fiche vs PrivateBin
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted pastebins & snippets options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
PrivateBin
Minimalist pastebin with zero-knowledge encryption
| Feature | fiche | PrivateBin |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 16 · At risk | 92 · Excellent |
| Category | Pastebins & Snippets | Pastebins & Snippets |
| License | MIT | Zlib |
| Language | C | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,550 | ★ 8,610 |
| First released | 2015 | 2012 |
| Replaces | Pastebin.com, termbin | Pastebin.com |
What are fiche and PrivateBin?
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
PrivateBin
PrivateBin is a minimalist, open-source online pastebin where the server has zero knowledge of pasted data. Content is encrypted and decrypted in the browser, with options for expiration, password, and burn-after-reading.
- Zero-knowledge encryption
- Burn after reading
- Password protection
- Discussion and expiry options
fiche vs PrivateBin: key differences
Fiche is written in C, while PrivateBin is built with PHP. Licensing differs — MIT for fiche versus Zlib for PrivateBin. Fiche is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 256 MB for PrivateBin. PrivateBin is the more established project (first released 2012), while fiche arrived in 2015. PrivateBin has the considerably larger community, at 8,610 GitHub stars versus 1,550. PrivateBin 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 PrivateBin if…
- Released under the Zlib license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 8.6k GitHub stars
Frequently asked questions
Is fiche or PrivateBin better?
Neither is universally better. PrivateBin has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are fiche and PrivateBin free and open-source?
Yes. fiche is licensed under MIT and PrivateBin under Zlib. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run fiche and PrivateBin with Docker?
fiche: check the project docs for container support. PrivateBin: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, fiche or PrivateBin?
fiche has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for PrivateBin. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.