If you’ve been using WordPress for a while, you’re no doubt already familiar with the concept of plugins, how to install them, how they work and ultimately what they can do for your blog. Most people, on average install between 10 and 20 plugins which perform a variety of functions but very few consider utilising a backup plugin until it’s too late. Usually after a server crash or third party hack of sorts has wiped all their data. This is obviously a mistake and I believe backing up WordPress, on a regular basis should be of paramount importance.

Now in terms of the backup yourself, your web host may well offer daily backups included in your hosting package. We do on all of our shared hosting plans here at HostPresto but if this isn’t an option for you or if you’d like to retain a little bit of control when it comes to backing up your blog the best option is undoubtedly a WordPress backup plugin. So today we’re going to run through some of the options available to you with our 5 best WordPress backup plugins.

BackupBuddy

I am starting off this list with BackupBuddy as quite frankly it’s the best plugin of the bunch in terms of features but it does come at a premium. The price for a “Blogger” package is $80 which converts to around £70. The pricing ranges right through to $297 (around £250) for the gold package. That might seem excessive, but if you’re serious about backups. It’s worth it.

As you’d expect, the plugin does everything you would ever want it to. You can specifically choose which parts of your install you’d like to backup from post content right through to images, themes and plugin files. It also features a full range of restore options rather than simply offering a complete rollback like some plugins and it even has the option to backup your data remotely for that added layer of protection.

BackWPUp

This is a good option if you’re looking for a free solution that performs a basic list of services. Using BackWPUp you can take an entire snapshot of your database and /wp-content/ folder for backup purposes, which you can download locally but also it comes with built in functions to allow you to export the data remotely to a third party service such as S3 or Dropbox as opposed to simply downloading to your desktop.

For those who would like a bit more in terms of flexibility and features there is a “pro” version available which is well supported and comes with a range of packages/pricing options ranging from $69 for 1 domain right through to $349 for 100 domains.

BackUpWordpress

Another free option is BackupWordpress which is ideal for most shared hosting environments. The plugin itself doesn’t have a huge amount of features as you’d somewhat expect with a completely free option but if all you’re looking to do is backup your entire WordPress install periodically then this is probably the plugin for you.

It supports multiple languages and also advance scheduling meaning you can backup your install through the night or on a weekly/monthly basis should you choose to do so. Restoring your install is also very straight forward although it would be nice to be able to restore specific elements of your blog rather than the entire thing.

WP-DB-Backup

I’ve included this as lots of WordPress users prefer to use backup their core database rather than their full WP install. Typically, your WordPress install files, your theme and your plugins seldom change from install unless you’re doing lots of custom design work etc. So backing up data such as this can be pointless given if you were migrating or even setting up a new install you’d install these elements from scratch anyway. If you’re using caching plugins and such then that can also make your backup a lot bigger than it needs to be.

As the name suggests, WP-DB-Backup literally just backs up your WordPress database which is where all your posts and pages are stored. This is an extremely fast and lightweight option when it comes to backups and restores and this plugin handles all of that perfectly.

UpdraftPlus

When it comes to backup plugins, Updraft is most definitely one of the best on the market. Their marketshare with 1,000,000+ active installs is a testament to that with Updraft being the preferred backup plugin of choice for most.

Feature wise, I’d describe it as highly featured but simple at the same time as it makes the core features of backup and restoration extremely straight forward but also has features at its disposal for those who want something a little bit more advanced.

As expected with a plugin of this nature you’re able to backup to all of the common remote hosting services such as Dropbox and S3.

Conclusion

All of the solutions listed above will perform the basic task of backing up your WordPress install. On pretty much all of them you’ll be able to select whether or not you simply want a content backup or all themes and plugins included.

However, it’s important to remember that all of the plugins above will be limited to the confines of WordPress. It won’t backup other databases you may have on your hosting account or any of the other data such as website statistics or email accounts and data. For that you’ll need to rely on your regular hosting backup.