OpenGist vs Pastefy vs PrivateBin: Self-Hosted Code Sharing Compared

Sharing code snippets, logs, and configuration files is a daily necessity for developers and sysadmins. Cloud-based pastebins and code sharing services are convenient, but they come with limitations: data privacy concerns, character or file size caps, and the ever-present risk of service shutdown. Running your own self-hosted code sharing platform eliminates all three problems while giving you complete control over retention policies, access controls, and integrations.

In this guide, we compare three distinct approaches to self-hosted code sharing, each representing a fundamentally different philosophy:

• OpenGist — a Git-powered pastebin that stores every snippet in a real Git repository, making it the closest open-source alternative to GitHub Gist.
• Pastefy — a modern, feature-rich pastebin with a REST API, OAuth2 login, and serverless deployment option.
• PrivateBin — the zero-knowledge encrypted pastebin where the server never sees your plaintext data.

For a broader look at self-hosted snippet managers, see our comparison of PrivateBin, Snippet Box, and microbin. If you’re interested in Git-powered platforms more broadly, our Gitea vs Forgejo vs GitLab CE guide covers the full Git forge landscape. And for those working with version-controlled data, our version-controlled databases comparison explores a related concept applied to databases.

Quick Comparison at a Glance

1. OpenGist — Git-Powered GitHub Gist Alternative

OpenGist (github.com/thomiceli/opengist) is a self-hosted pastebin powered by Git. With over 3,100 stars and written in Go, it is the closest open-source, self-hosted equivalent to GitHub Gist. Every snippet you create is stored as a real Git repository on disk, meaning you can clone, push, pull, and browse your snippets using standard Git commands.

Key Features

• Git-backed storage: Every snippet is a Git repository. You get full revision history, branching, and the ability to interact with snippets via git clone, git push, and git pull.
• SSH and HTTP Git access: Push and pull snippets over SSH (port 2222) or HTTP, just like any remote Git repository.
• OAuth2 authentication: Log in with GitHub, GitLab, Gitea, or any OpenID Connect provider.
• Snippet visibility: Create public, unlisted, or private snippets with fine-grained access control.
• Topics and tagging: Organize snippets with topics for easy discovery.
• Like and fork: Community features — like snippets you find useful and fork them to create your own versions.
• Syntax highlighting: Supports 300+ programming languages via Chroma.
• Markdown and CSV support: Beyond plain code, render Markdown files and view CSV data as tables.
• Embed support: Embed snippets in other websites with an iframe.
• Docker and Helm: Official Docker image on GHCR and a Helm chart for Kubernetes deployments.

Docker Compose Deployment

OpenGist provides an official Docker image on GitHub Container Registry. Here is a complete docker-compose.yml for running OpenGist with both HTTP and SSH access:

 1
 2
 3
 4
 5
 6
 7
 8
 9
10
11
12
13

services:
  opengist:
    image: ghcr.io/thomiceli/opengist:1.12
    container_name: opengist
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "6157:6157"
      - "2222:2222"
    volumes:
      - "$HOME/.opengist:/opengist"
    environment:
      UID: 1000
      GID: 1000

To start the service:

1

docker compose up -d

OpenGist will be running at http://localhost:6157. The SSH port (2222) enables Git operations over SSH:

1
2
3
4
5
6
7

# Clone a snippet via Git
git clone ssh://git@localhost:2222/username/snippet-slug.git

# Push changes back
cd snippet-slug
echo "new content" >> file.txt
git add . && git commit -m "update" && git push

When to Choose OpenGist

OpenGist is the right choice if you:

• Want a self-hosted GitHub Gist replacement with identical UX
• Need Git integration — clone, push, pull, and browse snippets with standard Git tooling
• Value revision history tracked through Git commits
• Want to interact with snippets programmatically via Git over SSH or HTTP
• Need OAuth2 login with GitHub, GitLab, or Gitea

2. Pastefy — Feature-Rich Pastebin with REST API

Pastefy (github.com/interaapps/pastefy) is a modern, open-source pastebin built with Vue.js on the frontend and Spring Boot (Java) on the backend. With around 420 stars, it is smaller than the other two tools but packs an impressive feature set, particularly around API access and OAuth2 integrations.

