Seeking the optimal WordPress backup tool for your site?
Establishing routine WordPress backups is crucial for your website’s security. Backups provide reassurance and act as a lifeline in critical situations, such as a security breach or accidental lockout.
Numerous complimentary and premium WordPress backup tools are available, and many of them offer user-friendly interfaces.
In this post, we’ll unveil some top-notch WordPress backup solutions suitable for small businesses.
As of my last update in January 2022, I don’t have real-time information on specific plugins or their status in 2023. However, I can guide you on what to look for and suggest some popular WordPress backup plugins that are widely used. Keep in mind that popularity and features can change over time, so always check the latest reviews and updates. Here’s a general guide and a list of popular plugins:
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Reviews and Ratings:
UpdraftPlus stands out as the widely embraced free WordPress backup extension available across the web. With a user base exceeding 3 million websites, it has gained immense popularity.
UpdraftPlus empowers you to generate a comprehensive backup of your WordPress site, offering the flexibility to store it in the cloud or download it to your device.
This plugin facilitates both scheduled and on-demand backups, allowing you to selectively choose the files you wish to back up.
Automatic upload capabilities extend to various cloud storage services such as Dropbox, Google Drive, S3, Rackspace, FTP, SFTP, and email, among others (refer to our step-by-step guide on how to back up & restore your WordPress site with UpdraftPlus).
In addition to securing each WordPress website, UpdraftPlus streamlines the restoration process directly from your WordPress admin panel.
The premium version of UpdraftPlus boasts add-ons for website migration or cloning, database search and replacement, multisite support, and an array of other features. Subscribers to the premium version also benefit from priority support.
Pricing: Free (UpdraftPremium Personal is priced at $70 per year).
Review: UpdraftPlus stands as one of the most cherished WordPress backup plugins in the market, boasting over 3 million active installs and an impressive average rating of 4.8 out of 5 stars. While the free version offers robust features, we recommend considering an upgrade to UpdraftPlus premium to unlock its full suite of powerful backup functionalities.
Duplicator Pro stands out as a robust and user-friendly WordPress backup tool, trusted by more than 1.5 million website proprietors. It simplifies the process of backing up, migrating, and cloning your WordPress site, catering to both novices and experienced users.
This plugin facilitates the creation of manual or scheduled WordPress backups, allowing secure storage on popular cloud platforms such as Dropbox, Google Drive, FTP, OneDrive, and Amazon S3.
The WordPress dashboard provides a centralized location to view all backups, streamlining backup management.
For restoration needs, the Duplicator Recovery Wizard guides you through the step-by-step process of restoring backup files.
Duplicator includes essential backup features like comprehensive WordPress files and database backups, recovery points, archive encryption for heightened security, and more.
The plugin also excels in advanced site migration capabilities, offering features like an intuitive migration wizard, a seamless installer, server-to-server imports, multisite network migrations, customizable pre-configured sites, support for large sites, and more.
Pricing: Starts at $49.50 per year, providing unlimited backups for up to 2 sites. A free version of Duplicator is also available for those looking to get started.
Review: Duplicator Pro secures its position as a highly-rated WordPress backup and migration plugin, boasting over 1.5 million active installs and an impressive average rating of 4.9 out of 5 stars. The free version offers a comprehensive starting point, but upgrading to the premium version is recommended for features such as cloud storage, scheduled backups, and more.
BlogVault emerged as a widely embraced WordPress backup service. Unlike traditional plugins, it operates as a Software as a Service (SaaS) solution, independently creating offsite backups on BlogVault servers to alleviate server load.
BlogVault performs automatic daily backups and offers the flexibility of manually creating unlimited on-demand backups. It employs smart incremental backups that synchronize only incremental changes, minimizing server load and ensuring optimal WordPress site performance.
In addition to robust backup functionalities, BlogVault streamlines website recovery, allowing you to store a 90-day backup archive on lower plans and a 365-day backup archive on higher plans. This extensive archive duration provides the capability to recover your site from various mishaps, even in the case of server failure.
The platform includes a built-in staging site feature, facilitating easy website testing. Additionally, BlogVault simplifies website migration to another host.
While BlogVault offers promising features for small businesses, it’s worth noting that, compared to self-hosted plugins like Duplicator, Updraft, or Solid Backups, the cost per site is relatively higher.
Pricing: $149 per year for the Plus Plan 1 Site License, providing daily automatic backups. $499 per year for high-frequency daily backups.
Review: BlogVault emerges as a user-friendly WordPress backup solution with the advantage of offsite backups, preventing server overload. Although priced slightly higher than other solutions on this list, it caters to small businesses with its powerful real-time backup features.
