It’s important to back up your website before a crisis occurs. Backups come in many forms, from full site downloads to smaller incremental backups. Your backup needs will depend on what kind of site you own and how frequently your data changes.
Below, we’ll dive into some popular plugin options and discuss their ideal use cases.
Editor’s note: WordPress.com websites on the Business plan and above include built-in backups via Jetpack VaultPress Backup at no extra charge.
If you are a WordPress.com user and you’re interested in other third-party plugins, you can install them from the plugin library. All plugins listed in this article are compatible with WordPress.com, but you may find backup plugins that are not compatible; see all incompatible plugins here.
What exactly is a backup plugin?
Backup plugins are additional software you can install through the WordPress Plugin library to create backup copies of your site template and data. If something goes wrong with your website, you can restore it using these backup files.
Backup plugins are critical if you “break” your site, which can happen when installing a new plugin, updating WordPress core software, or changing your site template or styling. If things go awry, a backup makes it easy to revert your site to an earlier (working) version.
Backups are also useful when migrating your WordPress site from one hosting provider to another — a full site backup transfers all of your site code and content in one go.
10 WordPress backup plugin options for all use cases
Once you’ve answered the questions above, you can start to evaluate different plugin options. Below are our top plugin picks with recommended use cases.
1. For easy, real-time backups: Jetpack VaultPress
Jetpack VaultPress offers real-time backups at an unbeatable price. VaultPress is a great choice for sites that need regular, reliable updates, like e-commerce stores, online businesses, news organizations, and online communities. It’s included with all WordPress.com websites on the Business plan and above; if you’re a WordPress.com user, you can learn more about it here.
Price: Included with WordPress.com on the Business plan and above at no extra charge; $59.40 for the first year for other hosts
User friendliness: There is no configuration required for VaultPress, and you can restore previous versions of your website in the WordPress admin with just one click.
Backup configuration: VaultPress will automatically create a full site backup (including WooCommerce databases) upon installation, and continues to create real-time, incremental backups every time you edit your site. Backups are stored on a secure network of servers around the globe.
Performance: The incremental backup system means that Jetpack doesn’t require many server resources, and a distributed network of servers ensures backups are always available. For multi-site installations, each website needs its own Jetpack installation.
User review: The ability to restore to automatically-created restore points is invaluable. Every time you hit the save or publish button, a restore point is created. This makes it easy to restore to a point, say, just before the last page you updated. This is much more flexible than just restoring a previous full backup. Highly recommended! –@bobfalk
2. For free, local backups: Backup Migration
Small sites looking for affordable, easy-to-use backups created daily, weekly, or monthly will love Backup Migration’s free tool and competitive annual pricing for their paid personal and commercial plugin, Backup Bliss.
Price: Free, up to 4GB of storage; Backup Bliss less than $40 a year (non-commercial sites) or $60/year (commercial sites)
User friendliness: Backup Migration does a good job of walking users through setup with accessible language that avoids technical lingo. It also offers one-click restore.
Backup configuration: You can set your backup frequency to hourly, daily, or weekly, and choose which parts of your site to back up, with advanced rules and triggers on premium plans. Backup Migration’s free tool focuses on local backups and does not offer cloud backups, though they recently started offering cloud backups on paid plans.
Performance: Depending on whether you choose to back up your full site or only a partial backup, server performance may be reduced during the backup period.
User review: I gave this a go and it worked flawlessly and restored my site to the exact condition it was prior. While I can do server backups it’s good to have one of your entire WP site just in case. In my case, I changed servers, so this helped. –@uniqf0x
3. For fast-scaling websites: UpdraftPlus
UpdraftPlus offers a solid, free backup plan that allows users to create backups as frequently as every two hours. We like that Updraft offers incremental backups to paid users, which is a great upgrade as your site grows.
Price: Free; $70/year for Personal (up to two sites) or $95/year for Business (up to 10 sites)
User friendliness: Updraft Plus tries to compensate for a busy and complicated user interface with tooltips that point non-technical users to the right buttons and settings. Logging into cloud-based storage systems with Updraft and finalizing backup locations can be unintuitive, but the restore process is fairly simple and only requires a few clicks.
Backup configuration: Users on every level, including the free tier, can automatically back up their site as frequently as every two hours. Paid plans also enable you to utilize incremental backups on a separate schedule and back up database content. While free users can only backup to one location, they can save to popular services like Google Drive, Dropbox, and Amazon S3. Paid users have additional location options, like Microsoft OneDrive and Google Cloud.
