style and visually clearly defined sections.
| FAQ questions quality: | 3 |
| FAQ answers quality: | 3 |
| Usability (before/ after registration): | 2 |
| Website design: | 4 |
| Total average support score: | 3 |
| Total average interface/ design score: | 3 |
| Overall: | 3.83 |
Pacific Hashing
Support and FAQ
The only exchange in the review to provide instant support via Skype. While this is not the most reliable option, it is nevertheless available. Written support options are also possible, and the site supports 8 languages.
An FAQ section is available for consultation, covering a selection of the more basic topics.
User interface and website design
Pacific Hashing’s website is notably more unwieldy than some others in the space, with an incohesive design and unintuitive placing of tools and information. This appeared to be the case both before and after the registration process.
| FAQ questions quality: | 3 |
| FAQ answers quality: | 3 |
| Usability (before/ after registration): | 2 |
| Website design: | 3 |
| Total average support score: | 2 |
| Total average interface/ design score: | 2 |
| Overall: | 2.33 |
Cointerra Mining
Support and FAQ
Cointerra provides an integrated contact form as its sole means of correspondence (including support queries) for users. Instant support is not currently available.
The lack of support service is somewhat compensated by an extensive FAQ which provides a good source of answers to a range of questions.
User interface and website design
Both sides of the registration process, the website offers only limited information and a design which has yet to be streamlined. Price plans also feature prominently on the homepage, which in our experience has been off-putting to first-time users.
| FAQ questions quality: | 4 |
| FAQ answers quality: | 5 |
| Usability (before/ after registration): | 2 |
| Website design: | 2 |
| Total average support score: | 4 |
| Total average interface/ design score: | 2 |
| Overall: | 3.33 |
For support and usability parameters, CEX.IO is again a clear leader, with several other services coming in closely behind. The quality spread for these areas is also notable, with some providers being almost incomparable to others.
Here is a summary of the top five results:
| CEX.IO | 4.83 |
| Genesis Mining | 3.83 |
| Cloudhashing | 3.83 |
| Eobot | 3.83 |
| Group Bitcoin | 3.75 |
Like this review? Check out Cointelegraph’s exchange review series here and be sure to follow us for more coming soon.
Check out the other reviews in the series here: Cloudmining Part 1: A market overview for users.