White screen. Defaced homepage. Or nothing at all. One bad update and years of posts, images and settings vanish, and without a recent copy there’s no undo button.
A WordPress backup plugin does the remembering for you: a full copy of the site on a schedule, stored somewhere that isn’t your server, restorable in one click. That last part is what separates a real backup from a folder of zip files.
Seven options below, honestly compared, including one that quietly stopped being sold on its own. Backups pair with a decent set of WordPress security plugins, because restoring a hacked site without fixing the hole just buys you a week.
Quick answer
- Best overall UpdraftPlus
- Most generous free version WPvivid
- Best hands-off option BlogVault
- Best for migrations Duplicator
UpdraftPlus is the safe default: three million installs, free scheduled backups to Google Drive or Dropbox, and a restore process that works. WPvivid gives away even more, including staging. Pay for BlogVault when the site earns money and you want backups stored off your server entirely.
Best WordPress backup plugins in 2026
One test decides everything here: can you actually restore? A plugin that creates perfect archives you’ve never tried to put back is a comfort blanket, not a backup. Test a restore on a staging copy before you need it for real. Pricing checked July 2026.
UpdraftPlus, the safe default
Three million active installs, still run by the original team since 2012, still shipping updates. The free version schedules full backups and sends them to Dropbox, Google Drive, Amazon S3, Rackspace, FTP or email, then restores them from inside the dashboard.
What makes it the default isn’t features, it’s the restore. UpdraftPlus restores cleanly more often than anything else we’ve used, and it separates database, plugins, themes and uploads so you can put back only the broken part.
Key features
- Scheduled backups to major cloud storage, free
- Selective restore of database, plugins, themes or uploads
- Incremental backups, encryption and multisite support in Premium
- Migration and cloning through the paid Migrator add-on
Pricing: free core plugin covering scheduling and cloud storage. Premium is sold as an annual licence tiered by site count, with the add-ons bundled. Check the current figure on the vendor site, since the brand recently moved to a new domain.
Best for: almost every WordPress site.
Not ideal for: very large sites, where PHP timeouts on shared hosting make an off-server service like BlogVault more reliable.
Our take: install it, point it at Google Drive, set a weekly schedule and a daily database backup. That’s a ten-minute job that has saved us more than once.
WPvivid, the most generous free tier
WPvivid gives away things its competitors charge for. Scheduled backups, cloud storage to Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, S3, DigitalOcean Spaces, SFTP and FTP, one-click migration, and staging site creation, all in the free plugin. Nine hundred thousand installs and a 4.9 rating say people notice.
The honest limitation is that incremental backups, database encryption and multisite live behind the Pro licence, and the settings screens assume you know what a staging site is. It’s a power user’s free plugin.
Key features
- Free scheduled backups plus free cloud storage destinations
- Free one-click staging site creation
- Automatic migration between hosts without manual database edits
- Incremental backups and encryption in Pro
Pricing: free plugin with an optional Pro licence. Nothing else here gives away staging.
Best for: anyone who wants scheduled cloud backups without paying a penny.
Not ideal for: complete beginners, who’ll find UpdraftPlus gentler. Test it first on a WordPress sandbox.
BlogVault, backups that don’t touch your server
BlogVault is a service with a plugin attached, not a plugin with a service attached. Backups run on BlogVault’s infrastructure and are stored there, which means no PHP timeouts, no server load during the backup, and copies that survive your host being compromised.
That architecture is why we’d choose it for a store. When a site is genuinely broken, the ability to restore from somewhere the attacker never had access to is worth the subscription on its own.
Key features
- Offsite incremental backups with zero server load
- Free staging site included on every plan
- Real-time backups for WooCommerce orders on the top tier
- One-click migration between hosts
Pricing: Personal is $99/year with daily backups and 30-day retention, Business $299/year with twice-daily backups and 90-day retention, and the WooCommerce plan is $499/year with real-time backups and 365-day retention. No free tier.
