Why is my mining hashrate lower than other people with similar hardware?

Several ordinary things explain a gap. Thermal throttling is the most common: if your CPU or GPU is hot, it quietly slows itself to protect the chip, so check temperatures first. Next, your thread count or power limit may be set conservatively, which trades hashrate for quiet and cooler running. Background programs, a different miner version, or older drivers can also cost output. Memory speed matters a lot for Malairte because the algorithm is memory-hard, so slower RAM lowers CPU mining results even with the same processor. Finally, remember that headline numbers others quote are often peak figures on a tuned, dedicated rig, not a shared everyday PC. A lower number is usually a setting, not a fault.