The Best Backup Plugins for WordPress in 2021

April 17, 2021 Written by selimrana. Posted in WordPress 4 Comments

Web content is the most important thing for a website and attackers are always behind exploiting a site. Let’s assume that, a disaster happened – you got hacked, you accidentally deleted your site content, etc. If your hosting company provides backup, you can ask them to restore. It might take a while, based on the quality of your host and their after-sales support. If you have a high traffic regular site, the backup should be restored immediately! In such a scenario, having a backup plugin can save your life. In this article, I am going to simply address the best backup plugins for WordPress available on the planet. Let’s begin:

The Best Backup Plugins for WordPress

Whether it’s a security breach, a user error, or some other reason, a dropped website is not good. Therefore, your best bet to keep your site secure, keeping a backup so you can restore it. It is through the use of a high-quality backup plugin, you can take control quickly and efficiently.

BackWPup

BackWPup, although there is a Premium version of this plugin available. I suggest you first start with the freebie, as it seems to make backups on WordPress sites well with the free version. The main difference between the two is in the type of support and updates it receives, as well as the numbers of supported backup sites.

Pros

It makes a total backup of your WordPress installation.
You can send backups from site to your directory, FTP or third-party storage service.
It includes the function of optimization, scanning, and repair of databases. Includes support for multiple sites.
If you are willing to pay for the Premium service, you will receive priority support, as well as automatic updates.
It seems to be well supported since the developer responds quickly to problems that the client complains about in his repository.

Cons

The Premium version is too expensive for a plugin exclusively for backup.
It is known that the plugin has some errors that have not been found. I have got text format error in a site. But the developer is aware and is working to solve it.

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UpdraftPlus

UpdraftPlus is another backup and restores plugin that comes with a free and Premium version. The free version works very well and is probably the most valued plugin when it comes to backups. But I recommend using its Premium version that has some advanced features that the free version gives us.

Pros

The free plugin allows users to backup and restore. Its Premium version makes backups, restores, migrations and among some other things.
It makes backups of specific files or the entire installation, and all that is needed is just a click.
You can save your backups in most third-party services (Dropbox, Google Drive, Amazon S3, etc). You can also simply send it by email directly to you.
There are some things that establish the Premium plan apart from the free and from the competition is the migration tool. It also makes automatic backups before its updates such as plugins or Theme. So, you can use it to recover supported versions of your site, if your other plugin does not have capabilities to restore or incompatible.
This Backup plugin is compatible with multisite so it is great for the people who manage several websites.

Cons

Although the developer responds to almost all complaints from users support is slow and need improvements.

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WPBackItUp

WPBackItUp is a great free plugin to consider if you want something simple and easy to manage your backups. However, if you want to unlock the restoration and migration functions, you will have to go for the Premium.

Pros

This plugin supports all WordPress version, you can choose the files you prefer to backup.
It is great for WordPress beginners since it is easy to use.
It has unlimited backups for free and Premium plans.
The Premium plugin gives you more control over the automation and scheduling of your backups. It also allows you to restore, migrate and clone your WordPress site.

Cons

If you go for the free, be careful with the use of this for large sites or multisite.
This plugin is not compatible with any third-party storage service, so the only place where you can recover your backup copies is the WordPress Dashboard. Although they promise that the files are compressed. This could compromise the speed of your site when it comes to restoring the site.

VaultPress

VaultPress is developed by Automattic to do backups and restoration. Therefore, this means that the only way to access this plugin is by purchasing the Jetpack Premium plugin. If you are not a fan of Jetpack, then this one is not going to be for you.

Pros

If you already have Jetpack Premium, then there is nothing else for you to do, just activate the backups. You can also buy this as an addon if you use the free Jetpack.
There are a couple of business plans available that include some type of automated backup service. They also come with restoration with a single click, as well as migration features.
The security scan is included, so you will also have the benefits of brute force attack prevention, spam protection, and uptime monitoring.
The additional features of the jetpack come with this, such as video hosting and Google Analytics integration.

Cons

This plugin will not support your full installation of WordPress, only the Dashboard and the content files.
This is only available as a paid service. It’s not too expensive, but it’s still unfortunate that there is no free version available.
You can not buy this either separately from the Jetpack. Therefore, you are linked to the Jetpack plugin, there is no way to separate VaultPress from it.

BackupBuddy

BackupBuddy is a premium backup plugin for WordPress from iThemes. Here you will find a real premium service, they will help you with any kind of problem you need a solution for.

Pros

It takes only a few steps to backup, restore or migrate your site.
You can customize what exactly you want in the backups to save (for example, just the database or the full WordPress installation).
You can also customize the frequency of backups, at any time of the month.
You can save backups in a variety of locations, including Amazon, Dropbox or Google Drive. You can also download a compressed file folder.
Includes the ImportBuddy tool that will help you restore your site from the backup.
There is also a migration feature so you can safely move sites on different hosts, servers or domains. For specific development plans, you can use this function to safely move your staging or testing sites.
There are also tools available, such as malware scanners, database, and server.

Cons

This plugin costs money and the plan you would probably need to cover your clients’ sites is quite expensive.
Although iThemes offers its own Stash Live storage for free. Most plans cover for one year, which means that you must start paying for it the following year.

In conclusion

Each WordPress site needs a comprehensive security plan . And each security plan needs to include a reliable backup solution. Today I have given 6 of the best backup plugins for WordPress.

But which one is right for you? Well, most of these come with a free version that can be tested, although that is not always an accurate reflection of what you are actually receiving, since they are not compatible and tend to handle only the part of the backup.

So here is what I recommend:

BackWPup : it’s a great option if you want something simple and free that you can launch to your smaller client websites. It is easy to use and comes with impressive support and its response times from the developer are very good.

UpdraftPlus : it is the plugin that you absolutely need if you are running a business as a WordPress developer. It is flexible, it is affordable, and it covers all your bases. It also comes with developer-specific features so you can have more control over what happens with the backups once they are in the hands of your customers.

If you liked this article, please share it. If you know any more exciting backup plugin, please feel free to share. You can share it by commenting below. Until next time, have blast and stay safe.