Performance: Full backups, the only option on the free plan, can strain server resources and slow down your site. Paid plans benefit from less intensive incremental backups, which only back up the changed sections, leaving more resources available for site traffic. Encryption and premium support are only available on paid plans. Multi-sites are also supported on the paid plans.
User review: I maintain other people’s websites for a living, and when I get a new client, I always install Updraft if it’s not already there. It is, far and away, the most no-nonsense, reliable, powerful backup solution for a WordPress site that is out there. A lot of hosting services provide backups, but almost none of them will bring a site back as quickly as you can with a click or two in Updraft… – @cmkl
4. For a one-time site migration: All-in-One WP Migration
All-in-One is our favorite tool for full-site migrations from one web host to another. It’s also an option for ongoing backups.
Price: Free up to 128MB; $69+ for larger sites and cloud extensions
User friendliness: We love All-In-One for its one-click export and import options, which make it easy for any user to download and move their site from one host to another. Just be sure to download the plugin on both sites.
Backup configuration: All-In-One creates full site backups for site migration. By default, backups are stored locally to your computer or hard drive, but you can purchase extensions to send the backups to popular cloud storage services like Dropbox, GDrive, and Amazon S3 (for $99).
Performance: Because All-In-One creates a full site backup for local download, it may temporarily slow down your website. Premium extensions come with dedicated support.
User review: I haven’t found anything better for backing up your entire WordPress yet. – @milan574
5. For multi-site backups: ManageWP Backups
If you manage multiple websites, you may benefit from ManageWP’s separate multi-site dashboard, where you can review and restore all of your sites from one place. However, ManageWP only runs backups at most every hour, which can lead to data loss on extremely active sites.
Price: ManageWP pricing is based on the number of websites you manage. Backup add-ons are $2/month for each website and $75/month for 100 bundled websites.
User friendliness: ManageWP offers a separate dashboard on its website for multi-site management.
Backup configuration: ManageWP allows individual site backups and backups for a whole multi-site network. It offers hourly, incremental backups stored in US/EU-approved cloud storage or locally (for paid plans only).
Performance: ManageWP’s incremental backups reduce server load because less data needs to be saved on each update. Additionally, ManageWP claims that 95% of the backups are done on their servers to reduce server load. ManageWP backups are automatically encrypted.
User review: We use ManageWP as a simple dashboard to oversee all our companies websites. Currently it is only being used by our web development department as an easy interface to login to our websites (as it bypasses 2FA requirements), update our websites plugins & themes, and watch or any issues on our sites. –Darian Chaffart
6. For staging backups: WPVivid Backup and Migration
If you want to use your existing website while working on a new version of the site behind the scenes, you’ll need to use a staging website. Like a live website, it’s important to create backups for staging sites to avoid any data loss. WPVivid is a great tool for managing staging site backups.
Price: Free; $49+/year
User friendliness: WPVivid has an easy-to-use staging environment built into your WordPress dashboard, making it easy to back up and migrate staging sites. However, if you want to push your staging site live, you’ll need to upgrade to the paid version.
Backup configuration: The free plan includes monthly scheduled backups saved to popular cloud services, while the paid version offers incremental backups and additional cloud options. If you are actively working on your staging site and making frequent updates, you may want to opt for the more robust incremental updates. WPVivid also allows you to make multiple cloud-based backups on the paid plan.
Performance: Because WPVivid backups are stored on your server, this can impact server speed during your backup period. Encryption is available on paid plans, but must be configured in your settings.
User review: I really appreciate that, when my website homepage turned up inexplicably broken today, the restore process — including the instructions (since I’d never had to do a WPVivid restore before) … simply worked perfectly. – @jrgeek
7. For tried-and-true results: Solid Backups (formerly Backup Buddy)
Solid Backups is one of the oldest backup plugins still in use today and maintains a solid reputation. It is one of the most expensive options on this list, but you are paying for a reliable and established tool with a robust feature set.
Price: $99+/year
User friendliness: Solid Backups is feature-rich, which may be overwhelming for first-time users. If offers good walkthroughs and documentation on both setup and restore processes, but there is no one-click option for restores — you have to run a separate script called ImportBuddy to retrieve a backup.