Best for: eCommerce and client sites where an hour of lost orders costs more than the licence.
Not ideal for: hobby blogs, where $99 buys nothing UpdraftPlus doesn’t do free. If you’re running a store, our WooCommerce plugins guide covers the rest of that stack.
Duplicator, built for moving sites
Duplicator packages a site into a single archive plus an installer script, which makes it the cleanest tool for moving WordPress between hosts, cloning a build for a new client, or dropping a finished site onto a fresh server. Over a million installs.
Read the free version’s limits carefully. Free Duplicator is manual only: no scheduled backups, no cloud storage. Everything stays on your server until you download it. As a backup strategy that’s incomplete, and the plugin is honest about pushing you to Pro for automation.
Key features
- Single-archive site packaging with a guided installer
- Installs onto an empty server without WordPress present
- Scheduled backups and cloud storage in Pro only
Pricing: free Lite version for manual packages and migrations. Duplicator Pro adds scheduling and cloud destinations.
Best for: developers migrating and cloning sites.
Not ideal for: your only backup plugin, unless you buy Pro.
All-in-One WP Migration, one-click and done
Five million installs and bi-weekly updates. Export the whole site to one file, import it somewhere else, done. No database search-and-replace, no serialised URL problems, no FTP. For a beginner moving hosts it’s the least frightening tool in WordPress.
The catch is the import size cap on the free version, which is where the Unlimited extension gets sold. Recent reviews also complain that restoring from a local file has become harder, pushing you through a browser upload that struggles with large sites. Fine for a blog. Painful for a media-heavy site.
Key features
- Whole-site export and import in two clicks
- Automatic URL replacement without database surgery
- Paid extensions for cloud destinations and unlimited size
Pricing: free plugin with a size-limited import. The Unlimited extension removes the cap, and storage extensions are sold per destination.
Best for: a straightforward host move on a small or medium site.
Not ideal for: scheduled backups, which it doesn’t do free.
Total Upkeep, the free scheduler with a rollback
BoldGrid’s Total Upkeep is still maintained, still updated in 2026, and sits at around 50,000 installs. Its standout trick is automatic rollback: it takes a backup before an update runs, notices if the update broke the site, and puts the old version back without you being awake.
Smaller user base than the leaders, and the free storage options are thinner. The pre-update backup alone earns it a place on a site you update automatically.
Key features
- Automatic backup before updates, with fault detection and rollback
- Scheduled full-site backups in the free version
- Database-only backups and a size dashboard
Pricing: free, with a Premium tier adding remote storage and history.
Best for: sites running automatic plugin updates unattended.
Not ideal for: people who want the largest community and the most tutorials.
BackupBuddy is now Kadence Backups, and no longer sold alone
BackupBuddy was the original premium WordPress backup plugin. iThemes renamed it Solid Backups in 2022, then Liquid Web folded the whole range into Kadence and it became Kadence Backups in 2026.
The important change isn’t the name. It’s that you can no longer buy it as a standalone product. Backups now arrive inside bundled Kadence plans, with the Pro tier at around $219/year covering security, backups, shop tools and memberships together.
Our honest read: if you already use Kadence themes and blocks, the bundle is decent value. If you only want backups, you’re now paying for four products to get one, and UpdraftPlus Premium or BlogVault does the job for less. Don’t renew an old BackupBuddy licence without checking what you’re actually buying.
How the main options compare
| Feature |
Best OverallUpdraftPlusFree / paid PremiumBest for: Most sites |
WPvividFree / paid ProBest for: Free cloud backups |
BlogVault$99 per yearBest for: Stores and clients |
DuplicatorFree / paid ProBest for: Migrations |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Active installs | 3,000,000+(winner for this row) | 900,000+ | Service based | 1,000,000+ |
| Scheduled backups free | Yes | Yes(winner for this row) | No | No |
| Cloud storage free | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Stored off your server | No | No | Yes(winner for this row) | No |
| Free staging site | No | Yes(winner for this row) | Yes | No |
| Incremental backups | Premium | Pro | Included(winner for this row) | Pro |
| Restore reliability |
We may earn a commission when you buy through links on this page. This does not affect our reviews.