Key Features

• REST API: Comprehensive API for creating, reading, updating, and deleting pastes programmatically. Ideal for CI/CD pipelines, chatbot integrations, and automated workflows.
• OAuth2 providers: Supports GitHub, Google, Discord, Twitch, and Interaapps OAuth2 for seamless login.
• Paste expiration: Set expiration times for pastes — useful for sharing temporary logs or credentials.
• Password protection: Lock individual pastes with a password.
• Full-screen editing: Distraction-free editor for writing and reviewing code.
• Syntax highlighting: Supports multiple programming languages.
• File attachments: Upload and share files alongside your paste content.
• Serverless option: Pastefy can be deployed serverless, reducing infrastructure overhead.
• Responsive design: Works well on desktop and mobile browsers.

Docker Compose Deployment

Pastefy requires a MariaDB database. Here is the complete docker-compose.yml:

 1
 2
 3
 4
 5
 6
 7
 8
 9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33

services:
  db:
    image: mariadb:10.11
    volumes:
      - dbvol:/var/lib/mysql
    environment:
      MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD: pastefy
      MYSQL_DATABASE: pastefy
      MYSQL_USER: pastefy
      MYSQL_PASSWORD: pastefy

  pastefy:
    depends_on:
      - db
    image: interaapps/pastefy:latest
    ports:
      - "9999:80"
    environment:
      HTTP_SERVER_PORT: 80
      HTTP_SERVER_CORS: "*"
      DATABASE_DRIVER: mysql
      DATABASE_NAME: pastefy
      DATABASE_USER: pastefy
      DATABASE_PASSWORD: pastefy
      DATABASE_HOST: db
      DATABASE_PORT: 3306
      SERVER_NAME: "http://localhost:9999"
      # OAuth2 (optional)
      # OAUTH2_PROVIDER_CLIENT_ID: your-client-id
      # OAUTH2_PROVIDER_CLIENT_SECRET: your-client-secret

volumes:
  dbvol:

Start the service:

1

docker compose up -d

Pastefy runs at http://localhost:9999. The database volume ensures your pastes persist across container restarts.

When to Choose Pastefy

Pastefy is the right choice if you:

• Need a robust REST API for programmatic paste management
• Want to integrate pastebin functionality into CI/CD pipelines or chatbots
• Need paste expiration for temporary sharing (logs, credentials, debug output)
• Prefer OAuth2 login with a wide range of providers (GitHub, Google, Discord, Twitch)
• Want a modern Vue.js frontend with full-screen editing

3. PrivateBin — Zero-Knowledge Encrypted Pastebin

PrivateBin (github.com/privatebin/PrivateBin) is the most popular self-hosted pastebin with over 8,200 stars on GitHub. Its defining feature is client-side encryption: all data is encrypted and decrypted in the browser using 256-bit AES, meaning the server never has access to your plaintext content.

Key Features

• Zero-knowledge encryption: Data is encrypted in the browser before being sent to the server. The server stores only ciphertext and cannot read your pastes.
• Burn-after-reading: Create pastes that self-destruct after a single view — ideal for sharing sensitive credentials.
• Password protection: Additional password layer on top of encryption.
• Expiration policies: Set pastes to expire after 5 minutes, 1 hour, 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, or never.
• Discussion threads: Enable comments on pastes for collaborative review.
• File attachments: Upload files alongside paste content (encrypted).
• Multiple storage backends: Flat file (default), MySQL, SQLite, Google Cloud Storage, or S3-compatible storage.
• No server-side knowledge: The decryption key is embedded in the URL fragment (#), which is never sent to the server.
• zlib license: Permissive license suitable for commercial use.

Docker Compose Deployment

PrivateBin uses the official privatebin/nginx-fpm-alpine Docker image with 32+ million pulls. Here is a complete docker-compose.yml:

 1
 2
 3
 4
 5
 6
 7
 8
 9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16

services:
  privatebin:
    image: privatebin/nginx-fpm-alpine:latest
    container_name: privatebin
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "8080:80"
    volumes:
      - privatebin-data:/srv/data
      - privatebin-cfg:/srv/cfg
    environment:
      - TZ=UTC

volumes:
  privatebin-data:
  privatebin-cfg:

Start the service:

1

docker compose up -d

PrivateBin runs at http://localhost:8080. All paste data is stored in the privatebin-data volume and encrypted before being written to disk.

