Replace / Pastebin
Best free Pastebin alternatives (open source, self-hosted) 2026
The best open-source alternative to Pastebin is PrivateBin (or Opengist) with Microbin, self-hosted on Railway. Pastes you host. PrivateBin is Zlib/libpng (GitHub license Other); Opengist is AGPL-3.0 — Pastebin without the hosted paste seat.
Estimated save $1,200 a year.
Open the stackStart on Railway
How Pastebin compares
| Pastebin | PrivateBin / Opengist | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Hosted subscription | Open-source or fair-code license; you pay the host |
| Hosting | Vendor cloud | Self-hosted on Railway or any VPS |
| Rough monthly cost | Public list price not verified this run | Hosting only — no SaaS seat meter in this repo |
- PrivateBin
Zlib/libpng zero-knowledge paste (GitHub license Other) — the published Pastebin path
- Opengist
AGPL-3.0 Git-backed gist if the job is Gist, not a paste
- Microbin
BSD-3-Clause Rust paste dump if that shape is the job
FAQ
- What is the best free open-source Pastebin alternative?
- The best open-source alternative to Pastebin is PrivateBin (or Opengist) with Microbin, self-hosted on Railway. Pastes you host. PrivateBin is Zlib/libpng (GitHub license Other); Opengist is AGPL-3.0 — Pastebin without the hosted paste seat.
- Is it free?
- The PrivateBin / Opengist licenses are open source or fair-code. You still pay hosting (Railway or any VPS) and any APIs the stack calls. There is no Pastebin seat or task bill on this path.
- Can I migrate from Pastebin?
- Yes. Start with the workflows or data you actually use, then cut over. The PrivateBin / Opengist stack page has the agent prompt and the cost table; most teams rebuild the slice that matters and leave old Pastebin links until they expire.
- How do I deploy it?
- Open the PrivateBin / Opengist stack, copy the agent prompt, and deploy on Railway (one service, PORT, and a volume when the app needs disk). Placeholder: PrivateBin (PHP + a data path) or Opengist plus a volume for gists. Bind HTTP to 0.0.0.0:$PORT. No one-click template in this repo yet — Start on Railway.
- What does this replace?
- Pastebin / GitHub Gists. The published small-team estimate on this stack is $1,200 a year.
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