There are many ways to back up your site . You can back up manually using your site’s control panel (cPanel) provided by the hosting provider, or rely on ready-made add-ons.
In this article, we will present to you the best plugins through which you can make backup copies of your site, explaining the set of pros and cons of each of them through user experiences.
1. Add UpdraftPlus
UpdraftPlus is currently the most popular WordPress backup plugin today, installed by over 3 million currently active users with a 4.8-star rating.
The backup plugin should run full backups of your files and database, and sometimes lets you customize which files you want to back up.
This plugin has a free version that also comes with basic features, and you can easily set up full, manual or scheduled backups of all website files including your database.
A quick overview of how to work with the extension
After searching for the UpdraftPlus add-on and installing it on your site, go to the add-on and choose the settings tab and see the most important required settings in the following figure.
Here are some pros and cons of UpdraftPlus:
Positives:
- The support team is constantly fixing errors
- Ability to make scheduled backups automatically
- Possibility of making incremental backups (in the paid version)
- Excellent cloud backup options to reduce the load on hosting
- Distinctive user interface and easy to use
- Make backup copies during the update for any addition, advantage and disadvantage. The advantage is that the site does not crash due to the update (the disadvantage will be mentioned in the negatives)
- Its updates are constant and regular
Negatives:
- The paid add-on has a high price ($70)
- The free plugin does not work on MultiSites and you must purchase the paid version ( Note: Multisites is a special feature in WordPress that enables you to create several sites and each site has its own WordPress control panel but is interconnected)
- The Migration feature only works on the paid version
- In the event of updating any add-on, an automatic backup is made, and this increases the storage space on the hosting
- Copying may take a long time
- Many features such as migration and clone must be available in the paid version
- Backup does not work if the SSL certificate expires
- It does not have a security scan against malware
2. Add Duplicator
Duplicator is mainly used to transfer and migrate any WordPress sites to another site or subdomain, but it also contains powerful backup features. It is free and easy to use and gives you stable backups. It has been installed by more than a million active users and rated 4.9 stars. It has two versions, free and paid. (Pricing starts at $69 per year)
A quick overview of how to work with the extension
After doing a search for the Duplicator add-on, installing it, and adding it, go to the add-on and choose it. The following figure will appear. Enter the name of the version, and you can put a password for the resulting compressed file if you want. As for the features of the MySQL server, do not change them (for the advanced user)
The site will be scanned and then a Build button will appear. Click on it to start copying
The pros and cons of adding a duplicator are as follows
Positives:
- The extension gives you email notifications of events such as a failed backup (in the paid version)
- Easy user interface
- The ability to back up multiple sites (in the paid version)
- Migration feature
- Warning messages feature while copying large contents such as video and images
- Special support for developers ( inspirationfeed reference)
Negatives:
- Premium technical support for the paid version only
- It has scheduled backups in the paid version only
- It is not possible to back up more than 500MB in the free version
- Stops and errors occur in Duplicator with Wordfence
- There is no incremental backup
- Some knowledge of server and database settings is required
- You need technical expertise to upload files via FTP
3. Add BackWPup
It is one of the famous backup plugins and has been installed by more than 700,000 active users, and it is rated 4.4 out of five stars. It comes in two versions, the first is free and the second is paid at a price starting from $69 annually. It allows you to create complete backups of WordPress and store them on your site, your computer, or Cloud based, it allows you to schedule backups automatically and restoring your WordPress site from the backup is easy and simple.
A quick overview of how to work with the extension
After searching for, installing, and adding the BackWPup add-on, go to the add-on and choose Add New Job. The following figure will appear for you, with an explanation of the most important requirements.
After saving, go to jobs and press the Run button to start copying as follows
Some of the pros and cons of BackWPup are as follows
Positives:
- Good support team
- Sending notifications via email
- Secure and encrypted backup
- Storage with several types of compressed files (zip, tar, tar.gz)
- There is a cloud copy on several platforms (Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Azure, etc.)
Negatives:
- User interface may be difficult for beginners
- Cloud storage in the paid version only
- Restore in the advanced version only
- It does not support multisites
- No security and malware scanning
4. Add blogvault
Rated 4.2 stars, active installations are more than 70 thousand, and it is one of the popular backup services. It creates off-site backups independently on BlogVault servers, so there will be no load on your server. It creates an automatic backup of the website daily and allows It allows you to perform manual backups and also performs incremental backups.
