| Backup Plugin | Key Features | Direct Link |
|---|---|---|
| JetPack Backup | ✓ Real-time cloud backups for site data ✓ Starts with 10GB of cloud backup space ✓ Effortlessly restore using the Jetpack mobile app | Check out |
| UpdraftPlus | ✓ Full site backup with schedule backup feature ✓ Multiple Storage Options (Dropbox, Drive, Amazon S3, & more) ✓ Cloning and migration feature | Check out |
| ManageWP Backup | ✓ Monthly scheduled and on-demand backups ✓ Backup using Amazon S3, Dropbox, Google Drive & more ✓ Exclude files and folders ✓ One-click restore | Check out |
One of the best tips you will ever get is to keep your WordPress blog secure. The best way to do that is by keeping a WordPress backup.
There are many WordPress backup plugins available in the WordPress plugin directory, but very few of them allow for a complete backup.
When we talk about a complete backup, it means taking a backup of database, and a backup of the “wp-content folder”. Moreover, it’s always recommended to automatically backup WordPress to make sure you have the most recent version of your blog backed up.
Why is backing up your WordPress blog important?
Most bloggers make the mistake of not backing up their blog and they end up regretting it later. If you are one of those bloggers who hasn’t yet configured a backup system for your blog and rely on a backup offered by your hosting company, you are making a big mistake.
Understand that WordPress is software, and it runs on PHP and MySQL. All the files are stored on your web-hosting company.
As a rule, anything that is related to computers and web hosting can crash any day. A hacker might hack your server or website, or someone can log in and delete your complete WordPress directory. In the end, you will be left with nothing except a feeling of sorrow for never creating a WordPress blog backup. All of your hard work will be gone in a jiffy.
One important rule here:
- Your backup files should be stored on a remote and reliable place. It should not be kept on the same server where your blog is hosted.
Ironically, it is quite easy to automate the backup of WordPress blogs. I will discuss three methods here that let you do scheduled automatic backups of your complete WordPress website.
This includes the WordPress database and all the related files, including theme files, plugins, and images.
Necessary files to backup in WordPress:
Though you can configure a complete backup of your installation, we only need just one file and one complete folder as a backup. They are:
- Database backup
- WP-content folder backup
In the WP-content folder, you can exclude those themes which you are not using and exclude the “WordPress DB backup directory” if you are keeping a backup of many old databases or using some other method to make a WordPress database backup.
Also, you should optimize your database files to lower down the backup size.
Best WordPress Backup Plugins that you can trust:
1. JetPack Backup
I use JetPack to take backups of ShoutMeLoud. I pay $39/year & it gives me complete peace of mind. Jetpack backup (formerly VaultPress) is a solution by Automattic (parent company behind WordPress). This solution is perfect for those who need to take a backup of 1-2 blogs.
If you need to take backups of multiple blogs, I would recommend looking for another solution which doesn’t cost you so much in recurring monthly fees. Otherwise, for a single blog, Jetpack backup is a perfect solution and lets you completely restore your blog from a backup.
To configure, you can use the Jetpack WordPress plugin. Before this, you need to buy a plan. I used the personal plan that costed me $39.
In the personal plan, Jetpack backup makes a complete backup of your blog once every day. With just one click you can restore your blog from a backup.
What I like about them is the support they offer. Since the people behind are WordPress experts, your blog backup & security are in good hands.
2. UpdraftPlus Backup and Restoration
This is another popular WordPress backup solution.
– UpdraftPlus comes in two versions:
- Lite (Free in WordPress plugin repository)
- Premium Version: Official site here
With a rating of 4.9/5, UpdraftPlus is the most popular backup solution for WordPress. It offers all the features which you would need to backup your WordPress blog.
What make this plugin stand out is the variety of options for backup. With UpdraftPremium, you will also get (for free) 1GB of space for the UpdraftPlus Vault (their cloud storage).
UpdraftPlus also offers more than just backups. It also has a cloning & migration feature which allows you to easily migrate a WordPress site from one host to another.
For someone who has multiple WordPress blogs, UpdraftPlus is the best choice. You only need to configure everything once & after that, you don’t have to worry about your blog’s backups.
3. ManageWP Backup
ManageWP is a popular service to manage multiple WordPress sites. I have been an avid user of ManageWP since its launch & use it to manage all the blogs in my network. What I like about ManageWP is how easy it is to optimize, update & track your blogs all from one dashboard.
ManageWP offers real-time protection as well as incremental backups. That means instead of taking a complete backup every time which slows down your server, it takes a backup of only those files which have changed. It is then uploaded to their cloud storage infrastructure.
- The best part of using ManageWP for managing or creating backups of your WordPress site is you don’t have to worry about dealing with configuration.
- With one button toggle, you can enable or disable backups. You can take backups using Amazon S3, Dropbox, Google Drive, One Drive, or the ManageWP cloud infrastructure.
