MicroBin vs bin
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted pastebins & snippets options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
MicroBin
Tiny, feature-rich pastebin and file-sharing service
VS
bin
Minimal, paste-only server written in Rust
| Feature | MicroBin | bin |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 84 · Excellent | 8 · At risk |
| Category | Pastebins & Snippets | Pastebins & Snippets |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | MIT |
| Language | Rust | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary, bare-metal | docker, binary, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 4,563 | ★ 311 |
| First released | 2022 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Pastebin.com | Pastebin.com |
What are MicroBin and bin?
MicroBin
MicroBin is a super tiny, configurable, self-contained pastebin and URL shortener written in Rust. Despite its small size it supports file uploads, encryption, QR codes, and expiring pastes.
- Single small binary
- File uploads and URL shortening
- Optional encryption
- QR code generation
bin
bin is an extremely minimal pastebin server written in Rust with no database and no configuration. It keeps pastes in memory and is designed to be small, fast, and easy to deploy.
- No database needed
- Tiny memory footprint
- Single binary
- Curl-friendly
MicroBin vs bin: key differences
Both projects are written in Rust. Licensing differs — BSD-3-Clause for MicroBin versus MIT for bin. Bin is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 128 MB for MicroBin. Bin is the more established project (first released 2020), while MicroBin arrived in 2022. MicroBin has the considerably larger community, at 4,563 GitHub stars versus 311.
Why pick each one
Choose MicroBin if…
- Released under the BSD-3-Clause license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (4.6k GitHub stars)
Choose bin 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 MicroBin or bin better?
Neither is universally better. MicroBin has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are MicroBin and bin free and open-source?
Yes. MicroBin is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and bin under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run MicroBin and bin with Docker?
MicroBin: yes. bin: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, MicroBin or bin?
bin has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 128 MB for MicroBin. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.