Best WordPress Backup Plugins Compared (2026)
The best WordPress backup plugin for most site owners in 2026 is UpdraftPlus for a reliable free option with flexible cloud storage, or BlogVault if you want automatic off-site backups with one-click restore and staging environments built in. Both are battle-tested across millions of WordPress installations. Jetpack Backup (now called Jetpack VaultPress Backup) is the best option if you want real-time backups that capture every single change as it happens.
Backups are your last line of defence against data loss. A hacked site, a failed update, a hosting disaster, or an accidental deletion can destroy months of work in seconds. Without a reliable, tested backup, recovery is somewhere between extremely difficult and completely impossible. With one, recovery takes minutes. For context on why backups matter and how they fit into a complete maintenance strategy, see our WordPress maintenance checklist.
What Makes a Good Backup Plugin
Before comparing specific plugins, here are the criteria that matter most:
Automated scheduling. Backups should run automatically on a schedule — daily at minimum for active sites. A backup system that requires you to remember to click a button is a backup system that will fail you exactly when you need it.
Off-site storage. Backups stored on the same server as your website are not real backups. If the server fails, your backups go down with your site. Good backup plugins support cloud storage — Google Drive, Dropbox, Amazon S3, or their own dedicated storage.
Complete backups. A proper backup includes your entire WordPress database (posts, pages, settings, orders, users), all WordPress files (themes, plugins, uploads, core files), and configuration files (wp-config.php, .htaccess). Some plugins back up only the database by default — verify yours captures everything.
Reliable restoration. A backup you cannot restore is worthless. The best plugins offer one-click restoration, test restore capability, and clear documentation on the restore process. Ideally, you should test a restore on a staging environment at least once to verify your backups actually work.
Incremental backups. Full backups of large sites (10+ GB) are slow and resource-intensive. Incremental backups only store the changes since the last backup, making the process faster and less taxing on your server.
UpdraftPlus — Best Free Backup Plugin
What It Does Well
UpdraftPlus is the most popular WordPress backup plugin with over 3 million active installations. The free version provides scheduled automated backups (daily, weekly, monthly), cloud storage integration with Google Drive, Dropbox, Amazon S3, Microsoft OneDrive, and FTP/SFTP, separate scheduling for database and file backups (you might want daily database backups but only weekly file backups), one-click restore from the WordPress admin dashboard, and the ability to split large backups into multiple archives for servers with upload size limits.
The free version is genuinely comprehensive — more so than many competitors’ paid tiers. For a small to medium WordPress site that needs reliable automated backups with cloud storage, UpdraftPlus Free is hard to beat.
Free vs Premium
UpdraftPlus Premium ($70/year for 2 sites) adds incremental backups (significantly faster for large sites), database encryption (important for sites storing sensitive data), automatic backup before updates (taken right before plugin or core updates), migration and cloning tools, multisite support, and priority support. The incremental backup feature alone makes Premium worth considering for sites with large media libraries or WooCommerce stores with extensive product images.
The Trade-Off
UpdraftPlus runs entirely on your server. Backup creation — compressing files, exporting the database, uploading to cloud storage — consumes CPU, memory, and bandwidth. On shared hosting with tight resource limits, large backups can time out or fail. The plugin handles this reasonably well by splitting backups into chunks, but very large sites (20+ GB) on budget hosting may experience reliability issues. BlogVault’s off-site approach (covered next) avoids this problem entirely.
Who Should Use It
Site owners who want a reliable free backup solution with flexible cloud storage options. Small to medium sites where server resources are not a constraint. Budget-conscious site owners who need automated backups without a monthly subscription.
BlogVault — Best for Reliability and Ease of Use
What It Does Well
BlogVault’s key differentiator is that backups are created and stored entirely on BlogVault’s own servers — not on yours. BlogVault syncs your WordPress files and database to its cloud infrastructure, where the actual backup processing happens. This means zero performance impact on your WordPress site during backups, no risk of backup failures due to server resource limits, and backups that work reliably even on the most restrictive shared hosting plans.
BlogVault includes automated daily backups with 90-day storage, incremental backups (only changed files are synced after the initial full backup), one-click restore that works from BlogVault’s dashboard even if your WordPress admin is inaccessible, built-in staging environments (create a staging copy of your site with one click — useful for testing updates before applying them to production), real-time backups on higher-tier plans (every change is captured as it happens), integrated malware scanning, and migration tools for moving your site between hosts.
Pricing
BlogVault starts at $89/year for a single site with daily backups. The Plus plan ($149/year) adds real-time backups and malware scanning. There is no free version, but there is a free trial.
The Trade-Off
BlogVault is a SaaS product — your site’s data is synced to BlogVault’s servers. For most site owners, this is fine and arguably more secure than storing backups on a personal Google Drive account. But for sites with strict data residency requirements or privacy concerns about third-party data processing, this model may not be appropriate. BlogVault addresses this in their privacy policy and offers GDPR-compliant data handling, but it is worth considering for sensitive applications.
Also, BlogVault requires an ongoing subscription. If you cancel, you lose access to your backup history. UpdraftPlus backups in your own cloud storage remain accessible regardless of whether you continue using the plugin.
Who Should Use It
Business sites and WooCommerce stores where backup reliability is non-negotiable. Sites on shared hosting where server-side backup processing is unreliable. Site owners who want staging environments and migration tools bundled with their backup solution.
Jetpack VaultPress Backup — Best for Real-Time Backups
What It Does Well
Jetpack Backup (part of the Jetpack suite by Automattic, the company behind WordPress.com) provides real-time backups — every change to your site is backed up as it happens. Every post edit, every comment, every WooCommerce order, every plugin setting change is captured within seconds. This means you can restore your site to any specific moment in time, not just to the last daily backup.
