dpaste vs fiche
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted pastebins & snippets options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | dpaste | fiche |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 61 · Good | 16 · At risk |
| Category | Pastebins & Snippets | Pastebins & Snippets |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | Python | C |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 641 | ★ 1,550 |
| First released | 2011 | 2015 |
| Replaces | Pastebin.com, GitHub Gist | Pastebin.com, termbin |
What are dpaste and fiche?
dpaste
dpaste is an open-source pastebin application built with Django for sharing code and text snippets. It offers syntax highlighting, snippet expiration, and a simple API for posting from scripts.
- Django-based platform
- Syntax highlighting
- Snippet expiration
- Scripting API
fiche
fiche is a minimalist terminal pastebin server written in C that accepts pastes piped over netcat. Users upload text from the command line and receive a short URL with no client software needed.
- Netcat-based uploads
- No client needed
- Short URL output
- Tiny C server
dpaste vs fiche: key differences
Dpaste is written in Python, while fiche is built with C. Fiche is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 256 MB for dpaste. Dpaste is the more established project (first released 2011), while fiche arrived in 2015. Fiche has the considerably larger community, at 1,550 GitHub stars versus 641. Dpaste lists first-class Docker deployment; fiche does not.
Why pick each one
Choose dpaste if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Python
Choose fiche if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Active community (1.6k GitHub stars)
- Written in C
Frequently asked questions
Is dpaste or fiche better?
Neither is universally better. fiche has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are dpaste and fiche free and open-source?
Yes. dpaste is licensed under MIT and fiche under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run dpaste and fiche with Docker?
dpaste: yes. fiche: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, dpaste or fiche?
fiche has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for dpaste. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.