Note: “Every 24th” in above screenshot means it takes a backup on every 24th hour (one day).
To get the most value from your money, ManageWP is the best option for anyone with more than 5 WordPress sites.
Other Free & Premium Backup Solutions for WordPress:
All of the above three solutions are the best WordPress backup plugins at the moment. I will list out more free & premium solutions which are recommended by our community members.
Note: I’m listing only those plugins which offer essential features such as taking backups of the database & files, ability to schedule backups & supports other various services for the backup.
- BackUP WordPress (Free)
- BackupBuddy (Pro)
- Blogvault (Pro)
Remember: Many web hosting companies take daily backups of your blog. This is especially true for those who are using a managed WordPress hosting service like Kinsta or WPEngine. This means you don’t have to set up a third-party backup system.
However, I’m a little paranoid when it comes to having complete control & this is why when even my hosting offers free off-site backup, I always take another backup using VaultPress for ShoutMeLoud & ManageWP for all my other sites.
I hope this guide helps you to pick the right backup solution for your WordPress site. Let us know which one you picked/are currently using & why?
I would love to hear your opinion in the comment section below.
And please do share this article on your favorite social networking sites.
Here are a few hand-picked guides for you to read next:
- How To Fix Error Establishing A Database Connection; In WordPress
- 7 Best WordPress Security Plugins To Protect WordPress Blog
Hello. I was looking for a backup for my Wrodpress website and came across with Backup & Restore Dropbox. It has free version, but I downloaded pro version and pretty satisfied with it. Able to backup,restore,migrate and schedule.
I’m also using vaultpress. Basic plan. Taking regular backup of my blog. One of the best backup plugin.
It cost me $55/year
I use Backup & Restore Dropbox for my website. It costs only $19 for 1 year license and tech support.
Hi Harsh,
Pl suggest a free reliable plugin that can be used for a number of sites.
@Pranjal try UpdraftPlus wordpress plugin bro
Nice Article.
your information through snapshot is good.
but how to get the backup for images in wp?
@William
if you are using any of these plugins to take the backup (Which will also include your WordPress WP-content folder), all your images would be backed up there.
i have used ManageWP Backup and it’s work really good, now a days we have some really good option to take backup of WordPress site, thanks for sharing other list
Thank you very Much! before this I had problem with godaddy managed hosting. but i got my db back.
in the third method is it necessary to do both for complete wordpress backup
i mean to say is there any diffrence between wp data base and wordpress files
@Garry
Yes, you need to take back up of Database and WP-content folder to make it a complete backup. Though one can easily set database backup daily (Depending upon how often he updates his blog), and wp-conctent folder 2-3 times in a week (Subjective to update frequency of the blog).
HI, I used i Drive backup plugin as it uses Cron Job internally,It affect on my HG baby plan ,number of process increase very drastically and then HG disable my account. When I removed it ,I Come to normal mode.So I suggest you to check your Process state from Cpanel before trying this.
You can BackUp WordPress, it also supports Shared Hosting Environment – http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/backupwordpress/
@Harry Sehgal: Backup would backup just your database. This leaves out all your template files, plugins, and images.
Is Using a DB-Backup Plugin is enough. I mean does that Database contains all things. I mean if I have to Change my Host Provider, then can I use this Backup to Upload it to my New Host Provider.
How much secure this is? since we are saving our database content on 3rd party plugin server for example of iDrive.
Thanks for the great info, buddy. I think most blog owners only backup their databases and not the other plugins, themes and content files. I am also in the same league. Now I need to decide whether to go for idrive or manually download the content files to my hard drive.
I am using DB-Manager now. I was using WP-DB_backup some time back but since I upgraded to WP3.0 it has stopped working and sending me weekly db backups to my email.
So now with DB Manager I have regular backups to my gmail account in a separate folders as well as my hard drive.
Want to do something similar for my content files.
Nice list buddy. I’m using DB-Manager plugins to scheduled backup on my blog. 😀
Cheers for that, ive been meaning to set up a back up solution for a while now, this got me to do it thanks! I went for IDrive and it was so quick and easy
I use the WP DB backup plugin & do manual backups of the whole directory, store it in my HDD & External HDD too.
I do it manually because I hv a relatively fast net speed..slow net users can go for host backups or as mentioned by ishan if ur blog is new then try iDrive
Mine is WP-DB-Backup, i love it
Buddy – WP-DB Backup would backup just your database. This leaves out all your template files, plugins, and images.
I am also using WP DP Plugin. Hostgator also has some great feature for backing up wordpress blog in a few simple steps.
I was a fan of WP-DB-Backup. But now I’m think to migrate to iDrive Backup. Thanks for the post.
Great share 🙂 IDrive suited all my requirement … thanks for the help 🙂
i think only huge WP blogs/sites those needed third party backup