Pastebins · Comparison
PasteOkay vs Pastebin.com: privacy, limits and features compared
Pastebin.com built the category. PasteOkay rebuilds it around expiry, encryption and a link that disappears. Here is the honest trade-off.
Updated · 4 min read · PasteOkay is our own product, so read this as a vendor comparison. Features were checked in October 2026.
In short
- Choose PasteOkay when the text is private, temporary or needs a password, and you do not want an account or ads.
- Choose Pastebin.com when you want the largest public archive, a familiar API and a plain paste page with no learning curve.
- Features and prices were checked in October 2026; verify the current details with each provider.
PasteOkay
Choose PasteOkay when the text is private, temporary or needs a password, and you do not want an account or ads.
- No account, no advertising and no public listing
- Client-side AES-256-GCM encryption with the key in the URL fragment
- Expiry from ten minutes to thirty days, plus burn after reading
Pastebin.com
Choose Pastebin.com when you want the largest public archive, a familiar API and a plain paste page with no learning curve.
- Enormous public archive that is often indexed by search engines
- Long-running API and syntax highlighting for many languages
- Familiar interface that most developers have used before
Side by side
| Capability | PasteOkay | Pastebin.com |
|---|---|---|
| Account required | No | No |
| Expiry control | 10 minutes to 30 days | Presets up to never |
| Client-side encryption | Yes | No |
| Password protection | Yes | Not in the free paste form |
| Burn after reading | Yes | Yes |
| Public paste directory | No | Yes |
| Ads on the free tier | None | Yes |
| Price | Free, PRO $5 once | Free with ads, paid tier |
A dash means the feature is not offered in the standard flow. Plans and limits change; verify the current details with each provider before relying on them.
What Pastebin.com still does well
Pastebin.com is fast, familiar and forgiving. You paste text, choose a language and an expiry, and you get a short address. Its public archive is enormous, and for years it has been the place people link to when they need to show a log or a config file. The API and the raw view are simple enough that tooling built a decade ago still works.
If your goal is publishing something you want strangers to find, that public surface is an advantage rather than a bug. Search engines index public pastes, and the sheer volume means a public Pastebin link is understood by almost everyone.
Where the two services differ
The difference is the default. PasteOkay has no public directory, no ads and no site-wide archive. A paste is reachable only through its link, and it stops resolving when the timer runs out. Pastebin.com keeps public pastes in a searchable stream unless you choose unlisted or private exposure.
PasteOkay also moves the sensitive part of password handling into the browser. A password is stretched with PBKDF2 in the page, and the server stores a tag it can compare but cannot turn back into the password. Pastebin.com is a traditional server-rendered paste host.
Encryption, passwords and burn after reading
When you tick the encryption box in PasteOkay, the plaintext never leaves the device. The browser generates an AES-256-GCM key, uploads ciphertext, and places the key after the # in the link. Because browsers do not send fragments, the server cannot read the paste even though it encrypts the stored blob a second time.
Pastebin.com offers burn after reading, which is useful for one-shot handoffs, but it does not offer a browser-held key or a password gate built the same way. That matters when the text contains a token, a private key or a customer record rather than a snippet you intend to publish.
Which one should you use?
Use Pastebin.com for public documentation, snippets you want indexed, or an integration that already speaks its API. Use PasteOkay for the paste you are slightly nervous about: a password, a log with internal hostnames, a handoff to a colleague, or anything that should be gone tomorrow.
Which one should you choose?
Choose PasteOkay if
- The content is private and should never appear in a public feed
- You want a password or a key that the server never sees
- The link should expire automatically without an account
Choose Pastebin.com if
- You need a public paste that search engines can index
- You depend on the existing Pastebin API or raw URLs
- You want the most familiar paste address on the internet
Frequently asked questions
Is PasteOkay a Pastebin.com replacement?
For private or temporary pastes, yes. It covers text, code, expiry, passwords, burn after reading and a manage link. It deliberately does not offer a public directory, so it is not a replacement for publishing something you want strangers to browse.
Does Pastebin.com encrypt pastes in the browser?
Pastebin.com is a conventional hosted paste service and does not offer a browser-held encryption key in its standard paste form. PasteOkay encrypts the blob at rest on the server and can additionally encrypt in your browser before upload.
Can I keep a paste forever on PasteOkay?
Yes. The expiry selector includes a never option for the free plan. The PRO plan also unlocks thirty-day expiry and larger pastes. Nothing prevents you from deleting the paste earlier with its manage link.
Which service is better for sharing logs?
If the log contains internal hostnames, tokens or personal data, PasteOkay is the safer default because the link expires and can be password protected. If the log is a public bug report, Pastebin.com has the larger audience.
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No account. Choose a lifetime, add a password if you need one, and encrypt in your browser when the text should never reach the server in readable form.