pasty vs Ghostbin
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted pastebins & snippets options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | pasty | Ghostbin |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 46 · Fair | 7 · At risk |
| Status | Actively maintained | Archived |
| Category | Pastebins & Snippets | Pastebins & Snippets |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | Go | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 223 | ★ 188 |
| First released | 2020 | 2014 |
| Replaces | Pastebin.com | Pastebin.com, GitHub Gist |
What are pasty and Ghostbin?
pasty
pasty is a fast and lightweight code-pasting server written in Go. It supports configurable storage backends, paste expiration, and an autodelete feature for ephemeral snippet sharing.
- Fast snippet sharing
- Configurable storage backends
- Paste expiration
- Simple deployment
Ghostbin
Ghostbin, whose engine is now called spectre, is a feature-rich, self-hosted pastebin offering syntax highlighting, paste expiration, and optional encryption. It is the open-source software that powered the public Ghostbin service.
- Syntax highlighting
- Optional encryption
- Paste expiration
- Self-hosted control
pasty vs Ghostbin: key differences
The biggest difference is maintenance: Ghostbin's repository is archived and no longer developed, while pasty is actively maintained. Pasty is written in Go, while Ghostbin is built with JavaScript. Ghostbin is the more established project (first released 2014), while pasty arrived in 2020.
Why pick each one
Choose pasty if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Go
Choose Ghostbin if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in JavaScript
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is pasty or Ghostbin better?
pasty is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Ghostbin if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are pasty and Ghostbin free and open-source?
Yes. pasty is licensed under MIT and Ghostbin under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run pasty and Ghostbin with Docker?
pasty: yes. Ghostbin: yes.