fiche vs Pinnwand
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted pastebins & snippets options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | fiche | Pinnwand |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 16 · At risk | 73 · Good |
| Category | Pastebins & Snippets | Pastebins & Snippets |
| License | MIT | BSD-3-Clause |
| Language | C | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,550 | ★ 228 |
| First released | 2015 | 2018 |
| Replaces | Pastebin.com, termbin | Pastebin.com |
What are fiche and Pinnwand?
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
Pinnwand
Pinnwand is a straightforward pastebin written in Python that supports multi-file pastes and expiration. It pairs with the steck command-line tool for posting pastes directly from the terminal.
- Multi-file pastes
- Command-line client
- Expiration support
- Simple deployment
fiche vs Pinnwand: key differences
Fiche is written in C, while Pinnwand is built with Python. Licensing differs — MIT for fiche versus BSD-3-Clause for Pinnwand. Fiche is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Pinnwand. Fiche is the more established project (first released 2015), while Pinnwand arrived in 2018. Fiche has the considerably larger community, at 1,550 GitHub stars versus 228. Pinnwand lists first-class Docker deployment; fiche does not.
Why pick each one
Choose fiche if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Active community (1.6k GitHub stars)
- Written in C
Choose Pinnwand if…
- Released under the BSD-3-Clause license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Python
Frequently asked questions
Is fiche or Pinnwand 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 fiche and Pinnwand free and open-source?
Yes. fiche is licensed under MIT and Pinnwand under BSD-3-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run fiche and Pinnwand with Docker?
fiche: check the project docs for container support. Pinnwand: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, fiche or Pinnwand?
fiche has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Pinnwand. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.