For a MySQL-backed setup, you can add a database service similar to the Pastefy configuration above and configure PrivateBin’s conf.php to use the MySQL driver.

When to Choose PrivateBin

PrivateBin is the right choice if you:

• Require zero-knowledge encryption — the server should never see your plaintext data
• Need burn-after-reading for one-time secret sharing
• Want paste expiration with granular time windows
• Value a permissive (zlib) license for commercial deployments
• Need discussion threads for collaborative code review
• Want the most battle-tested and widely adopted self-hosted pastebin

Feature Deep-Dive Comparison

Storage Architecture

The three tools take fundamentally different approaches to data storage:

OpenGist’s Git-backed approach is unique — every snippet is a self-contained Git repository. This means you can back up all snippets with a single git clone --mirror, restore from any Git backup, and even interact with the data using standard Git tooling (IDEs, diff tools, blame). Pastefy uses a traditional relational database with MariaDB, offering strong consistency and the ability to scale. PrivateBin defaults to flat files for simplicity but supports MySQL and SQLite for larger deployments.

Security Model

PrivateBin’s zero-knowledge model is unmatched for security-sensitive use cases. The decryption key is stored in the URL fragment (after #), which browsers never send to the server. Even if the server is compromised, attackers only see encrypted blobs. OpenGist and Pastefy store data encrypted at rest on the server, but the server holds the decryption keys.

API and Automation

Pastefy has the most comprehensive REST API, making it ideal for programmatic paste creation in CI/CD pipelines. OpenGist’s unique advantage is Git integration — you can create and update snippets by pushing to a Git repository, which works seamlessly with existing Git-based workflows. PrivateBin has no API, relying on the web interface and URL sharing.

Which One Should You Choose?

Choose OpenGist if:

• You want a self-hosted GitHub Gist alternative
• You need Git integration (clone, push, pull snippets via standard Git)
• You value full revision history through Git commits
• You want to organize snippets with topics and tags
• You like the fork/like community features

Choose Pastefy if:

• You need a REST API for programmatic paste management
• You want paste expiration for temporary sharing
• You need OAuth2 with a wide range of providers
• You prefer a modern Vue.js frontend
• You want serverless deployment option

Choose PrivateBin if:

• Zero-knowledge encryption is non-negotiable
• You need burn-after-reading for sensitive data
• You want the most widely adopted and battle-tested pastebin
• You need discussion threads on pastes
• You prefer a permissive (zlib) license

FAQ

Is OpenGist a complete GitHub Gist replacement?

OpenGist covers the core Gist features: creating public/unlisted/private snippets, syntax highlighting, revisions, and Git access. However, it lacks GitHub’s ecosystem integration (no GitHub Actions, no GitHub login sync). It is a self-hosted alternative focused on code sharing, not a GitHub feature clone.

Can I migrate snippets from GitHub Gist to OpenGist?

Yes. Since OpenGist stores snippets as Git repositories, you can clone a GitHub Gist (git clone https://gist.github.com/username/gist-id.git) and then push it to your OpenGist instance via SSH or HTTP. The Git history will be preserved.

Does PrivateBin really encrypt data on the server?

No. PrivateBin encrypts data in the browser before it is sent to the server. The server only stores ciphertext. The decryption key is in the URL fragment (#decryption-key), which is never transmitted to the server. This means even the server administrator cannot read your pastes.

Can I use these tools behind a reverse proxy?

Yes, all three tools work well behind Nginx, Caddy, or Traefik reverse proxies. For our guides on setting up reverse proxies, see our Caddy vs Traefik comparison.

How do I back up my OpenGist snippets?

Since OpenGist stores snippets as Git repositories in $HOME/.opengist, you can back them up with a simple git clone --mirror or by copying the data directory. You can also use standard backup tools like Restic or Kopia for incremental backups.

Which tool has the smallest resource footprint?

OpenGist (Go, single binary ~15 MB) and PrivateBin (PHP + Nginx) both have small footprints. Pastefy requires a MariaDB database plus a Java/Spring Boot backend, making it the heaviest option. For a single-user instance, any of the three will run comfortably on a 512 MB VPS.

Can I restrict who can create pastes?

OpenGist supports restricting snippet creation to authenticated users only. Pastefy supports OAuth2 login for access control. PrivateBin is anonymous by default but can be protected with Nginx basic auth or similar reverse proxy authentication.