Best Backup Plugins for WordPress (2026)
A WordPress backup plugin is the insurance policy every website owner needs but hopes to never use. When a plugin update breaks your site, a hack corrupts your database, or your hosting provider loses data, a reliable backup is the difference between a minor inconvenience and a catastrophic loss. Without one, you could lose months or years of content, customer data, and business history in an instant.
We tested five popular WordPress backup plugins by running full backups, testing incremental backups, simulating disasters, and performing restores. Our evaluation focused on what matters when things go wrong: can you actually restore your site quickly and completely when you need to?
For a broader security strategy that includes backups, see our WordPress security hardening guide. For backup planning beyond just WordPress, our guide on backup strategy for small businesses covers the full picture. And for ongoing site management, check out our guide on how to manage and update WordPress.
What We Evaluated
We assessed each plugin across five categories:
- Backup reliability. Does the plugin create complete, verified backups every time?
- Restore success. Can you restore a full site from backup quickly and without errors?
- Storage options. Where can backups be stored (cloud services, remote servers, local)?
- Scheduling and automation. Can you set up automated backup schedules with appropriate frequency?
- Pricing. What does it actually cost for the backup protection a small business site needs?
Quick Comparison Table
| Feature | UpdraftPlus | BlogVault | Jetpack Backup | BackupBuddy | WPvivid | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | Starting Price | Free/$70/yr | $89/yr | $5/mo ($60/yr) | $99/yr | Free/$49/yr | | Free Plan | Yes (manual backups) | No (7-day trial) | No | No | Yes (basic backups) | | Backup Type | Full + incremental | Incremental (off-site) | Real-time incremental | Full + scheduled | Full + incremental | | Cloud Storage | Google Drive, Dropbox, S3, + more | BlogVault servers | Jetpack cloud | BackupBuddy Stash, S3, + more | Google Drive, S3, Dropbox, + more | | Included Storage | None (use your own) | Unlimited on BlogVault servers | Unlimited on Jetpack cloud | 1 GB Stash, use your own | None (use your own) | | One-Click Restore | Yes | Yes (best) | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Site Migration | Yes (paid) | Yes (included) | No | Yes (included) | Yes (free) | | Staging Site | No | Yes | Yes (with Jetpack) | No | Yes (free) | | Multisite Support | Yes (paid) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes (paid) | | Best For | Most WordPress sites | Managed backup service | Jetpack ecosystem | iThemes users | Budget backup needs |
UpdraftPlus: Best Free WordPress Backup Plugin
UpdraftPlus is the most popular WordPress backup plugin, with over 3 million active installations. The free version provides genuine, functional backup and restore capabilities that cover the essential needs of most small business WordPress sites. For the cost of nothing, you get scheduled backups to cloud storage and one-click restore.
The backup process is straightforward. Choose what to back up (files, database, or both), select your storage destination, and click "Backup Now." The plugin handles the rest, creating a complete backup of your WordPress installation. Scheduled backups can run as frequently as every two hours on paid plans, or manually on the free version. The free version also supports basic scheduling, though with fewer frequency options.
Cloud storage options on the free plan include Google Drive, Dropbox, Amazon S3, Rackspace Cloud, and email. This is the most generous free cloud storage support of any backup plugin. Storing backups off-site (away from your web server) is critical, because a server failure that takes down your site will also destroy any backups stored on the same server.
The restore process works well. You select the backup you want to restore, choose which components to restore (files, database, plugins, themes, uploads), and click restore. During our testing, restores completed successfully every time on standard WordPress installations. The process took between 5 and 20 minutes depending on site size.
The premium version ($70/year for the Personal plan) adds incremental backups, more scheduling options, encrypted database backups, automatic backup before updates, and multisite support. The Business plan ($95/year) adds site migration, multiple storage destinations, and priority support.
Where UpdraftPlus shows its age is in the interface. The settings page is dense and can feel overwhelming for users who are not familiar with backup terminology. The reporting dashboard is functional but not visually appealing. These are cosmetic concerns, though. What matters is that backups run reliably and restores work, and UpdraftPlus delivers on both counts.
Pros
- Best free backup plugin with real functionality
- Most cloud storage options on the free plan
- Reliable backup and restore process
- 3+ million active installations (proven reliability)
- Scheduled and manual backup options
Cons
- Interface is dense and dated
- Incremental backups require premium
- Free version scheduling is limited
- No included cloud storage (must provide your own)
- Site migration requires premium
BlogVault: Best Managed Backup Service
BlogVault takes a fundamentally different approach than other plugins on this list. Instead of running the backup process on your WordPress server (which consumes server resources and can slow your site or fail on resource-limited hosts), BlogVault runs backups from their own servers. The plugin installs a small connector on your site, and BlogVault's infrastructure handles the heavy lifting of creating, compressing, encrypting, and storing backups.
