Pastebin alternatives: 4 open source paste tools you can host yourself

Pastebin is still the default place to drop a log file or a config snippet, but it shows ads, limits private pastes on its free plan, and keeps everything you paste on someone else’s server. A self-hosted paste tool fixes all three, and most of them are small enough to run on the cheapest virtual server you can rent. The four below take different positions on one question: should the server be able to read what you paste? We checked each license and latest release on November 5, 2026.

Quick comparison

Paste tool	License	Server can read pastes?	Extras	Runs as
PrivateBin	zlib	No, encrypted in the browser	Passwords, burn after reading, discussions	PHP app
Opengist	AGPL-3.0	Yes	Every paste is a Git repository	Single Go binary or Docker
MicroBin	BSD-3-Clause	Optional encryption	File uploads, URL shortener, QR codes	Single Rust binary
wastebin	MIT	Optional password encryption	Syntax highlighting for 170+ languages, Markdown	Single Rust binary

PrivateBin: the server never sees your text

PrivateBin encrypts every paste in your browser with 256-bit AES before it is uploaded, and the decryption key travels in the part of the link after the #, which browsers never send to the server. The administrator stores only ciphertext. You can add a password, set an expiry, make a paste burn after the first read, attach files and allow anonymous comments. It is a fork of the older ZeroBin project.

It runs on PHP with file or database storage, and the project is zlib licensed. Version 2.1.0 shipped on October 18, 2026. The README is honest about the limit of this model: you still have to trust whoever serves the JavaScript, so a PrivateBin instance must use HTTPS. Choose it when you share secrets, credentials or customer logs and want plausible deniability as the operator.

Opengist: pastes you can clone with Git

Opengist is a self-hosted version of GitHub Gist. Every snippet is stored as a Git repository, so you can clone, pull and push it over HTTP or SSH as well as edit it in the browser. It has public, unlisted and private snippets, revision history, syntax highlighting, Markdown and CSV rendering, search, topics, forks, likes, embeds and sign-in with GitHub, GitLab, Gitea or any OpenID Connect provider.

Opengist is AGPL-3.0 and version 1.15.3 shipped on October 21, 2026. It is the right choice for a team that wants a shared, searchable library of scripts and configuration rather than throwaway pastes.

MicroBin: a tiny paste bin that also shares files

MicroBin is a single self-contained executable that uses only a few megabytes of memory. Beyond text, it handles file uploads with multiple attachments, raw text links, QR codes and a URL shortener, and it names uploads with animal words instead of random strings, which makes links easy to read out loud. You can turn on server-side or client-side end-to-end encryption, and store data in SQLite or a JSON file.

MicroBin is BSD-3-Clause licensed, and its latest release is 2.1.0. Choose it for a home server or a small team that wants one tiny tool for snippets, files and short links.

wastebin: minimal, fast and good-looking

wastebin does one job well. It is a single Rust binary with an SQLite database, compresses pastes with zstd, highlights more than 170 languages, renders Markdown (including GitHub-style tables and task lists), and ships nine color themes in light and dark mode. Pastes can expire, burn after reading, or be encrypted with a password.

The project is MIT licensed and version 3.9.0 shipped on October 15, 2026. Choose wastebin when you want the cleanest possible Pastebin replacement with almost nothing to maintain.

How to choose

• You paste secrets or customer data: PrivateBin, because the server only ever holds encrypted text.
• You want snippets under version control: Opengist.
• You also need to share files and short links: MicroBin.
• You want the smallest, simplest paste bin: wastebin.

Whichever you run, set a default expiry and a size limit, and put the instance behind HTTPS before you share links. Building a developer toolbox? See our Postman alternatives. You can browse every project in the directory.