How to Know Which WordPress Backup Plugin is for You

More than 1.76 billion user records were leaked in the 1st month of 2019. And the sad fact is, your own user records could be the next target.

Does your WordPress website have a backup plugin? If so, you have the ability to revert any malicious actions, using a copy of your site that was backed up before any attacks occurred.

Installing a backup plugin means you’re on the right track when it comes to website security. It’s a great tool to help negate the effects of hackers, user errors, viruses, malware, and other cyber threats!

If you don’t have a backup plugin yet, don’t worry. There’s a plethora of WordPress backup plugins out there. And you can easily install them.

In this post, we’ll check out the best of the best. We’ll discuss a number of WordPress plugins and help you determine which is right for you.

Free

BackWPup

Do you want to create a complete WordPress backup for free and then store it on your computer? If so, BackWPup is what you need!

It’s a plugin that allows you to use your computer as a storage system. It also extends to Amazon S3, Rackspace Cloud, Dropbox, and other cloud storage services, email, and FTP.

It’s also incredibly easy to use and can schedule automatic backups on your behalf. That way, you can back up your site regularly even if you won’t have access to the plugin on a certain date.

BackWPup is free. But if you prefer priority support and other awesome features, upgrading to its premium version is best.

Duplicator

Duplicator may not support you when creating automated backups. But it’s a great plugin for manual backups.

If your web host is in charge of creating regular backups, it can swoop in. And you can use it on staging environments!

It’s 100% free. But if you’d like advanced features, upgrading to Duplicator Pro is the answer.

UpdraftPlus

Do you want to have an effortless time creating and restoring backups from the WordPress admin panel? If so, then this backup plugin is the one for you.

UpdraftPlus is #1 when it comes to popular WordPress backup plugins. It has over 2 million users!

Aside from allowing you to easily create complete backups of your site, this plugin can handle scheduled and on-demand backups! That, and it automatically uploads your backups to your connected accounts. This includes your accounts on Dropbox, Google Drive, Rackspace Cloud, and Amazon S3.

Like BackWPup, it’s free to use. And if you want more, upgrading to UpdraftPlus premium will do the trick!

Premium

BackupBuddy

Another popular backup plugin for WordPress websites is BackupBuddy. It has more than half a million users!

It can have your back when it comes to automatic backups by letting you schedule backups on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. It also has a Stash service that allows real-time backups!

This plugin isn’t free. But it isn’t a subscription-based service so if you don’t like monthly fees, you shouldn’t fret.

As a premium backup plugin, it gives you access to premium support forums, 1GB of Stash storage, and regular updates. It also comes with an iThemes Sync feature that enables you to manage up to 10 WordPress websites from one dashboard!

BoldGrid Backup

A WordPress-powered website builder, BoldGrid, also offers an ideal backup solution to you in the form of BoldGrid Backup. Whether you’re after automated or manual backups, this premium backup plugin can come to your rescue with a single click.

If your site crashes, don’t worry. BoldGrid Backup is all for WordPress backups so you can rest easy knowing that you can swiftly create your backups. You can even use it to move your website when switching hosts!

Another gem about it is that it comes with a fault protection feature. This feature automatically creates a backup for your site before subjecting it to any updates. This means, if ever an update fails, the last backup of your WordPress site rolls back.

You can also use it to store lots of backup archives (up to 10) on your dashboard. The same is true when you want to store backups in remote storage locations such as Amazon S3.

VaultPress

The team at Automattic and WordPress co-founder, Matt Mullenberg, bring to you a premium backup plugin: VaultPress. It offers automated cloud backups in real time!

It began as an independent backup plugin. But it eventually became part of another winning product from Automattic named JetPack. So to use it, you need a JetPack subscription package.

JetPack offers a free plan. But to take advantage of the VaultPress feature, you have to sign up for one of its paid packages.

The choices include a personal plan (JetPack Personal) and business plans (JetPack Premium and JetPack Professional). The higher your plan, the more security features are accessible to you.

Conclusion

Both the free and premium backup plugins in this list are worth using. Just choose the one that suits your needs.

If you require further guidance such as creating a solid backup strategy for your WordPress site then check out our infographic.

If you’re a new site owner and you want to dip your toe into the world of backup plugins, it’s recommended to go with the free ones first. But if you run a site that requires regular maintenance, getting the premium backup plugins is the better choice!

On the flip side, a backup plugin can only do so much for your website. Without a doubt, it forms part of your security against cyber threats.

But you have to know that downloading a backup plugin and actually managing your site are two different things. If you don’t protect your site actively, it’s going to be prone to attacks.

Lastly, if you want to know how to defend your site from hackers, improve your website speed, get free uptime monitoring and learn tactics used by WordPress experts check out our free 7 day email course.