This off-site backup approach solves several problems that other plugins struggle with. Large sites with many files and extensive databases often fail mid-backup on shared hosting because the host kills long-running processes. BlogVault avoids this by processing the backup on their own servers, making it reliable regardless of your hosting environment. During our testing, BlogVault successfully backed up sites that caused timeouts with other plugins.
Incremental backups are the default. After the initial full backup, BlogVault only transfers the files and database records that have changed since the last backup. This means daily backups complete in minutes rather than hours and consume minimal bandwidth. The backup storage on BlogVault's servers is unlimited and included in your subscription.
The restore process is the best we tested. BlogVault offers both automatic restore (to the same server) and manual restore (to a different server or hosting provider). The automatic restore process completed in under 10 minutes for our test sites, with zero errors. The ability to restore to a different server is invaluable when your current host is the source of the problem.
The built-in staging feature lets you create a copy of your site on BlogVault's servers for testing updates, design changes, or new plugins. When you are satisfied with the changes, you can push them to your live site. This staging capability alone is worth the price for businesses that make regular site changes.
Site migration is included, letting you move your WordPress site to a new host with minimal downtime. The migration process handles database URL replacement and serialized data conversion automatically, which are common migration headaches.
Pricing starts at $89 per year for a single site. The Plus plan at $149/year adds real-time backups (every 5 minutes for WooCommerce sites), and the Advanced plan at $249/year adds multisite support and priority support.
Pros
- Off-site backup processing never slows your server
- Reliable on shared hosting where other plugins fail
- Unlimited backup storage included
- Best restore process (fastest and most reliable)
- Built-in staging and site migration
Cons
- No free plan (7-day trial only)
- $89/year is more expensive than free alternatives
- Relies on BlogVault's servers (third-party dependency)
- Interface is web-based rather than in WordPress dashboard
- Some features feel hidden in the dashboard
Jetpack Backup (VaultPress): Best for Real-Time Backups
Jetpack Backup (formerly VaultPress) provides real-time backup capabilities that capture every change to your site as it happens. For WooCommerce stores, membership sites, and any WordPress site where data changes frequently throughout the day, real-time backups ensure you never lose more than a few minutes of data.
The real-time backup works by monitoring your site for changes and backing up modified files and database records as they occur. A new order, a published post, a customer registration, a comment, each change triggers a backup of the affected data. This means your backup is always current, not hours or days old.
The backup infrastructure runs on WordPress.com's cloud servers, providing reliable, redundant storage. Backups are stored for 30 days on the standard plan and one year on the higher tier. The activity log shows a timeline of every change with the ability to restore your site to any point in that history. This granular restore capability is especially valuable when you need to undo a specific change without losing everything that happened after it.
One-click restore from the Jetpack dashboard is simple and reliable. You browse the activity log, find the point you want to restore to, and click restore. The process completed successfully in our testing, though it was slightly slower than BlogVault's restore for larger sites.
The integration with the broader Jetpack plugin means you get backup alongside security scanning, spam protection, and downtime monitoring in a single subscription. For sites already using Jetpack for other features, adding backup is the natural and most economical choice.
The Security Daily plan at $5 per month ($60/year) includes daily backups, malware scanning, and spam protection. The Security Real-time plan at $16/month ($192/year) adds real-time backups and real-time malware scanning. The Complete plan at $25/month ($300/year) adds search functionality, CRM, and video hosting.
The main drawback is flexibility. Backups are stored on Jetpack's cloud servers with no option to back up to your own storage (Google Drive, Dropbox, S3). If you want control over where your backups live, other plugins offer more choices.
Pros
- Real-time backups capture every change as it happens
- Activity log with granular point-in-time restore
- Reliable WordPress.com cloud storage
- Integration with Jetpack security and spam protection
- Simple, clean interface
Cons
- No option to back up to your own cloud storage
- Higher cost for real-time backups ($16+/month)
- Requires Jetpack plugin (which is large and adds overhead)
- Restore speed slower than BlogVault for large sites
- 30-day backup retention on the standard plan
BackupBuddy: Best for Site Migration and Portability
BackupBuddy (by SolidWP, formerly iThemes) has been a trusted WordPress backup solution for over a decade. The plugin focuses on creating portable, complete backups that make site migration and duplication straightforward. If you frequently move WordPress sites between hosts, set up staging environments, or need to duplicate sites for development, BackupBuddy's portability features are uniquely valuable.
The backup process creates a complete, self-contained package of your WordPress site: files, database, plugins, themes, uploads, and a restore script. This package can be used to restore the site on any WordPress-compatible server without needing the BackupBuddy plugin installed on the destination. This portability makes BackupBuddy the best choice for developers and agencies who build sites locally and deploy to production servers.
BackupBuddy Stash is the included cloud storage service. You get 1 GB of free storage with your license, which is enough for smaller sites. For larger sites, you can store backups on Amazon S3, Google Drive, Dropbox, or your own remote server. The Stash Live feature provides near-real-time backup by continuously syncing changes to Stash storage.
