UpdraftPlus review: the best WordPress backup plugin?

UpdraftPlus has over 3 million active installations, making it the most popular backup plugin for WordPress. This plugin automatically backs up your complete website and stores them in the cloud.

In this review we look at all features, pricing and pros and cons of UpdraftPlus. What makes it so popular? And is it the best choice for your WordPress site, or are there better alternatives?

What is UpdraftPlus?

UpdraftPlus is a WordPress backup and restore plugin. It automatically backs up your database, files, plugins and themes. You upload these backups to cloud storage like Google Drive, Dropbox or Amazon S3.

The plugin has existed since 2011 and is developed by UpdraftPlus.Com (Team Updraft). It has a free version with basic functionality and a Premium version with advanced features.

The goal is simple: ensure you always have a recent backup to restore your site after a crash, hack or human error. Without backup you lose your entire website. With UpdraftPlus you restore within minutes.

Key features

Automatic scheduled backups

You set how often UpdraftPlus automatically makes backups. Daily, weekly, biweekly or monthly. For busy sites that update daily you choose daily backups. For static sites weekly suffices.

You determine what gets backed up:

• Database (posts, pages, comments, settings)
• Plugins
• Themes
• Uploads (images, media)
• WordPress core files

For each category you set a separate schedule. For example: database daily, uploads weekly. This saves storage space for large media libraries.

Cloud storage integrations

Storing backups locally on your server is risky. If the server crashes you lose everything. UpdraftPlus uploads backups to external cloud storage:

Free version supports:

• Google Drive
• Dropbox
• Amazon S3
• Rackspace Cloud Files
• OpenStack Swift
• DreamObjects
• Email (for small backups)

Premium adds:

• Microsoft OneDrive
• Microsoft Azure
• Google Cloud Storage
• Backblaze B2
• SFTP/FTP
• WebDAV
• And more

You connect your cloud account once. After that UpdraftPlus automatically uploads each backup. You have access to backups even if your WordPress site is completely down.

One-click restore

Restoring from a backup works with one click. You go to UpdraftPlus → Existing Backups, select which backup you want to restore, and click Restore.

You choose what to restore:

• Only database
• Only plugins
• Only themes
• Everything

This is useful if for example only your database is corrupt but files are intact. Or if a plugin update breaks your site and you only want to restore plugins.

The restore process takes a few minutes to an hour, depending on the size of your site. UpdraftPlus shows progress and reports when it's complete.

Incremental backups (Premium)

The free version makes full backups each time. For large sites (10GB+) this takes long and consumes a lot of storage.

Premium offers incremental backups. After the first full backup only changes are saved. If you add 100MB of new images, your next backup is 100MB instead of 10GB again.

This saves bandwidth, time and cloud storage costs. For large sites this is essential. It can make the difference between feasible and unfeasible daily backups.

Site migration (Premium)

With the Migrator add-on (Premium) you move your complete WordPress site to another host, domain or server. Useful for:

• Switching to better WordPress hosting
• Moving from development to production
• Domain name change
• Site duplication for testing

The process is automated. You make a backup on site A, download it, upload to site B, and click Migrate. UpdraftPlus automatically adjusts database URLs. No manual search and replace needed.

For agencies that regularly migrate sites this is a time saver. For one-off migrations free alternatives are available (like Duplicator), but UpdraftPlus integrates it seamlessly.

Database search and replace (Premium)

After a migration or domain change you need to update database URLs. The Premium version has a built-in search and replace tool.

You search for example https://old-domain.com and replace with https://new-domain.com. UpdraftPlus searches your entire database and replaces all instances. This also works for serialized data (complex PHP arrays in WordPress).

This is technically complex functionality. Without a good tool you can corrupt your database. UpdraftPlus does it safely with dry-run option to test first.

Multisite support (Premium)

For WordPress multisite networks Premium offers special backup options. You backup the entire network or individual sites. When restoring you choose which sites to restore.

This is critical for agencies or organizations running multisite. The free version can backup multisite but lacks granular control.

Backup reporting and notifications

After each backup UpdraftPlus sends an email report. Succeeded or failed, with details about file sizes and what was backed up.