UpdraftPlus for most people. WPvivid if you refuse to pay. BlogVault if the site makes money. Duplicator if you’re moving hosts rather than protecting a live site.
Backup mistakes that turn a bad day into a disaster
- Storing backups on the same server. If the server is compromised or fails, so are the backups sitting in wp-content. Send them offsite, always.
- Never testing a restore. The first time you attempt a restore should not be during an outage. Restore to a staging site once a quarter.
- Backing up weekly on a site that changes daily. Match the schedule to how often you publish or take orders. A shop needs the database backed up far more often than the files.
- Assuming the host has it covered. Many hosts keep backups for a few days, restore the entire account rather than one site, and charge for it. Read the actual policy on your WordPress hosting plan.
- Keeping only one copy. Retention matters. Malware often sits quietly for weeks, so a single day-old backup can be infected too.
How we evaluated these
We checked each plugin’s repository listing for last update, tested-up-to WordPress version, install count and support responsiveness, then read the vendor pricing pages directly. Where a product changed hands or changed name, we said so rather than leaving the old branding in place, because backup software is exactly the wrong place for out-of-date information.
DroidCrunch runs UpdraftPlus on live sites and has used All-in-One WP Migration and Duplicator for host moves. BlogVault, WPvivid Pro, Total Upkeep Premium and the Kadence bundle are assessed on documentation, pricing and public track record. Pricing verified July 2026.
Frequently asked questions
Do I still need a backup plugin if my host backs up my site?
Usually yes. Host backups often keep only a few days, restore the whole hosting account rather than one site, and sometimes carry a fee. Your own offsite copy gives you control over what gets restored and when.
What is the best free WordPress backup plugin?
WPvivid gives away the most: scheduled backups, cloud storage to Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive and S3, migration and a staging site, all free. UpdraftPlus free is gentler for beginners and restores more predictably, so pick on comfort level.
What happened to BackupBuddy?
It was renamed Solid Backups, then became Kadence Backups under Liquid Web in 2026. It is no longer sold as a standalone product. Backups now come inside bundled Kadence plans, so check what an old renewal actually covers before paying it.
How often should I back up a WordPress site?
Match it to how often things change. A blog publishing weekly is fine with weekly files and daily database backups. A shop taking orders needs the database backed up hourly or in real time, because every missed backup is a lost order.
Where should backups be stored?
Anywhere that is not your web server. Google Drive, Dropbox, Amazon S3 and dedicated services like BlogVault all work. If your host is compromised or the server dies, a backup living in wp-content dies with it.
Can a backup plugin restore a hacked site?
It can restore the files, but only to a point before the infection. Malware often sits quietly for weeks, so check backup dates carefully, restore an older copy, then patch the vulnerability. Restoring without fixing the hole just delays the next hack.
Do backup plugins slow down a WordPress site?
Only while a backup runs, and mostly on shared hosting where CPU is limited. Schedule backups for your quietest hours, or use an offsite service like BlogVault that processes the archive on its own infrastructure instead of yours.
Our pick for 2026
Install UpdraftPlus, connect Google Drive, and set a daily database backup with weekly files. That’s the best default among WordPress backup plugins and it costs nothing.
Choose WPvivid if you want free staging alongside free cloud backups. Choose BlogVault the moment the site starts earning, because offsite storage and real-time WooCommerce backups are worth $99 a year against one lost afternoon of orders.
One warning: a backup you have never restored isn’t a backup, it’s a hope. And if you’re still renewing an old BackupBuddy licence, check what Kadence Backups now bundles before the money leaves your account.
Next step: run one backup now, download the archive to your own machine, then restore it onto a staging site this week. Twenty minutes today, disaster avoided later.
