fiche vs wastebin
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted pastebins & snippets options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
wastebin
Minimal pastebin server written in Rust
| Feature | fiche | wastebin |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 16 · At risk | 82 · Excellent |
| Category | Pastebins & Snippets | Pastebins & Snippets |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | C | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | docker, binary, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,550 | ★ 860 |
| First released | 2015 | 2022 |
| Replaces | Pastebin.com, termbin | Pastebin.com |
What are fiche and wastebin?
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
wastebin
wastebin is a minimal, fast pastebin service backed by SQLite and written in Rust. It offers syntax highlighting, paste expiration, optional encryption, and a tiny resource footprint.
- Tiny resource usage
- SQLite storage
- Syntax highlighting
- Paste expiry and encryption
fiche vs wastebin: key differences
Fiche is written in C, while wastebin is built with Rust. Fiche is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 128 MB for wastebin. Fiche is the more established project (first released 2015), while wastebin arrived in 2022. Wastebin 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 wastebin if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Rust
Frequently asked questions
Is fiche or wastebin 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 wastebin free and open-source?
Yes. fiche is licensed under MIT and wastebin under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run fiche and wastebin with Docker?
fiche: check the project docs for container support. wastebin: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, fiche or wastebin?
fiche has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 128 MB for wastebin. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.