As a WordPress site owner, it is important for you to secure and backup your WordPress files to prevent any unfortunate incidents causing data loss. Whether it happens because of human error, web hacks, malicious activity, or otherwise, doing regular WordPress backups of your files and databases can be a lifesaver. With backups, you can easily restore your data back to normal if those incidents happen.

Doing regular backups on your WordPress site can be done by using plugins. There are various backup plugins on WordPress that you can use for free. In this article, we will review the Top 6 Backup Plugins for WordPress.

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Major data loss of WordPress can happen whenever, for instance, web hacks, human error, natural disaster, server crash/ failure, or unsuccessful update. One of the solutions you can do is regularly backing up your data. 

WordPress backup creates copies of both your site’s files and its database (together or separately). Then those plugins enable you to choose which backup files to “restore.” 

You can use backup plugins as an insurance policy when something goes wrong on your site. Therefore, by doing WordPress backup you can protect all the effort, time, and money you’ve invested in your WordPress site. Read more

What Are The Features That Backup Plugins Must Have?

Every backup plugin has various features. However, you should understand what features from backup plugins that you really need. After understanding the features, it will help you in deciding which backup plugin is right for your website.

Independent & Offsite Storage

Backups must be saved in an independent and different location so that they’re unaffected by your site. Therefore, you need to avoid plugins that store backups on the client’s web server as they usually end up reducing the existing storage space and also exposing the backups to external threats.

Incremental Backups

Incremental backups optimize the backup process by breaking your data into smaller and manageable data pieces, which are then synced into the existing backup. Instead, after the first backup, only incremental changes are synced and not the entire website. This process prevents any overloading of your web server and is suitable for large websites.

Multiple Backups

Backup plugins must provide multiple backup versions that can be stored at multiple locations for maximum safety. They can provide either their dedicated servers or external cloud-based storage (like Google Drive or Dropbox) from where any backup version can be easily downloaded and restored. Additionally, encrypted backups are important too to prevent hacking.

Easy Restore & Recovery

A reliable and convenient mode of restoring backups is a must-have measurement when choosing a backup plugin. Backups that cannot be restored quickly defeats the entire purpose of performing backups in the first place.

Backups Testing

As a safety measure, it’s a good practice first to test your existing backup to see if it is safe to be restored. Just like website files, your backup file can also get corrupted. Therefore, a backups testing is important to make sure your backup & restore process is not corrupted. 

Automated Scheduled & On-demand Backups

A scheduled backup is an automated backup process so you don’t have to bother to do backup by yourself. You can set a scheduled backup at fixed intervals (daily, weekly, or monthly) depending on your website needs. Additionally, backup plugins must offer on-demand backups that can be executed at any time.

Website Staging

Some backup plugins feature a built-in “website staging” feature where you can test your changes before merging the changes to the live website. You can also create a staging site through your web host or manually create a staging environment. With website staging, you can avoid crushing your live website.

Website Migration

Website migration is an additional feature in backup plugins that can help you smoothly migrate a WordPress website to a different web host. Migrating a WordPress website to another web domain or a different web host can be very complicated. 

Real-time Backups for WooCommerce

Regular backups are crucial for WooCommerce websites. However, unlike any other business website, WooCommerce sites cannot afford any website downtime or even the loss of a single customer order. Therefore, real-time backups are recommended for WooCommerce websites that are executed each time there is an online transaction or change.

User-friendly Interface

Backup plugins must be user-friendly and easy to use even for beginner users. Therefore, it is better to have a clean dashboard with instant buttons for restorations, deletions, and downloads. This means you are able to execute a complete backup or restore with a few easy steps.

Top 6 Backup Plugins for WordPress Sites

UpdraftPlus – Powerful backup plugin both for free and premium.

UpdraftPlus is one of the best free backup plugins for WordPress. It allows you to save your backups to several cloud storage services including Dropbox, Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, and many others. To put it simply, UpdraftPlus simplifies backups and restoration. It offers many great features such as:

• Automated, schedules, and manual backup
• Incremental backup
• Database security
• One-click restore

In addition to that, UpdraftPlus supports WordPress network/ multisite setups. You can also easily report, monitor, and schedule your backup as UpdraftPlus documents all your backups. With the premium version, you can unlock even more storage options and more advanced features. Its pricing starts from $70 per year with the Personal plan.

