filite 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 | filite | Snippet Box |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 6 · At risk | 17 · At risk |
| Category | Pastebins & Snippets | Pastebins & Snippets |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | Rust | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 189 | ★ 1,092 |
| First released | 2019 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Imgur, Pastebin.com | GitHub Gist, Pastebin.com |
What are filite and Snippet Box?
filite
filite is a lightweight, self-hosted alternative to file sharing and pastebin services, written in Rust. It stores uploaded files, shortened links, and code pastes in a single SQLite database and serves them over a minimal HTTP interface.
- Files, links and pastes in one tool
- Single SQLite database
- Rust single-binary server
- Simple HTTP API
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
filite vs Snippet Box: key differences
Filite is written in Rust, while Snippet Box is built with TypeScript. Filite is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 128 MB for Snippet Box. Filite is the more established project (first released 2019), while Snippet Box arrived in 2021. Snippet Box has the considerably larger community, at 1,092 GitHub stars versus 189.
Why pick each one
Choose filite if…
- Very low resource usage
- Combines several sharing tools
Watch out for
- Minimal web interface
- Limited recent activity
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 filite or Snippet Box better?
Neither is universally better. Snippet Box has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are filite and Snippet Box free and open-source?
Yes. filite is licensed under MIT and Snippet Box under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run filite and Snippet Box with Docker?
filite: yes. Snippet Box: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, filite or Snippet Box?
filite 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.