Backup configuration: Solid Backups is highly customizable in terms of backup storage frequency and backup location. In addition to other popular storage options, it offers a proprietary storage option called Stash Live. Incremental backups are also available.
Performance: Thanks to its incremental backup feature, Solid Backups is less resource-intensive than some other options after the initial full-site backup. All backups are encrypted with SSL and password encryption.
User review: When trying to restore a client’s website, I learned that SolidWP’s legacy backup product, Backup Buddy, has been replaced by a more reliable one. As a non-technical, 14-year subscriber to the original product, that caused tremendous complications. (OK, so I was panicked.) The committed customer service techs held my hand with step-by-step instructions in personalized videos and helped me accomplish the mission within about three days. –William Alexander
How often should I back up my site?
You should run backups whenever you change your website’s design or content. If you have a backend customer database or e-commerce store, that information should also be backed up.
Some websites, like informational websites for small businesses, rarely change and don’t need frequent backups. Sites with regular content additions, like blogs, need backups when new content is added.
Busy e-commerce sites and community websites can benefit from automated, real-time backups to ensure every order and comment is accounted for.
Do I need a backup plugin if my hosting provider includes 30-day backups?
A common rule of thumb is the 3-2-1 rule: three copies of your data stored in two different storage locations (like a local computer and a hard drive) and one “offsite” copy at another physical location or on the cloud. Your hosting provider counts as one of your three copies, but we highly recommend a dedicated backup tool for your website.
Considerations when choosing a backup plugin
There are a variety of backup plugins available, ranging from free, basic plugins to robust subscription plans. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to backup plugins, but you should consider:
- User friendliness
- Backup configuration
- Performance
The number of its active users and its last update date are good indicators of whether the plugin is reliable and being maintained.
User friendliness
Investigate how easy it will be to use your backups when you need them. Some backup plugins work within the WordPress interface, while others require a separate platform. While flexibility benefits advanced users, it can create unnecessary confusion for everyday users.
Key considerations include:
- Setup process: Do you need to configure your backup schedule or storage locations before you can start backing up your website?
- Restore processes: Some plugins have one-click options while others use wizards that walk you through more complex restore processes.
- Support: Check when the plugin was last updated and whether their team has an active and helpful support option available for users.
Backup configuration
There are different types of backups and storage locations available. Not every site needs complex backup configurations, so consider what factors are necessary for your site.
Things to look for:
- Frequency: More frequent backups are useful when your site changes frequently, but they can also slow your site down and require a lot of file storage.
- Automation: Some backups happen automatically, while others must be manually started. Manual tools are generally cheaper and may be sufficient for sites that don’t have frequent updates.
- Storage locations: Consider storing multiple copies of your data in different locations, such as locally on your computer, on an external hard drive, or in the cloud.
- Backup types: Consider what data gets updated regularly. Full-site backups take longer and require more storage. Some plugins solve this problem by allowing you to manually select the content to back up, or use “incremental” backups that only save the changed component.
- Backup content: What site content is included in your backup? If you have backend databases, ensure your plugin supports backups of that data.
Performance
Backups can impact server capacity and site speed. If your backups are stored directly on your server and you create frequent backups, this could take up a significant amount of bandwidth and slow down your website.
Other things to be aware of include:
- Compatibility: Some plugins are optimized for specific hosting providers, or are incompatible with a host because they offer identical functionality to built-in tools. If you have multiple sites to back up, look for a plugin that supports multisite backups.
- Security: Does your site store sensitive data, like customer information? If so, you want to ensure your backups are encrypted. You can also check WordFence to evaluate your plugin for any vulnerabilities.
Get JetPack VaultPress with WordPress
If you’re interested in getting real-time site updates with Jetpack VaultPress, consider hosting your website with WordPress.com. Since WordPress’ parent brand Automattic also owns Jetpack, many Jetpack security features — like spam protection, site activity logs, and automatic updates — are included on all WordPress plans (including the free ones). VaultPress and one-click restores are included on the Business plan and above.
At just $25/month, WordPress Business plans offer exceptional bundled value with built-in backup features and more. Plus, you don’t have to download or install anything additional — Jetpack plugins are pre-integrated in our software.
The best backup strategy starts with the right host
If you’re ready for top-of-the-line backup features, you can get started building (and backing up) your website today with WordPress.com.
