Drift vs MicroBin
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted pastebins & snippets options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Drift
Self-hostable Gist alternative with a clean editor
VS
MicroBin
Tiny, feature-rich pastebin and file-sharing service
| Feature | Drift | MicroBin |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Pastebins & Snippets | Pastebins & Snippets |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | BSD-3-Clause |
| Language | TypeScript | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, binary, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,363 | ★ 4,500 |
| First released | 2022 | 2022 |
| Replaces | GitHub Gist | Pastebin.com |
Why pick each one
Choose Drift if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (1.4k GitHub stars)
- Written in TypeScript
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 (4.5k GitHub stars)
Frequently asked questions
Is Drift or MicroBin better?
MicroBin is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Drift if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Drift and MicroBin free and open-source?
Yes. Drift is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and MicroBin under BSD-3-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Drift and MicroBin with Docker?
Drift: yes. MicroBin: yes.