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You have a WordPress-powered website like 43 percent of the internet, how do you keep it safe and working at all times? You regularly update your WordPress core and themes/plugins, you only install trusted themes and plugins. These are good safety practices but the big question is, is it good enough?
Security practices are essential to protect your site, but it is vulnerable to hackers that could steal your data. Moreover, an honest coding mistake can cause mayhem on your website. This is where a proper backup can make a world of difference. In this article, we have some of the best WordPress backup plugins that you can use to create a copy of your data and save it for times that ask for a quick restore.
Choosing the Best WordPress Backup Plugins
Today, the market is flooded with backup plugins but what separates a good one from a great one? Here’s what you should look for in a great WordPress backup plugin:
Total website backup: A great backup plugin must save your website database and files. While it may sound generic for a plugin, a few plugins that don’t offer this feature. So, before choosing a plugin, ensure that it saves your website database and files completely.
Incremental backups: While your site is backing up, your server can go through a heavy load. It can slow your website down significantly. However, when a plugin is equipped with incremental technology, the plugin breaks your website down into small blocks to make a duplicate copy of your website, putting less load on your server.
Safe storage: The function of a backup is to safely store all your sensitive information. Therefore, you need to safeguard this backup with encryption and store it in a secure location. Ensure that your plugin offers auto encryption and several storage locations.
Offsite storage: A few plugins store your backup data in your website’s server. In this scenario, if the server crashes, both your backup and your website go down. Therefore, a plugin that offers offsite or local storage is a must.
Scheduled backups: To save the latest changes on a regular interval, scheduling your backups that run automatically are important. These plugins will automatically and regularly take backups.
Real-Time backups: While running an online store, real-time backups are essential. This ensures that the orders placed are immediately stored so that you don’t lose information regarding the transaction. A great backup plugin will include the change rather than running an entire backup regularly.
Responsive support: While backing up, you will often contact the plugin’s support team if you face any issues with backup, setup, and data restoration. Ensure that your plugin has a dependable support team.
Considering these factors, we have compiled a list of five best WordPress backup plugins available today.
The Best WordPress Backup Plugins
1. UpdraftPlus
Released back in 2010 by Paul Kehrer, UpdraftPlus is one of the best WordPress backup plugins available as of today. It is used by over 3 million WordPress sites and is one of the most well-known backup solutions for WordPress. The free version of the plugin offers manual as well as scheduled backups for your site, which includes databases, files, plugins, and themes. For this reason, it is a great solution for beginners. However, as your website flourishes more and more, you might need to improve the core functionalities by using the premium version.
UpdraftPlus Premium offers incremental backups stored at multiple remote locations. It even backs up your website automatically prior to running any updates. The restoration of your site is even easier and can be done with minimal technical know-how. To put the cherry on the cake, it supports various cloud storage options such as Google Drive, Amazon S3, and Dropbox. It even offers encryption to protect your database safely. You can password-protect UpdraftPlus to manage who can access your backups.
Salient features
- Schedule incremental backups or perform them manually
- Various addons to increase functionality
- Cloning and migration
- Secure storage options
- Use the control panel to restore backups
The basic version of UpdraftPlus is free and the premium plans start from $42 a year.
2. BackupBuddy
Launched in 2010, BasckupBuddy has a user base of nearly half a million. You can backup your entire website with just a few clicks. It helps you schedule automatic backups, secure your backup files on remote locations, and quickly restore your files. One of BackupBuddy’s unique features is to repair and optimize your database. Whenever you buy a plugin, you will receive 1GB of fresh Stash Live storage. If you have a Gold plan, you will get 5BG. The Stash Live perpetually takes a backup of your database changes. If you post something new or modify an old post, it will make the necessary backups.
Salient features
- Customize backup content
- Easy restore process
- Cloning and staging
- WordPress files and Database backup
- Scheduled automatic backups
- Secures the backup storage office and offers download options
- Real-time backup
- Supports migration to a new host, URL, or domain.
This plugin will cost $80 a year for a site license of a single site and 1GB Stage storage.
3. Jetpack Backups
If you want to automatically backup your site, then Jetpack Backups is the right alternative for you. If you make changes to your website then Jetpack Backups automatically saves them. In the event of a website crash, you can easily restore the latest version of your website with a single click. One of the best features of this plugin is with the Jetpack Backups app, you can restore your website from any location.
After the restoration, if you don’t like the changes on your site, you can revert to the earlier version. With the activity log, you can find out which actions were taken and when. With this, you can stay on top of the changes made to the site.
If you have a WooCommerce site, Jetpack Backups is the best option as it can restore your website to any specific date all while keeping your order and products intact.
Salient features
- Unlimited backup archive
- Best in class customer support
- Total website backup and supports incremental technology
- WooCommerce customer and order data support
- Website restoration with a mobile or a desktop app
- Automated and real-time backups
- Supports restoration even for an offline website
- Stores data on various offsite servers.
If billed annually, the backup plans start from $4.77 a month. For the complete Jetpack suit, you have to pay $47.97 a month (billed annually)
4. WP Time Capsule
If you are looking for a solution that can take a backup of only your recent files and not your entire WordPress website, then WP Time Capsule is the best solution for you. WP Time Capsule doesn’t compress and zip the backup files and hence takes fewer server resources. You can seamlessly backup your website on sites such as Dropbox, Google Drive, or Amazon S3.
Just register on WP Time Capsule to get started and then install the free plugin followed by connecting the cloud app with the plugin to backup your files on the location of your choice. Once the complete backup is done, you can schedule a backup for recently made changes to the files.
Salient features
- Real-time backups
- Single click restore
- One time installation process
- Automatic backups even for the changes/edits
- Comes with incremental technology
- Offsite storage to your preferred location
- Supports a staging site to test the changes
There is a 30 day free trial and after that, if you wish to continue with the paid plan, you have to pay $49 a year. One-time payments start at $149.
5. BackWPUp
It is an all-in-one solution and one of the best WordPress backup plugins that offer powerful features. A lite version of the plugin is available but offers limited access to the features. With the premium version, you can encrypt and store your backups to various locations such as Amazon Glacier, Google Drive, among others. It is a great choice for beginners as it comes with an automatic backup and restore feature.
Salient features
- Backup at multiple locations
- Supports synchronization of files on remote backup
- A dedicated app for urgent restores
- Best-in-class customer support
The basic version is free but the Pro version costs $69 a year and it is renewed at $39, which is affordable for all.
To Summarize
All the mentioned plugins are some of the best WordPress backup plugins available in the market today. However, UpdraftPlus stands out from the crowd as it offers all the required features, right off the bat. Even the free version offers a plethora of features making it ideal for beginners.
