Pinnwand vs sprunge
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted pastebins & snippets options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Pinnwand | sprunge |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 73 · Good | 15 · At risk |
| Category | Pastebins & Snippets | Pastebins & Snippets |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | MIT |
| Language | Python | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 228 | ★ 721 |
| First released | 2018 | 2010 |
| Replaces | Pastebin.com | Pastebin.com, termbin |
What are Pinnwand and sprunge?
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
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
Pinnwand vs sprunge: key differences
Both projects are written in Python. Licensing differs — BSD-3-Clause for Pinnwand versus MIT for sprunge. Sprunge is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Pinnwand. Sprunge is the more established project (first released 2010), while Pinnwand arrived in 2018. Sprunge has the considerably larger community, at 721 GitHub stars versus 228. Pinnwand lists first-class Docker deployment; sprunge does not.
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 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 Pinnwand or sprunge better?
Neither is universally better. sprunge has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Pinnwand and sprunge free and open-source?
Yes. Pinnwand is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and sprunge under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Pinnwand and sprunge with Docker?
Pinnwand: yes. sprunge: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Pinnwand or sprunge?
sprunge has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Pinnwand. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.