MicroBin

MicroBin is a small, secure, and configurable open-source pastebin and file-sharing application written in Rust. A single binary handles paste creation, file uploads, an admin panel, a URL shortener, and an embedded database — no PHP runtime, no MySQL, no Redis, no background worker queue. The result is a fast, low-resource alternative to commercial pastebin services that comfortably runs on the smallest VPS plans while still covering the privacy, retention, and access-control features that make self-hosted pastebin services worth setting up in the first place.

Common Use Cases

Engineering teams use MicroBin as a private pastebin for sharing snippets, error logs, and configuration excerpts inside the team without exposing them to public services that get indexed by search engines. Sysadmins deploy MicroBin on a VPS as a quick file drop for moving installers, screenshots, and ad-hoc files between machines, taking advantage of the QR codes and short URLs to hand off content to mobile devices in a few seconds. Educators and trainers paste worked examples, command sequences, and code samples for students with optional read-only mode so they can be reviewed but not edited. Privacy-conscious users share sensitive snippets with client-side encryption and burn-after-reading settings, ensuring the server never sees plaintext and the paste vanishes after the recipient reads it. Indie developers replace cloud "tiny URL" services with the built-in shortener, keeping branded short links inside their own infrastructure with no per-link fees. Personal users host their own pastebin to keep snippets, links, and one-off files together in a long-term archive that survives the closure of free SaaS pastebin sites.

Key Features

• Text pastes with automatic syntax highlighting and inline previews for code, logs, and config snippets
• File uploads of any type with configurable size limits, separate caps for encrypted vs unencrypted uploads
• Built-in URL shortener for converting long URLs into short, branded links served from your own domain
• Expiring pastes with configurable default lifetimes and pinned-forever opt-out for permanent content
• Burn-after-reading mode for one-shot sensitive shares that delete themselves after the first read
• Optional client-side and server-side encryption with passphrase protection so the server never sees plaintext
• Password-protected pastes for restricted sharing without standing up a separate auth layer
• Admin interface at /admin/ for browsing, editing, and deleting any paste from a single screen
• HTTP Basic Auth for the entire instance, useful for fully-private deployments shared inside a small group
• Read statistics that track how many times a paste was opened, with optional opt-out
• QR codes generated for every paste and short link for fast mobile handoff
• Customisable footer text, logo, header, and CSS for white-labeling instances on customer or community domains
• Highly configurable behaviour via environment variables — over 40 toggles cover layout, privacy defaults, retention, and limits
• Lightweight Rust binary with embedded database, predictable resource usage, and trivial backup via the data volume

Why deploy MicroBin on Hostinger VPS

Running MicroBin on a Hostinger VPS gives you a private pastebin and file-sharing tool that keeps every snippet, log dump, and shared file inside infrastructure you control instead of a public service. Hosted pastebin sites routinely scrape, archive, or expose pastes to search engines, and free tiers come with rate limits and abuse-prevention measures that get in the way of legitimate self-hosting use cases — running your own MicroBin sidesteps both. Because MicroBin is a single Rust binary with an embedded database, the resource footprint stays tiny, leaving plenty of headroom on a small VPS for other self-hosted services. Persistent volume storage keeps pastes, uploads, and configuration safe across container restarts and host upgrades, so your shared snippets and short links remain stable forever. Combined with Traefik-based HTTPS routing, the share URLs you hand to teammates, customers, or the public are always TLS-encrypted, and the admin panel at /admin/ stays reachable on a clean branded domain that reinforces your identity rather than advertising a commercial pastebin provider.