0bin vs paste
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted pastebins & snippets options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | 0bin | paste |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 29 · At risk | 14 · At risk |
| Category | Pastebins & Snippets | Pastebins & Snippets |
| License | WTFPL | MIT |
| Language | JavaScript | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, binary, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,402 | ★ 574 |
| First released | 2012 | 2018 |
| Replaces | Pastebin.com | Pastebin.com, GitHub Gist |
What are 0bin and paste?
0bin
0bin is a client-side encrypted pastebin that the server operator cannot read. It encrypts pastes in the browser and offers expiration and burn-after-reading without requiring registration.
- Client-side encryption
- No accounts required
- Burn after reading
- Expiration options
paste
paste is a minimalist, self-hosted pastebin service written in Go that stores text snippets and returns short URLs. It is designed to be tiny, dependency-free, and easy to run from a single binary.
- Single static binary
- Filesystem-based storage
- Short URL generation
- Simple HTTP API
0bin vs paste: key differences
Both projects are written in JavaScript. Licensing differs — WTFPL for 0bin versus MIT for paste. Paste is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 256 MB for 0bin. 0bin is the more established project (first released 2012), while paste arrived in 2018. 0bin has the considerably larger community, at 1,402 GitHub stars versus 574.
Why pick each one
Choose 0bin if…
- Released under the WTFPL license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (1.4k GitHub stars)
Choose paste if…
- Extremely lightweight
- Trivial to deploy
Watch out for
- Very minimal feature set
- No syntax highlighting UI
Frequently asked questions
Is 0bin or paste better?
Neither is universally better. 0bin has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are 0bin and paste free and open-source?
Yes. 0bin is licensed under WTFPL and paste under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run 0bin and paste with Docker?
0bin: yes. paste: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, 0bin or paste?
paste has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for 0bin. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.