Pastefy 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.
Pastefy
Modern pastebin with folders, encryption, and an API
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Snippet Box
Self-hosted app for organizing your code snippets
| Feature | Pastefy | Snippet Box |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 70 · Good | 17 · At risk |
| Category | Pastebins & Snippets | Pastebins & Snippets |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | Vue | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 457 | ★ 1,092 |
| First released | 2019 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Pastebin.com, GitHub Gist | GitHub Gist, Pastebin.com |
What are Pastefy and Snippet Box?
Pastefy
Pastefy is a modern, open-source pastebin application with a clean interface. It supports client-side encryption, multi-paste folders, an extensive API, and optional user accounts.
- Client-side encryption
- Multi-paste folders
- Full REST API
- Optional accounts
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
Pastefy vs Snippet Box: key differences
Pastefy is written in Vue, while Snippet Box is built with TypeScript. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for Pastefy versus MIT for Snippet Box. Snippet Box is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Pastefy. Pastefy 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 457.
Why pick each one
Choose Pastefy if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Vue
- Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
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 Pastefy or Snippet Box better?
Snippet Box is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Pastefy if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Pastefy and Snippet Box free and open-source?
Yes. Pastefy is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Snippet Box under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Pastefy and Snippet Box with Docker?
Pastefy: yes. Snippet Box: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Pastefy or Snippet Box?
Snippet Box has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Pastefy. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.