What is PrivateBin used for?

PrivateBin is a minimalist self-hosted pastebin in which the server cannot read pastes, since all encryption and decryption happens in the browser. It is a good fit for sharing sensitive snippets privately, running an internal pastebin and sending one-time secrets to colleagues.

Is PrivateBin open source?

Yes. PrivateBin is open source under a custom licence. Its source code is on GitHub at PrivateBin/PrivateBin and is written mainly in PHP.

Yes. PrivateBin is open source, so the software itself is free to use under the terms of its own licence.

Can I self-host PrivateBin?

Yes. PrivateBin can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.

What are some alternatives to PrivateBin?

Similar open-source tools in the Productivity category include CryptPad, Personal Management System and Neko. SaaS products in the same category include canihavesex.today, 1% Better and AirSpell.

Is PrivateBin actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to PrivateBin was on 2 October 2026, and the latest release is 2.0.6, published on 8 August 2026. The project has 8.6k stars on GitHub.

PrivateBin: open-source productivity

About PrivateBin

PrivateBin is a minimalist online pastebin, released as open source, whose server never sees the content it stores. Text is encrypted and decrypted in the browser using 256-bit AES in Galois Counter mode, so the person running the server cannot read pastes. It is a fork of ZeroBin, refactored for cleaner extension, and is written in PHP.

It provides a pastebin-style system for text documents and code samples, with encryption of data sent to the server, an optional password required to read a paste, and options such as one-time and self-destructing pastes. For administrators, this means plausible deniability about paste contents, while still being able to delete any paste if requested.

The documentation is frank about limits. Users must trust the administrator not to inject malicious code, so installations should use HTTPS and ideally HSTS. The decryption key is part of the URL fragment, so publicly sharing the link of a paste without a password lets anyone read it. PrivateBin is self-hosted, and the repository lists the licence as Other.

Key features

Zero-knowledge server design
Client-side 256-bit AES encryption
Optional password for each paste
One-time and self-destructing pastes
Text and code snippet storage
Lightweight PHP application

Good fit for

→Sharing sensitive snippets privately
→Running an internal pastebin
→Sending one-time secrets to colleagues

Built with: PHP
Tags: pastebin; encryption; privacy; self-hosted; php; zero-knowledge; security; one-time

PrivateBin: questions and answers

What is PrivateBin used for?: PrivateBin is a minimalist self-hosted pastebin in which the server cannot read pastes, since all encryption and decryption happens in the browser. It is a good fit for sharing sensitive snippets privately, running an internal pastebin and sending one-time secrets to colleagues.
Is PrivateBin open source?: Yes. PrivateBin is open source under a custom licence. Its source code is on GitHub at PrivateBin/PrivateBin and is written mainly in PHP.
Is PrivateBin free?: Yes. PrivateBin is open source, so the software itself is free to use under the terms of its own licence.
Can I self-host PrivateBin?: Yes. PrivateBin can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.
What are some alternatives to PrivateBin?: Similar open-source tools in the Productivity category include CryptPad, Personal Management System and Neko. SaaS products in the same category include canihavesex.today, 1% Better and AirSpell.
Is PrivateBin actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to PrivateBin was on 2 October 2026, and the latest release is 2.0.6, published on 8 August 2026. The project has 8.6k stars on GitHub.