dpaste vs MicroBin
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted pastebins & snippets options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
MicroBin
Tiny, feature-rich pastebin and file-sharing service
| Feature | dpaste | MicroBin |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 61 · Good | 84 · Excellent |
| Category | Pastebins & Snippets | Pastebins & Snippets |
| License | MIT | BSD-3-Clause |
| Language | Python | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, binary, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 641 | ★ 4,562 |
| First released | 2011 | 2022 |
| Replaces | Pastebin.com, GitHub Gist | Pastebin.com |
What are dpaste and MicroBin?
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
MicroBin
MicroBin is a super tiny, configurable, self-contained pastebin and URL shortener written in Rust. Despite its small size it supports file uploads, encryption, QR codes, and expiring pastes.
- Single small binary
- File uploads and URL shortening
- Optional encryption
- QR code generation
dpaste vs MicroBin: key differences
Dpaste is written in Python, while MicroBin is built with Rust. Licensing differs — MIT for dpaste versus BSD-3-Clause for MicroBin. MicroBin is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for dpaste. Dpaste is the more established project (first released 2011), while MicroBin arrived in 2022. MicroBin has the considerably larger community, at 4,562 GitHub stars versus 641.
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 MicroBin if…
- Released under the BSD-3-Clause license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (4.6k GitHub stars)
Frequently asked questions
Is dpaste or MicroBin better?
Neither is universally better. MicroBin has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are dpaste and MicroBin free and open-source?
Yes. dpaste is licensed under MIT and MicroBin under BSD-3-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run dpaste and MicroBin with Docker?
dpaste: yes. MicroBin: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, dpaste or MicroBin?
MicroBin has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for dpaste. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.