bin vs PrivateBin
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted pastebins & snippets options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
bin
Minimal, paste-only server written in Rust
VS
PrivateBin
Minimalist pastebin with zero-knowledge encryption
| Feature | bin | PrivateBin |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Pastebins & Snippets | Pastebins & Snippets |
| License | MIT | Zlib |
| Language | Rust | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 308 | ★ 8,509 |
| First released | 2020 | 2012 |
| Replaces | Pastebin.com | Pastebin.com |
Why pick each one
Choose bin if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Rust
Choose PrivateBin if…
- Released under the Zlib license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 8.5k GitHub stars
Frequently asked questions
Is bin or PrivateBin better?
Neither is universally better. PrivateBin has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are bin and PrivateBin free and open-source?
Yes. bin is licensed under MIT and PrivateBin under Zlib. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run bin and PrivateBin with Docker?
bin: yes. PrivateBin: yes.