PrivateBin vs wastebin
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
VS
wastebin
Minimal pastebin server written in Rust
| Feature | PrivateBin | wastebin |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 92 · Excellent | 82 · Excellent |
| Category | Pastebins & Snippets | Pastebins & Snippets |
| License | Zlib | MIT |
| Language | PHP | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, binary, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 8,610 | ★ 860 |
| First released | 2012 | 2022 |
| Replaces | Pastebin.com | Pastebin.com |
What are PrivateBin and wastebin?
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
wastebin
wastebin is a minimal, fast pastebin service backed by SQLite and written in Rust. It offers syntax highlighting, paste expiration, optional encryption, and a tiny resource footprint.
- Tiny resource usage
- SQLite storage
- Syntax highlighting
- Paste expiry and encryption
PrivateBin vs wastebin: key differences
PrivateBin is written in PHP, while wastebin is built with Rust. Licensing differs — Zlib for PrivateBin versus MIT for wastebin. Wastebin is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for PrivateBin. PrivateBin is the more established project (first released 2012), while wastebin arrived in 2022. PrivateBin has the considerably larger community, at 8,610 GitHub stars versus 860.
Why pick each one
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
Choose wastebin if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Rust
Frequently asked questions
Is PrivateBin or wastebin 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 PrivateBin and wastebin free and open-source?
Yes. PrivateBin is licensed under Zlib and wastebin under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run PrivateBin and wastebin with Docker?
PrivateBin: yes. wastebin: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, PrivateBin or wastebin?
wastebin has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for PrivateBin. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.