Best WordPress Backup Plugins in 2026: How to Choose

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For most small business sites, the best WordPress backup plugin is one that stores copies away from your web host, runs automatically, and restores in a few clicks. UpdraftPlus is the strongest pick if you want a free, flexible start. BlogVault suits sites where a managed, hands-off setup matters more than price. Jetpack VaultPress Backup is built for real-time copies. Duplicator is built for moving sites. I walk through each below, with current US prices.

I’m Tommy Cosimano, and I build and maintain WordPress sites for small businesses. A backup plugin is the cheapest insurance a site can have. It’s also the one most owners set up once and never check. This guide is meant to help you pick well and avoid that trap.

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TL;DR

UpdraftPlus is the best starting point for budget-minded owners: a free version, plus Premium from $70/year for 2 sites.
BlogVault fits business and client sites that want backups stored on its servers, plus staging, from $89/year.
Jetpack VaultPress Backup offers real-time cloud backups from $4.95/month, but it doesn’t support multisite.
Duplicator is the pick when you’re migrating or cloning a site; WPvivid and BackWPup are solid free options.
Whatever you choose, keep at least one copy off your hosting server and test a restore.

What a good backup plugin needs to do
The best WordPress backup plugins compared
BlogVault vs UpdraftPlus: which one fits you?
Setup mistakes that cost sites their backups
Our perspective
How to choose in five minutes
Let me handle it for you
FAQ
Sources

What a good backup plugin needs to do

Before comparing names, here’s the checklist I use. Jetpack’s own guide lists the features that matter most: complete backups of files, databases, themes and plugins, offsite storage, incremental backups to save space, one-click restores, and scheduling.

In plain terms, ask these questions:

Does it back up automatically? A backup you have to remember to run won’t exist the day you need it.
Where do the copies go? Not onto the same server as your site. More on that below.
How hard is a restore? Backups matter only when you can bring the site back, ideally even if WordPress itself is down.
Does it fit your site? A WooCommerce store changes constantly, so it needs more frequent copies than a five-page brochure site.
What will you pay each year, for how many sites? Plans are usually priced per site count.

The best WordPress backup plugins compared

Here’s the short version. Prices come from each vendor’s page or the reviews linked in the sections that follow, and they change, so check the vendor before buying.

Plugin	Best for	Free version	Paid starting price
UpdraftPlus	Budget-conscious owners who can manage cloud storage	Yes	$70/year for 2 sites
BlogVault	Business and client sites, managed backups, staging	No	$89/year
Jetpack VaultPress Backup	Real-time backups, frequent changes	No	$4.95/month
Duplicator	Migrations and site cloning	Yes	$79 (normally) for up to 2 sites
WPvivid	Free backups with staging and migration	Yes	$49/year for 2 sites
BackWPup	Scheduled jobs to many destinations	Yes	$49/year
All-in-One WP Migration	One-file exports and moves	Yes	Paid extension

UpdraftPlus: the best all-around starting point

UpdraftPlus is the most-installed dedicated backup plugin, with 3M+ active installs and a 4.8/5 WordPress.org rating. The free version handles manual and scheduled backups, restores, and remote storage to Dropbox, Google Drive, Amazon S3, FTP and others.

Premium starts at $70/year for up to 2 sites, or $95/year for up to 10 sites. It adds automatic backups before updates, one-click migration, incremental backups, and restoring individual parts of a site.

The trade-off is that you manage your own cloud storage connections. That’s easy once it’s set up. If you’ll never log in to check it, though, you want a more managed option.

BlogVault: managed, offsite, with staging

BlogVault stores backups on its own servers instead of yours or a storage account you connect. Its site describes automatic offsite backups, restore testing and staging. One independent comparison notes the Plus plan adds MalCare scanning and starts at $89/year.

That comparison concludes BlogVault suits business or client sites that need offsite backups, staging and restores from an external dashboard. Because the dashboard lives outside your site, you can restore even when WordPress is broken. That’s a real advantage for sites that can’t afford long downtime.

Jetpack VaultPress Backup: real-time copies

Jetpack VaultPress Backup saves changes as they happen. According to WP Marmite, it offers one-click restores from the dashboard or mobile app, even if the site is offline, from $4.95/month with 10GB. It does not support multisite.

Storage grows with your site. Jetpack lists add-ons at $2.95/month for 10 GB, $5.95/month for 100 GB and $9.95/month for 1 TB. Real-time backup is a good fit for stores and membership sites where orders or comments arrive all day. For a deeper look at that use case, this roundup of backup plugins for WooCommerce compares options built for stores.

Duplicator: built around moving sites

Duplicator packages your site and an installer, which makes it a favorite for migrations and staging clones. Its pricing page lists Basic (normally $79, up to 2 sites), Plus (normally $199, up to 5 sites) and Pro (normally $399, up to 20 sites), all with unlimited backups and migrations. Cloud storage plans on the same page run from $29/year for 2 GB to $199/year for 150 GB.

For restores, Duplicator’s own comparison says it can recover via a recovery link, its Cloud dashboard or an FTP upload. The same page says WPvivid and UpdraftPlus need WordPress and the plugin reinstalled if you’re locked out of the site. If you move sites between hosts often, Duplicator earns its place.

