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10 Best WordPress Backup Plugins

A security plugin protects your WordPress site from hackers. A backup plugin helps you to effortlessly restore it when your site eventually gets hacked or is experiencing other issues caused by miss-configuration, unsuccessful theme or plugin updates, and so on. Most web hosting providers actually offer a default backup feature, but you should not rely on a single resource when it comes to website backup. If your web hosting provider unexpectedly is experiencing a server crash and all the data is gone, then you are done.

If you have the backup of your website on another location, you can easily restore it. No need to feel an ongoing sadness.

There are at least 5 crucial things you need to notice when looking for a WordPress plugin:

  • Backup scheduling feature.
  • Incremental backups feature. This feature allows you to only backup changes to your files that have been made to your site since the last backup.
  • Remote storage options.
  • Restoring feature.
  • Technical support.

Best WordPress Backup Plugins

To narrow down your choices, we have compiled the best, most-used WordPress backup plugins.

1. UpdraftPlus

UpdraftPlus is one of the most popular WordPress backup plugins with over 3 million active users. It is the best option if you are looking for a backup plugin that offers multiple storage locations. You can save your backup files to popular cloud storage services like Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive. If you have an FTP server, you can also configure UpdraftPlus to send the backup files to your FTP server. UpdraftPlus also offers its own remote storage you can opt to. There are 4 components you can back up:

  • WordPress database
  • WordPress core files
  • WordPress themes
  • WordPress plugins

UpdraftPlus allows you to either run a manual backup or automated backup. When setting an automated backup, you can set the schedule whether daily, weekly, or monthly. UpdraftPlus comes with all features we mentioned on the intro section, including incremental backups, more backup schedule options, importer, WP CLI, and so on. However, you need to upgrade to pro to unlock those features.

2. Backuply

If you use a cPanal-based WordPress hosting, chances are you already know about Softaculous. It is the tool you used to install your WordPress website. Backuply is a product from Softaculous. It is a WordPress plugin aimed at making it easy for you to backup your WordPress website. With the tool, you can backup your website manually without logging to your hosting provider. You can use Backuply to backup both your WordPress files and database. Before backing up, you can specify a folder where the backup files to be stored.

Automated backup feature is available on the pro version of Backuply. Also, you can save your storage space by sending the backup files to an external storage. Backuply offers a cloud storage service to store your backup files. Or you can also send the backup files to popular storage services like Dropbox, Amazon S3, Google Drive, to OneDrive,

3. BackupBuddy

BackupBuddy is a backup plugin developed by the same company as iThemes Security, one of the popular WordPress security plugins. You can use BackupBuddy to backup your WordPress database, WordPress core files, and other components you can set yourself. The backup scheduler offered by this plugin also allows you to set automated backup whether daily, weekly, or monthly. You can select multiple backup locations. From Amazon S3, Google Drive, Dropbox, and so on.

BackupBuddy also offers its own storage location called BackupBuddy Stash. Features like the ability to restore your site and email notifications for backup activities area avilable. Unlike UpdraftPlus, BackupBuddy is released as a paid plugin.

4. BlogVault

It’s more precise to call BlogVault a backup service instead of a backup plugin. The plugin offered by BlogVault is only used to connect your WordPress site with your BlogVault account. Your WordPress files, as well as the database, will be synced to the BlogVault cloud storage. You can restore them to your website via FTP when you need them. BlogVault is a paid service. You are given a 7-day trial period to evaluate it.

5. BackupGuard

BackupGuard is pretty similar to UpdraftPlus. You can use it for free to backup your website. You can either run a manual backup or scheduled, automated backup with this plugin. One thing. By default, the backup files are stored to your server (path: wp-content/uploads/backup-guard). So, if your hosting plan has a limited storage space, BackupGuard is not the best option. If you want to, you can send the backup files to Dropbox (this feature is available for free). To get more backup location options, you can upgrade to the pro version.

With the pro version of BackupGuard, you can select storage locations other than Dropbox. From Google Drive, Amazon S3, and OneDrive. If you have an FTP server, you can also configure BackupGuard to send the backup files to your FTP server. Other key features offered by the pro version of BackupGuard include:

  • Site migration
  • Email notifications
  • Multiple scheduled backups

6. VaultPress

VaultPress is one of the products from Automattic, the company behind WordPress.com, Jetpack, WooCommerce, and several other popular WordPress products. The concept of VaultPress is the same as BlogVault. It is more precise to be called a backup service instead of a backup plugin. The VaultPress plugin plays a role only to connect your WordPress site with your VaultPress account. VaultPress is a paid service. It can be a great option if you are looking for a real-time backup solution. There is also a migration feature offered by the service as well.

7. BackWPup

BackWPup is one of the best free WordPress backup plugins (a pro version is also available with more advanced features). The free version of BackWPup offers plenty enough features. First, you can run a manual backup. When running a manual backup, you can set which files you want to include. Whether database only, WordPress core files only, plugin files only, or all of them. You can also export your content only into an XML file. Second, you can also run scheduled, automated backups. BackWPup offers two methods to set scheduled backups: using WordPress cron or EasyCron.com.

The free version of BackWPup also allows offers several storage destinations. From Dropbox, Amazon S3, FTP, to Microsoft Azure. You can also directly sent the backup files to your email. Advanced features like file encryption, restoration, and the ability to send backup files to Google Drive are available on BackWPup Pro.

8. Duplicator

Duplicator is another popular WordPress backup plugin with over 1 million active users according to the stat on the WordPress plugin directory. You can use Duplicator for free, but with limited enough features. You can only store the backup files to your own server, which is not good if you have a limited storage hosting plan. The option to send the backup files to a cloud storage service (Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, and Amazon S3) is only available on the Duplicator Pro.

9. WP Time Capsule

WP Time Capsule is a paid WordPress backup plugin. You can try it for free during the offered 30-day trial period. There are four storage options you can choose to store your backup files: Dropbox, Google Drive, Wasabi, and Amazon S3. If you are looking for a backup plugin with an incremental backup feature, WP Time Capsule is one of the plugins you can use. WP Time Capsule backs up your website in real-time. You don’t need to create any backup schedules as any change in your website’s files or database will trigger a backup. WP Time Capsule also offers a feature to restore your website.

10. WPVivid

WPVivid is another WordPress backup plugin that has an incremental backup feature, but the feature is only available on the pro version. Yes, WPVivid is a freemium plugin. The free version of the plugin comes with plenty enough features, including the options to store the backup files to cloud storage services like Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, and Amazon S3. You can also configure the plugin to store the backup files to your FTP service in you have one.

You can use WPVivid to backup your WordPress database as well as the core files. Also, you can also export the content only (posts or pages). Some features offered by WPVivid Pro are encrypted database, custom tables for database migration, themes backup, plugin backup, site restoration, and so on.

The Bottom Line

Regularly backing up your website is crucial because when there is a serious issue with your website — like hacker attack or server crash — you can easily get your site back by restoring it using the existing backup files. While most hosting providers offer a default backup feature, you need a backup plugin to store the backup files to another location. This is the best practice to backup your site. Your asset.

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Picture of Aliko Sunawang

Aliko Sunawang

Aliko is a WordPress expert and lead blogger at WPPagebuilders. He has been blogging with WordPress since 2013. He is responsible of all content published on this website. Learn more
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