WP Time Capsule – The fastest backup plugin with the best incremental backup

WP Time Capsule plugin has a free, fully-featured version for 30-days. After that, its pricing starts with a Business plan for $49 per year. It’s probably the fastest and simplest plugin that provides the best incremental backups. Here are the features offered by WP Time Capsule:

• Incremental backup & restore
• Offsite backup
• Staging an update
• Automated backup

For the offsite backup, you can connect WP Time Capsule with your favorite cloud storage providers, such as Google Drive, Dropbox, Amazon S3, Backblaze B2, and Wasabi. Besides that, it has other functionalities like white-label, one-click restore, calendar view restore, and other features for protecting your website from hackers.

VaultPress – Premium backup plugin with premium services by Automattic

VaultPress is a real-time backup plugin with security scans for threats such as hackers, host failures, and malware. You can download and use it for free. But, you can get the complete plan from VaultPress for $51.72 per month in a yearly subscription. The features that you will get are:

• Daily & real-time backup
• Automates restores
• Comprehensive security scanning

Besides that, VaultPress also detects and monitors potentially harmful files to keep you from malicious content & file repair. Also, there is an anti-spam feature to keep your website free from spam.

Duplicator – A migration plugin that also doubles as a suitable backup solution

Duplicator is a multi-tasking plugin that offers solutions for cloning, migrating, copying, moving, and backing up a website. The main highlight of this plugin is it lets you easily migrate your site with zero downtime. With this plugin, you are able to:

• Transfer websites between domains and hosts
• Convert your site to localhost
• Take a backup of your website (entirely or bits by bits)
• Bundle up your whole site for distribution or transferring

You can use Duplicator for free or upgrade to the Pro version. Its pricing starts from $69 per year with a Personal plan.

Snapshot – Efficient backup plugin with free cloud storage

Snapshot is an efficient backup plugin that allows you to bank, backup, and restore sites in a multi-site environment. It allows you to connect with Amazon S3, FTP Google Drive, and Green Cloud. Also, there is an option for a scheduled backup. Here are some of the features by Snapshot:

• Incremental backup
• Scheduled & automated backup
• One-click restore
• Instant email alerts

In addition to these features, Snapshot also offers a generous 10 GB of cloud storage on WPMU DEV storage. For paid plans, it has a 7-days free trial with starting plan that costs $5 per month.

BlogVault – Great featured backup plugin suitable for WooCommerce site

BlogVault is a premium backup plugin that comes with a free trial. Its pricing starts from $7.4 per month for the Basic plan. It is an all in one website backup plugin that provides many features, including:

• Normal backups
• WooCommerce backups
• Restoration
• Integrated staging
• Migration
• Multisite support

Not only offer a backup solution, but BlogVault also has a few additional things like:

• Check your website’s performance.
• Check the uptime status of your websites.
• White label option to hide the branding
• Upload several backups to Dropbox

Conclusion

Choosing the best backup plugin is important to prevent your WordPress site from data loss. There are many features that must be included in a backup plugin, like incremental backup, one-click restore, automated scheduled backup, offsite backup, and many more. UpdraftPlus plugin is suitable for you who need a great backup solution for free. If you want a fast and easy backup & restore process, then WP Time Capsule is the right backup plugin for you. VaultPress is perfect for you who need a supplementary secured backup plugin. As for you who want to get a multitasking plugin not only for a backup solution, you should try the Duplicator plugin. If you want a simple yet efficient backup plugin, Snapshot can be the choice. BlogVault is probably the premium backup plugin best for WooCommerce sites.

References

• WordPress Backups – Everything You Need to Know & How to Do It in 2021 – ArtiStudio Wiki
• Why Backups Are So Important for WordPress Security – Geekflare
• 4 Best Incremental WordPress Backup Plugins – Kinsta
• 11 Best WordPress Backup and Migration plugins – Geekflare