Pinnwand vs PrivateBin
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted pastebins & snippets options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
PrivateBin
Minimalist pastebin with zero-knowledge encryption
| Feature | Pinnwand | PrivateBin |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 73 · Good | 92 · Excellent |
| Category | Pastebins & Snippets | Pastebins & Snippets |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | Zlib |
| Language | Python | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 228 | ★ 8,610 |
| First released | 2018 | 2012 |
| Replaces | Pastebin.com | Pastebin.com |
What are Pinnwand and PrivateBin?
Pinnwand
Pinnwand is a straightforward pastebin written in Python that supports multi-file pastes and expiration. It pairs with the steck command-line tool for posting pastes directly from the terminal.
- Multi-file pastes
- Command-line client
- Expiration support
- Simple deployment
PrivateBin
PrivateBin is a minimalist, open-source online pastebin where the server has zero knowledge of pasted data. Content is encrypted and decrypted in the browser, with options for expiration, password, and burn-after-reading.
- Zero-knowledge encryption
- Burn after reading
- Password protection
- Discussion and expiry options
Pinnwand vs PrivateBin: key differences
Pinnwand is written in Python, while PrivateBin is built with PHP. Licensing differs — BSD-3-Clause for Pinnwand versus Zlib for PrivateBin. PrivateBin is the more established project (first released 2012), while Pinnwand arrived in 2018. PrivateBin has the considerably larger community, at 8,610 GitHub stars versus 228.
Why pick each one
Choose Pinnwand if…
- Released under the BSD-3-Clause license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Python
Choose PrivateBin if…
- Released under the Zlib license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 8.6k GitHub stars
Frequently asked questions
Is Pinnwand 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 Pinnwand and PrivateBin free and open-source?
Yes. Pinnwand is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and PrivateBin under Zlib. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Pinnwand and PrivateBin with Docker?
Pinnwand: yes. PrivateBin: yes.