fiche vs Stikked
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted pastebins & snippets options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | fiche | Stikked |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 16 · At risk | 14 · At risk |
| Category | Pastebins & Snippets | Pastebins & Snippets |
| License | MIT | BSD-3-Clause |
| Language | C | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,550 | ★ 989 |
| First released | 2015 | 2011 |
| Replaces | Pastebin.com, termbin | Pastebin.com |
What are fiche and Stikked?
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
Stikked
Stikked is an open-source PHP pastebin with a wide range of features including syntax highlighting, an API, themes, and spam protection. It has long been a popular choice for self-hosted code sharing.
- Syntax highlighting
- Themes and customization
- API access
- Spam protection
fiche vs Stikked: key differences
Fiche is written in C, while Stikked is built with JavaScript. Licensing differs — MIT for fiche versus BSD-3-Clause for Stikked. Fiche is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Stikked. Stikked is the more established project (first released 2011), while fiche arrived in 2015. Stikked 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 Stikked if…
- Released under the BSD-3-Clause license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in JavaScript
Frequently asked questions
Is fiche or Stikked 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 Stikked free and open-source?
Yes. fiche is licensed under MIT and Stikked under BSD-3-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run fiche and Stikked with Docker?
fiche: check the project docs for container support. Stikked: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, fiche or Stikked?
fiche has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Stikked. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.