What Is the Difference between the PPS and PPLNS Reward Systems in a Mining Pool?

Pay-Per-Share (PPS) offers a fixed payout for every share submitted, regardless of whether the pool finds a block. This shifts all variance risk from the miner to the pool operator.

Pay-Per-Last-N-Shares (PPLNS) pays out only when a block is found, and the reward is distributed based on the shares submitted in the last 'N' difficulty-adjusted shares. PPLNS is fairer over the long run but exposes miners to short-term variance.