BackWPup stands out as a no-cost plugin, offering you the capability to generate comprehensive WordPress backups at zero expense. These backups can be securely stored on the cloud (Dropbox, Amazon S3, Rackspace, etc.), FTP, email, or directly on your computer.
The plugin boasts exceptional user-friendliness, allowing you to effortlessly schedule automatic backups based on your site’s update frequency.
The restoration process for a WordPress site from a backup is straightforward. For enhanced features, the BackWPup Pro version is available, offering priority support, the option to store backups on Google Drive, and other enticing functionalities.
Pricing: Free (Premium plan also available).
Review: Trusted by over 600,000 websites, BackWPup presents a compelling alternative to other backup plugins on this list. The premium version introduces additional robust features, including a seamless and prompt website restoration process directly from the backend using a standalone app.
Jetpack VaultPress Backup, developed by Automattic, the company founded by WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg, stands as a widely recognized WordPress backup plugin.
Originally launched as VaultPress, the plugin has undergone a redesign and rebranding, now known as Jetpack Backups. Several websites have transitioned to the new Jetpack backup platform for its updated features.
Jetpack Backup provides automated daily and real-time cloud backup solutions, ensuring the safety of your site without causing slowdowns. Setting up Jetpack backups and restoring from them is a straightforward process requiring just a few clicks.
Higher-tier Jetpack plans include additional features like security scans and other robust functionalities.
However, there are a couple of considerations for beginners opting for Jetpack backups. Firstly, the cost can accumulate as it is billed per site. Secondly, the purchase process can be intricate, requiring the installation of the Jetpack plugin, although unnecessary features can be manually disabled.
On lower plans, backups are retained for only 30 days. For an unlimited backup archive, users will need to pay $4.95 per month per website, making it comparatively more expensive for beginners when compared to other solutions.
Despite these considerations, For new sites like All in One SEO, Jetpack backup is deemed worthwhile, especially for eCommerce stores requiring maximum protection.
Pricing: Starting from $4.95 per month for a daily backup plan (billed annually).
Review: Jetpack VaultPress Backup is a premium backup service with a corresponding price point. If already utilizing JetPack for features like JetPack CDN, social media promotion, and Elastic search, opting for their Complete plan bundle provides good value. For users primarily seeking real-time cloud backups, alternatives like BlogVault offer more budget-friendly options for beginners.
Solid Backups has emerged as one of the top-tier premium WordPress backup plugins, trusted by over half a million WordPress sites. This plugin facilitates easy scheduling of daily, weekly, and monthly backups.
Solid Backups provides seamless integration with various cloud storage services, including Dropbox, Amazon S3, Rackspace Cloud, FTP, and Stash (their cloud service). It even offers the option to email backups to yourself. Users leveraging the Stash service can benefit from real-time backups.
A distinctive advantage of Solid Backups is its non-subscription model, eliminating monthly fees. Users can use the plugin on the number of websites specified in their plan. The package includes premium support forums, regular updates, and 1GB of Stash Live storage for backup storage. Additionally, the iThemes Sync feature allows users to manage up to 10 WordPress sites from a single dashboard.
Solid Backups isn’t just a backup tool; it also facilitates website duplication, migration, and restoration.
Pricing: $99 for the Basic Plan (1 Site License).
Review: Solid Backups stands out as a cost-effective premium solution for WordPress backups, offering a comprehensive set of features for backup creation, restoration, and site movement. In essence, it serves as a robust alternative to UpdraftPlus and VaultPress, providing users with powerful backup capabilities.
BoldGrid Backup introduces Total Upkeep, an automated WordPress backup solution developed by BoldGrid. Users can opt for automated backups or initiate manual backups with a single click.
Pricing: $2.50 per month billed annually (Includes access to all BoldGrid Premium tools and services).
Review: BoldGrid Total Upkeep Backup serves as a straightforward WordPress backup plugin for creating website backups. For users looking to benefit from a comprehensive bundle plan, which includes additional powerful tools, the purchase of the BoldGrid Premium Connect Key is required.
Determining the optimal WordPress backup plugin involves weighing the pros and cons of each tool. At present, we rely on Jetpack Backups for two primary reasons: its exceptional user-friendliness and the provision of real-time incremental backups. This innovative approach ensures that only the updated files are backed up within minutes of the update, making efficient use of server resources.
For those managing small to medium-sized websites and seeking to avoid high monthly fees, we recommend the widely used Duplicator plugin.
This practice minimizes risk, ensuring that in the event of server hardware failure or a security breach, backups remain accessible. Storing backups on third-party services like Dropbox, Amazon S3, Google Drive, etc., is highly recommended. Our aim with this article is to guide you in selecting the best WordPress backup plugin for your site.