A quick overview of how to work with the extension
After searching for the blogvault add-on, installing it, and adding it, go to the add-on, select it, and then do the following:
After starting, you will be sent to create an account on the blogvault website. Then a backup copy of the entire site will be made, and after the process is completed, choose to look at the site details as follows.
It shows you all the details with the ability to control everything. See the following figure to know the details and their meaning
The pros and cons of blogvault plugin are as follows
Positives:
- It creates independent backups on its own BlogVault servers and saves your server space.
- Automatically backs up your website daily and allows you to create unlimited backups manually.
- Offers incremental backup
- Along with backups, it helps you restore your website easily. You can store the backup archive for 90 days, so you can recover your site from any mishap.
- It provides the option to migrate and transfer your website to another host.
- Good support and there is the possibility of chatting
- It helps you restore the website easily
- Good user interface
Negatives:
- It’s expensive, costing $89 for the lowest plan
- It does not provide more than 7 days of testing and must then be purchased
- There is no email notification when any problem occurs ( Reference 1 ) ( Reference 2 )
- Does not provide secure scanning ( reference )
5. Add VaultPress
VaultPress was founded by Automattic (the WordPress enterprise company), although it started as a standalone plugin, but has now become part of the JetPack product . It performs automatic and cloud backups and makes it easy, with simple settings, to make backups and restore them, but it comes with a paid version. Only without providing a free version.
A quick overview of how to work with the extension
After searching for and installing the VaultPress add-on, go to it in the jetpack submenu as follows
The following screen will appear. Press the button to go to plans and prices
Choose the plan you want as follows
After the payment process, the following screen will appear. Choose settings and set up the following methods for connecting with vaultpress
To access your server for backup or restore the backup, credits for each of the following will be sent to your email address with which you registered for the plan:
Now add your site from Add New Site and write your site name
Then click the Backup Now button and the copying will start
The pros and cons of adding VaultPress are as follows
Positives:
- Simple user interface
- Provide the user with a simple step-by-step process, with clear instructions
- Provides an easy site transfer process
- Schedule backups
- Distinctive support and protection from security threats
- Provides statistical information after system backup
Negatives:
- It does not have a free version
- It does not have encrypted backups
- It is difficult to differentiate between the plans and prices offered by it
- Recurring expenses can add up if you have multiple WordPress sites and will pay per site.
- You will have to subscribe to JetPack and install Jetpack plugins on your site.
- Backups are only stored for 30 days on lower plans. If you want unlimited backup archive, you have to pay $29 per month per website which is much more expensive for starters.
6. Add BoldGrid
This add-on is used by more than 60,000 websites and has 4.7 stars in the overall rating. It allows you to create backups and restore the site, and it can be used to transfer the site when switching hosting. You can also set up automatic backups or create manual backups easily.
Equipped with an automatic error protection feature that automatically creates a backup of your site before updating it. If an update fails, your WordPress site will automatically roll back to the latest backup to protect it from update errors.
You can store up to 10 backup archives on the control panel with cloud backup capabilities.
A quick overview of how to work with the extension
After doing a search for the BoldGrid add-on, installing it, adding it, and purchasing it, go to the add-on and choose it, then go to the settings. If you want to make scheduled copies daily at a specific time, do the following.
There are distinct features, including making automatic backups before WordPress updates are made. This is for safety so that the site does not crash after the update and the inability to restore the site as it was.
You can choose whether you want to back up all site content or whether you want to make custom copies of specific folders
You can also copy entire database tables or specific tables as a custom copy (full copy is recommended for beginners)
The pros and cons of adding BoldGrid are as follows
Positives:
- Automatic copying
- Easy site transfer and migration
- Backup via FTP/SFTP, Amazon S3 and Google Drive
- Copying can be done automatically or manually
- Ease of cloning and migration
Negatives:
- Its price is $60 annually
Ultimately, the process of backing up on the site’s server means that if the server hardware malfunctions or is hacked in the worst case, you will not have a backup copy, which defeats the purpose of preparing regular backups. This is why we highly recommend storing your backups on a service. Third-party storage such as Dropbox, Amazon S3, and Google Drive.
The process of backing up using plugins may cause your site information to be leaked, so we recommend using safe and reliable plugins, and saving copies of your site