The restore process uses the ImportBuddy script, a standalone PHP file that runs independently of WordPress. This means you can restore a backup even if WordPress is completely broken, which is exactly the situation where you need backups most. During our testing, the ImportBuddy restore handled database URL replacement, file permissions, and configuration updates reliably.
Scheduled backups support daily, weekly, and monthly frequencies. You can schedule separate schedules for files and database (backing up the database daily and files weekly, for example), which is a practical approach that balances protection with storage usage.
Malware scanning and security features are basic compared to dedicated security plugins but provide a useful additional layer of protection. The plugin checks for known vulnerabilities and suspicious files during the backup process.
Pricing is $99 per year for the Starter plan (1 site, 1 GB Stash) and $199/year for the Freelancer plan (10 sites, 10 GB Stash). The Agency plan at $499/year covers unlimited sites with 100 GB Stash.
Pros
- Most portable backup format for site migration
- ImportBuddy restore works without WordPress installed
- BackupBuddy Stash provides included cloud storage
- Separate scheduling for files and database
- Proven reliability over a decade of development
Cons
- Interface has not been modernized as much as competitors
- 1 GB Stash storage is limiting for larger sites
- No incremental backups (full backups each time, which is slower)
- $99/year for a single site is mid-range pricing
- Plugin overhead can be noticeable on resource-limited hosts
WPvivid: Best Budget Backup Plugin
WPvivid offers a surprisingly capable free backup plugin that competes with UpdraftPlus on features while adding site migration and staging capabilities at no cost. For small business owners who want more than basic backups without paying for a premium plugin, WPvivid delivers excellent value.
The free version includes scheduled backups, cloud storage integration (Google Drive, Dropbox, Amazon S3, Microsoft OneDrive, and more), one-click restore, and site migration. The inclusion of free site migration is notable, as most competitors charge for this feature. During our testing, the migration process handled database URL replacement and serialized data correctly.
The staging feature (also free) lets you create a test copy of your site on your own server. You can test plugin updates, theme changes, and customizations on the staging site before pushing changes to production. This is a feature that typically requires either a premium plugin or a hosting provider with built-in staging.
Backup scheduling supports automatic backups at configurable intervals. You can choose to back up files only, database only, or both, and send backups to different cloud storage destinations. The unused image cleaner is a unique bonus feature that identifies images in your media library that are not used in any post, page, or widget, helping you reduce backup size and hosting storage usage.
The premium version ($49/year for the Personal plan) adds incremental backups, multisite support, advanced remote storage options, and custom backup content selection. The Business plan at $99/year adds white labeling and additional site licenses.
The main limitation is maturity. WPvivid is newer than UpdraftPlus and BlogVault, with a smaller user base and shorter track record. During our testing, the plugin performed reliably, but the smaller community means fewer resources for troubleshooting edge cases. Customer support is responsive via email but not as fast as BlogVault's dedicated support team.
Pros
- Free migration and staging features (unique at this price)
- Good cloud storage options on the free plan
- Unused image cleaner reduces backup size
- Premium plans are affordable starting at $49/year
- Clean, modern interface
Cons
- Smaller user base and shorter track record than competitors
- Customer support is email-only (no live chat)
- Free version does not include incremental backups
- Staging feature uses server resources (not off-site like BlogVault)
- Less extensive documentation than UpdraftPlus
Which Should You Choose?
The best WordPress backup plugin depends on your site's complexity, your hosting environment, and how much you are willing to invest in data protection.
Choose UpdraftPlus if you want the most proven free backup solution. With over 3 million installations and years of reliable operation, UpdraftPlus is the safe choice for basic backup needs. The premium version adds incremental backups and migration if you need them later.
Choose BlogVault if you want the most reliable, hands-off backup experience. The off-site processing, included storage, and excellent restore process make BlogVault ideal for business-critical WordPress sites where backup reliability is non-negotiable. Especially recommended if you are on shared hosting.
Choose Jetpack Backup if you need real-time backups for a site with frequent data changes. WooCommerce stores, membership sites, and content-heavy sites that publish multiple times per day benefit from capturing every change. The Jetpack ecosystem integration adds security and monitoring value.
Choose BackupBuddy if you regularly migrate or duplicate WordPress sites. The portable backup format and ImportBuddy restore script are unmatched for moving sites between servers.
Choose WPvivid if you want the most features at the lowest cost. The free migration, staging, and cloud storage support make WPvivid the best value for budget-conscious site owners who want more than basic backups.
For most small business WordPress sites, we recommend starting with UpdraftPlus free to establish a basic backup routine. If your site is business-critical (generating revenue, processing orders, or serving as your primary customer touchpoint), upgrade to BlogVault for the reliability and restore confidence that a managed backup service provides. The $89/year investment is trivial compared to the cost of losing your website.