WordPress backup plugins compared: what each one does and how to choose

A backup is a copy of the site that you can put back after a bad update, a hack, a page deleted by mistake or a failure at the host. A backup plugin makes that copy from inside WordPress, on a schedule, and sends it somewhere for safekeeping.

This page compares five backup plugins from the WordPress.org plugin directory. It does not rank them. Which one fits depends on what your host already does, how often the site changes and whether you want to pay.

What makes a backup worth having

• It is kept off the server. A copy stored on the same server as the site can be lost along with it. WordPress's own guidance is to keep copies in different places, such as the hosting server, cloud storage and your own computer.
• It holds the database and the files. A WordPress site has two parts. The database holds every post and comment and the other data the site generates. The files are WordPress itself, the themes, the plugins, your uploads, wp-config.php and .htaccess. You need both to restore a site.
• It runs on a schedule. A backup that depends on someone remembering stops being taken. WordPress suggests weekly for a small site that changes little and daily for a busy one. A store takes orders all day, so it needs more than daily.
• It can be restored, and you have seen it restore. Until then you have a file, not a backup.

How to test a restore

Make a private copy of the site first. How to set up a WordPress staging site covers that. Restore the newest backup onto the copy with the plugin's own restore screen. Do not test by restoring over the live site, because a restore replaces everything added since the backup was taken.

Then check the copy: log in, open a post from the past few days, open an image from the media library and, on a store, look for a recent order. Note how long it took. Repeat it monthly, along with the other checks in the WordPress maintenance checklist.

Find out what your host already does

Your host's own backups may already cover you. WordPress's documentation notes that most hosts back up the whole server, and that asking them for a copy of your site takes time. Look in your hosting panel or ask support:

• Where are the backups stored: on the same server as the site, or somewhere else?
• How often are they taken, and how long is each one kept?
• Do they include both the database and the files?
• Can you restore one yourself, and download one to keep?

If the answers are daily, stored elsewhere, kept for weeks and restorable by you, a plugin adds little. Download a copy from time to time so that not everything depends on one company. If any answer is no, a plugin fills the gap.

The five plugins side by side

The first four run on your own site, so your server does the work of building each backup. Jetpack's listing says its backups put no load on your server.

UpdraftPlus

UpdraftPlus backs up, restores and migrates a WordPress site. The free version backs up by hand or on a schedule: every 2, 4, 8 or 12 hours, daily, weekly, fortnightly or monthly. It sends backups to Dropbox, Google Drive, Amazon S3 or a compatible service, Rackspace Cloud, FTP, DreamObjects, OpenStack Swift or email. A restore runs from the dashboard, and you choose which parts to put back, such as the plugins, the themes or the database.

The paid version, UpdraftPlus Premium, adds incremental backups, an automatic backup before each update, database encryption, support for multisite networks and more storage choices: Microsoft OneDrive, SFTP, Microsoft Azure, WebDAV, Google Cloud, SCP, Backblaze and pCloud.

It suits a site owner who wants scheduled backups sent to a Dropbox or Google Drive account they already have, without paying.

BackWPup

BackWPup backs up the database and the files on a schedule and stores them on the server or in outside storage. The free version runs hourly, daily, weekly or monthly, and sends backups to Dropbox, FTP, Microsoft Azure, Amazon S3 and compatible storage, SugarSync or Rackspace Cloud Files. It can also be run from WP-CLI.

In the free version you restore from a backup file that you upload. BackWPup Pro restores directly from any storage destination, and adds Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, Amazon Glacier and HiDrive as destinations, along with encryption and site migration.

It suits a site that already uses Amazon S3 or Azure for storage, and an owner who does not mind downloading a backup before restoring it.

WPvivid

WPvivid combines backup, migration and staging. The free version backs up the whole site, the files alone or the database alone, by hand or on a schedule: every 12 hours, daily, weekly, fortnightly or monthly. It sends backups to Dropbox, Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, Amazon S3, DigitalOcean Spaces, FTP or SFTP, and its listing says access to all of them is free. A restore runs from the dashboard. The free version can also make a staging copy of the site in a subfolder.

The paid version, WPvivid Backup & Migration Pro, adds incremental backups, more schedule options, database encryption, multisite support, restoring directly from remote storage, and further storage providers including Wasabi, pCloud, Backblaze and WebDAV.

It suits a site owner whose storage is OneDrive, which the other two free schedulers keep for their paid versions, or one who wants a staging copy from the same plugin.

Duplicator

Duplicator packages a site so that it can be moved, cloned or restored. The free version, Duplicator Lite, makes full or database-only backups when you ask for one, encrypts them with a password if you choose, and restores one from the dashboard in a single click. It stores backups on the site's own server or in Duplicator Cloud, the company's own storage, which is sold as a plan of its own.

Duplicator Pro adds scheduled backups, outside storage such as Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, Amazon S3 and FTP or SFTP, recovery points that restore a site whose dashboard cannot be reached, and multisite support. The free version does not support multisite networks.

The free version suits taking a copy before a move or a large change. It does not run on a schedule. Download each backup you make, because a copy left on the server is lost with the server.

Jetpack VaultPress Backup

Jetpack VaultPress Backup is made by Automattic and has no free version. It needs a paid Jetpack plan that includes backups and a working Jetpack connection. It runs through the full Jetpack plugin or through the standalone backup plugin.

Backups are kept on Jetpack's servers, not in storage of your own. Jetpack backs up the site at least once a day. On plans with real-time backups it also saves a change when it is made, including WooCommerce orders and products. You can restore to a chosen point in time, and its listing says a restore works even when the site is offline.

It backs up the database, the plugins, themes and uploads folders and the files in the site's main folder. It leaves out WordPress's own core files, which Jetpack notes can be downloaded again at any time.

It suits a store, or a site that changes all day, where losing the hours since last night's backup would cost real orders. The owner has to be content to pay, and to keep the backups with the company that makes the plugin.

Which one to use when

• If your host already takes daily backups, keeps them off the server and lets you restore them yourself, you may not need a plugin. Download a copy now and then.
• If you want scheduled backups in storage you own, at no cost, choose among UpdraftPlus, BackWPup and WPvivid by the storage you have. Google Drive is free in UpdraftPlus and WPvivid. OneDrive is free in WPvivid. Azure is free in BackWPup. Dropbox and Amazon S3 are free in all three.
• If you want a copy before moving the site or making a large change, Duplicator's free version does that and restores it in one click.
• If you run a store or the site changes all day, a daily backup can miss a day of orders. Jetpack VaultPress Backup saves changes as they happen. UpdraftPlus's free schedule goes down to every 2 hours, which narrows the gap without closing it.
• If the site is large and full backups strain the server, look at incremental backups. After a first full copy they add only what has changed, so the server does not repeat the whole job each time. They are in the paid versions of UpdraftPlus and WPvivid, and in Jetpack VaultPress Backup.

Whichever you choose, restore one backup to a copy of the site before you rely on it. Take a fresh backup before every round of updates too, as how to safely update WordPress describes.

If you would rather not run backups yourself, they are part of every care plan in our WordPress backup service: a daily backup stored offsite, kept for 30 or 90 days depending on the plan, and a restore if an update breaks the site.