MicroBin vs sprunge
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
sprunge
Command-line oriented minimalist pastebin
| Feature | MicroBin | sprunge |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 84 · Excellent | 15 · At risk |
| Category | Pastebins & Snippets | Pastebins & Snippets |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | MIT |
| Language | Rust | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary, bare-metal | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 4,562 | ★ 721 |
| First released | 2022 | 2010 |
| Replaces | Pastebin.com | Pastebin.com, termbin |
What are MicroBin and sprunge?
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
sprunge
sprunge is a minimalist, command-line oriented pastebin server designed for piping text directly from the terminal. It returns a short URL for any uploaded content with almost no configuration.
- Terminal pipe uploads
- No database required
- Short URL output
- Tiny footprint
MicroBin vs sprunge: key differences
MicroBin is written in Rust, while sprunge is built with Python. Licensing differs — BSD-3-Clause for MicroBin versus MIT for sprunge. Sprunge is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 128 MB for MicroBin. Sprunge is the more established project (first released 2010), while MicroBin arrived in 2022. MicroBin has the considerably larger community, at 4,562 GitHub stars versus 721. MicroBin lists first-class Docker deployment; sprunge does not.
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 sprunge if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Written in Python
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is MicroBin or sprunge 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 sprunge free and open-source?
Yes. MicroBin is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and sprunge under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run MicroBin and sprunge with Docker?
MicroBin: yes. sprunge: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, MicroBin or sprunge?
sprunge 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.