For WooCommerce stores, real-time backups are particularly valuable. If your store processes 50 orders between your daily backup at 2 AM and a server crash at 4 PM, a daily backup loses those 50 orders. Jetpack’s real-time backup loses nothing — you restore to 3:59 PM and every order is preserved.
Jetpack Backup also includes an activity log that shows you exactly what changed and when (who published what, which plugins were updated, which settings were modified), the ability to restore individual items (a single post, a single database table) without restoring the entire site, off-site storage on Jetpack’s cloud infrastructure, and one-click restore from the Jetpack dashboard.
Pricing
Jetpack VaultPress Backup starts at $4.95/month (billed yearly) for the backup-only plan. The Jetpack Security plan ($9.95/month) bundles backups with malware scanning and brute force protection. The full Jetpack Complete plan ($24.95/month) adds everything Jetpack offers.
The Trade-Off
Jetpack Backup is tied to the Jetpack ecosystem. You need a WordPress.com account, and the plugin connects your site to WordPress.com’s infrastructure. Some site owners prefer to avoid this dependency. Also, Jetpack as a whole is a large plugin that bundles many features — if you only need backups, the Jetpack plugin adds more overhead than a dedicated backup plugin. However, the standalone Jetpack VaultPress Backup plugin (without the full Jetpack suite) is available for a lighter installation.
Storage limits apply to backup retention. The basic plan retains 30 days of backups. Older backups are automatically deleted.
Who Should Use It
WooCommerce stores where losing even a few hours of orders or customer data is unacceptable. High-activity sites (many authors, frequent updates, active communities) where daily backups leave too large a window of potential data loss. Sites that want point-in-time recovery capability.
Other Notable Options
Jepack’s Competitors
BackWPup (Free) — A solid free alternative to UpdraftPlus. Supports scheduled backups to Dropbox, S3, Google Drive, and FTP. The free version includes database optimization and XML export. Less polished than UpdraftPlus but a reliable option.
Duplicator (Free and Pro) — Primarily known as a migration tool, Duplicator Pro also provides scheduled backup functionality with cloud storage support. If you need both backup and migration capabilities in one plugin, Duplicator Pro is worth considering.
Which Backup Plugin Should You Choose?
You want a reliable free solution: UpdraftPlus Free. Schedule daily database backups and weekly file backups to Google Drive or Dropbox. Test a restore once to verify it works.
You want maximum reliability without managing anything: BlogVault. Off-site processing means backups never fail due to server limitations. One-click restore works even when your WordPress admin is down.
You run a WooCommerce store or high-activity site: Jetpack VaultPress Backup. Real-time backups mean you never lose more than seconds of data.
You want your maintenance team to handle it: Our WordPress backup service is included in every care plan. We manage automated daily backups with off-site storage, 30–120 day retention depending on your plan, verified restoration capability, and 24/7 monitoring to catch backup failures before they matter.
Backup Best Practices (Regardless of Plugin)
Automate everything. Manual backups are backups you will forget. Set a schedule and let the plugin handle it.
Store off-site. Never rely on backups stored on the same server as your website. Use cloud storage or a service like BlogVault that stores backups on its own infrastructure.
Test your restores. At least once per quarter, restore a backup to a staging or local environment and verify that the restored site works correctly. A backup you have never tested restoring is a backup you cannot trust. Read our guide on setting up a staging site.
Keep adequate retention. Some problems are not discovered immediately — a malware infection that went undetected for weeks, a database corruption that happened gradually. Keep at least 30 days of backups. For business-critical sites, 90+ days is recommended.
Back up before every update. Before updating WordPress core, plugins, or themes, ensure a fresh backup exists. If the update breaks your site, you can restore within minutes. Read our safe update guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use two backup plugins at the same time?
Technically yes, but it is usually unnecessary and wastes server resources. One well-configured backup plugin with off-site storage is sufficient. The exception is if you want a belt-and-suspenders approach — for example, UpdraftPlus sending daily backups to Google Drive while your hosting provider’s built-in backup runs separately. Just ensure both are not scheduled at the same time to avoid server resource conflicts.
How much storage do WordPress backups need?
A typical WordPress site (500 posts, 2 GB of media files, standard plugins) generates backups of approximately 2–3 GB. A WooCommerce store with thousands of products and images might be 5–20 GB. With daily backups and 30-day retention, you need approximately 30× the size of a single backup in cloud storage — so 60–90 GB for a typical site, or 150–600 GB for a large WooCommerce store. Google Drive’s free tier (15 GB) is sufficient for small sites. Larger sites may need a paid cloud storage plan.
My hosting provider includes automatic backups. Do I still need a backup plugin?
We recommend supplementing hosting backups with your own. Hosting provider backups vary in reliability, retention, and restoration speed. Some hosts only keep 7-day backups. Some do not include easy restore tools. Some charge extra for restorations. Having your own independent backup — in storage you control — means you are never dependent solely on your host.
What is the difference between full and incremental backups?
A full backup copies everything — database, all files, all media — every time it runs. An incremental backup copies only what has changed since the last backup. Incremental backups are faster, use less storage, and put less strain on your server. After the first full backup, subsequent incremental backups for a typical site might be only 50–200 MB instead of 2–3 GB. Most premium backup plugins support incremental backups.
Need Expert Help? Let WP Ministry Handle It
Backup configuration is one thing. Backup monitoring — ensuring backups actually run successfully every day, that storage is not full, that retention policies are maintained, and that restores actually work when needed — is another. Our backup service handles all of it as part of every care plan, starting at $35/month.
View our care plans → or call (901) 249-0909.
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