Snippet Box 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 | Snippet Box | Ghostbin |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 17 · At risk | 7 · At risk |
| Status | Actively maintained | Archived |
| Category | Pastebins & Snippets | Pastebins & Snippets |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | TypeScript | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,092 | ★ 188 |
| First released | 2021 | 2014 |
| Replaces | GitHub Gist, Pastebin.com | Pastebin.com, GitHub Gist |
What are Snippet Box and Ghostbin?
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
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
Snippet Box vs Ghostbin: key differences
The biggest difference is maintenance: Ghostbin's repository is archived and no longer developed, while Snippet Box is actively maintained. Snippet Box is written in TypeScript, while Ghostbin is built with JavaScript. Ghostbin is the more established project (first released 2014), while Snippet Box arrived in 2021. Snippet Box has the considerably larger community, at 1,092 GitHub stars versus 188.
Why pick each one
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)
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 Snippet Box or Ghostbin better?
Snippet Box 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 Snippet Box and Ghostbin free and open-source?
Yes. Snippet Box is licensed under MIT and Ghostbin under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Snippet Box and Ghostbin with Docker?
Snippet Box: yes. Ghostbin: yes.