fiche vs Snippet Box
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted pastebins & snippets options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | fiche | Snippet Box |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 16 · At risk | 17 · At risk |
| Category | Pastebins & Snippets | Pastebins & Snippets |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | C | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,550 | ★ 1,092 |
| First released | 2015 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Pastebin.com, termbin | GitHub Gist, Pastebin.com |
What are fiche and Snippet Box?
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
Snippet Box
Snippet Box is a self-hosted application for organizing and searching your personal collection of code snippets. It offers syntax highlighting, tagging, and a clean interface for reusing saved code.
- Snippet organization
- Syntax highlighting
- Tag-based search
- SQLite storage
fiche vs Snippet Box: key differences
Fiche is written in C, while Snippet Box is built with TypeScript. Fiche is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 128 MB for Snippet Box. Fiche is the more established project (first released 2015), while Snippet Box arrived in 2021. Snippet Box 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 Snippet Box if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (1.1k GitHub stars)
Frequently asked questions
Is fiche or Snippet Box 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 Snippet Box free and open-source?
Yes. fiche is licensed under MIT and Snippet Box under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run fiche and Snippet Box with Docker?
fiche: check the project docs for container support. Snippet Box: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, fiche or Snippet Box?
fiche has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 128 MB for Snippet Box. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.