WPvivid and BackWPup: capable free options

WPvivid’s free tier covers full-site backups, one-click restore, migration and staging, according to this review. That is a lot for no cost, and a good fit for a developer-friendly owner on a tight budget.

BackWPup runs flexible scheduled jobs to S3, FTP, Dropbox and other destinations. It has 400K+ free installs and paid plans from $49/year. It’s powerful, but its settings take more patience than the others.

All-in-One WP Migration: simple exports

This plugin has over 5 million active installs and packs the whole site into a single .wpress file. The free version exports any size. Restoring depends on your host’s upload limit, and the paid Unlimited Extension adds one-click restore and gets around those file-size limits. It’s best thought of as a moving tool that also makes handy snapshots.

BlogVault vs UpdraftPlus: which one fits you?

These two come up together most often, so here’s the plain comparison.

	UpdraftPlus	BlogVault
Where backups live	Storage you connect (Dropbox, Google Drive, S3, and more)	BlogVault’s servers
Staging	Not the focus	Included
Security scanning	Not included	MalCare scanning on Plus
Starting price	$70/year for 2 sites	$89/year
Best fit	Owners comfortable managing storage	Business and client sites

The differences come from that same wpschool comparison: UpdraftPlus uses user-managed storage, while BlogVault bundles staging, migration, uptime monitoring and MalCare scanning.

My rule of thumb: if you’re comfortable setting up a Google Drive or Amazon S3 connection once and checking it monthly, UpdraftPlus gives you the most for the money. If you want fewer moving parts, or you look after sites for other people, BlogVault’s managed approach is easier to hand off.

Setup mistakes that cost sites their backups

The plugin matters less than how you use it. These are the mistakes I see most.

Keeping backups on the same server as the site. A server failure or compromise can wipe out the site and its copies at the same time. Send copies elsewhere.
Ignoring the 3-2-1 rule. It means 3 copies, on 2 types of media, with 1 off-site. A plugin sending files to cloud storage plus a host-level backup gets you close.
Never testing a restore. A backup you’ve never restored is a hope, not a plan. Restore to a staging site once, so you know the steps before an emergency. I cover safe ways to do that in my guide to building a WordPress staging site.
Backing up too rarely. A weekly backup is fine for a brochure site. A store taking orders daily needs daily or real-time copies.
Forgetting about retention. One copy overwritten every night can’t help if you discover a problem two weeks later. I explain how long to keep copies in my WordPress backup strategy guide.

Our perspective

We treat a backup as one part of a bigger habit: update safely, test first, keep copies offsite, and know how to restore.

Most of the problems I see don’t come from a bad plugin. They come from a plugin nobody checked for months, or an update pushed straight to a live site. That’s why we like staging first, and why we put clear communication ahead of technical jargon when we work with business owners.

If you’re choosing between plugins, pick the one you’ll actually keep an eye on. A simple tool you review monthly beats a powerful one you forgot about.

Tommy Cosimano

How to choose in five minutes

Count your sites and your budget. One small site and no budget: start with UpdraftPlus free or WPvivid free.
Look at how often the site changes. Orders, bookings or member activity point to real-time backups like Jetpack VaultPress Backup.
Decide who will manage it. If it’s you, user-managed storage is fine. If it’s an agency, a freelancer or nobody, a managed service like BlogVault is easier.
Check for multisite. Jetpack VaultPress Backup doesn’t support it, while UpdraftPlus Premium does.
Plan your migrations. If you switch hosts or clone sites often, add Duplicator to your shortlist.

If you’re still weighing a new host, my guide to the best WordPress hosting for small business covers what to look for there, since host-level backups can be your second copy.

Let me handle it for you

Picking a plugin is the easy part. Keeping it running, updated and tested is where most owners fall behind. My Ongoing Maintenance plan is $100 per month, and Plugin & Security Management is also $100 per month. If you’re planning a new site or a redesign, my packages start with Base Website at $875, and Essentials is $1,200 one-off.

You can see everything on the website pricing page, or read what maintenance typically costs in my breakdown of website maintenance costs for US small businesses. When you’re ready to talk, start at tcosi.com and tell me about your site.

FAQ

Is UpdraftPlus or BlogVault better?

It depends on who manages the site. UpdraftPlus has a free version and Premium from $70/year, but you connect and watch your own cloud storage. BlogVault starts at $89/year, stores backups on its servers and includes staging, which suits business and client sites.

Are free WordPress backup plugins enough?

For many small sites, yes. UpdraftPlus, WPvivid and BackWPup all offer free scheduled backups with remote storage. The key is sending copies off your server and testing a restore. Paid plans add things like incremental backups, encryption and multisite support.

How often should I back up my WordPress site?

Match it to how often the site changes. A mostly static brochure site can do with a weekly backup. A store or membership site should back up daily or in real time, so you never lose orders or sign-ups.

Where should I store my backups?

Off your hosting server. Keeping copies on the same server as the live site means one failure can take both. A good target is the 3-2-1 rule: 3 copies, 2 media types, 1 off-site.

Sources

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Tommy Cosimano is a New Jersey-based web designer and WordPress developer who helps businesses build, maintain, and improve websites that are fast, secure, and easy to manage. Through tcosi, he works with companies throughout New Jersey and beyond, providing website design, maintenance, SEO support, and ongoing website consulting.