You see at a glance if backups are going well. With failures you get error messages to troubleshoot. For hands-off peace of mind this is valuable.

Premium adds more extensive reporting and more notification channels.

Installation and setup

Installing UpdraftPlus works like any WordPress plugin. Plugins → Add New, search "UpdraftPlus", install and activate.

After activation a setup wizard appears. This guides you through:

1. Choose backup schedule (daily/weekly/monthly)
2. Select what to backup (database, files, etc.)
3. Choose cloud storage (Google Drive, Dropbox, etc.)
4. Authorize cloud storage access
5. Test first backup

The wizard is user-friendly. Within 10 minutes you have your first automatic backup running. For beginners this is accessible.

Cloud storage configuration:

• Google Drive: you authorize via OAuth, no API keys needed
• Dropbox: similar, OAuth flow
• Amazon S3: requires AWS access keys (more technical)

For Google Drive and Dropbox setup is thus simple. S3 is more powerful but has a learning curve.

Free vs Premium: what are the differences?

UpdraftPlus Free is already surprisingly powerful. For many sites the free version suffices. Premium however adds important features for professional use.

UpdraftPlus Free includes:

• Automatic scheduled backups
• Cloud storage (Google Drive, Dropbox, S3, etc.)
• Manual backups
• One-click restore
• Backup of database, plugins, themes, uploads
• Email notifications
• Multisite support (basic)

UpdraftPlus Premium adds:

• Incremental backups (huge savings for large sites)
• Site migration tool
• Database search and replace
• Extra cloud storage options (OneDrive, Azure, etc.)
• Multisite granular controls
• Priority support
• Backup of non-WordPress files
• Advanced reporting
• WP-CLI support for automation

Pricing:

• Personal: $70 for 2 sites
• Business: $95 for 10 sites
• Agency Unlimited: $145 for unlimited sites

All licenses are one-time payment for 1 year support and updates. After 1 year the plugin continues to work but you don't get updates unless you renew.

For professional sites or agencies Premium is worth the investment. Incremental backups and migration tool alone save hours of work.

Performance impact

Making backups costs server resources. Large sites can temporarily slow down during a backup. How to minimize this?

UpdraftPlus is relatively light Compared to other backup plugins UpdraftPlus is well optimized. It uses chunked uploads to cloud storage to prevent timeouts.

Tips for minimal impact:

• Schedule backups outside peak hours (for example 3 AM)
• Use incremental backups (Premium) for large sites
• Exclude unnecessary folders (cache, temp files)
• Choose good WordPress hosting with sufficient resources

For small to medium sites (<5GB) impact is negligible. For very large sites (50GB+) performance is something to monitor.

Cloud upload speed Upload to cloud storage depends on your server's uplink speed. With shared hosting this can be slow. VPS or dedicated servers are faster.

Restore process: how does it work?

You hopefully never need a restore, but when it comes to that it must work flawlessly. How does it go?

Scenario 1: Site is still accessible

1. Log into WordPress dashboard
2. Go to UpdraftPlus → Existing Backups
3. Select backup date
4. Click Restore and choose what to restore
5. Confirm
6. Wait until restore is complete
7. Clear cache and test your site

Scenario 2: Site is completely down This is more complex. You must install UpdraftPlus plugin on a new WordPress installation:

1. Install fresh WordPress
2. Install UpdraftPlus
3. Upload your backup files manually via FTP to /wp-content/updraft/
4. Go to UpdraftPlus, scan for backups
5. Restore as usual

For scenario 2 it's useful to also download backups locally. If you have cloud access you can download backups from there and upload to new server.

Testing restores Many people never test their backups. Then you discover during a real crisis that backups are corrupt. Test regularly:

• Create a staging site
• Restore your latest backup there
• Verify everything works

This gives peace of mind that your backups are usable.

Use cases: when do you choose UpdraftPlus?

UpdraftPlus is ideal for:

All WordPress sites Honestly: every WordPress site needs backups. Whether you run a personal blog or corporate website, data loss is catastrophic. UpdraftPlus makes backups accessible.

Sites without hosting backups Many shared hosting packages claim "daily backups" but you have no control over these. UpdraftPlus gives you your own backups that you manage and restore yourself.

Site migrations Moving to new hosting? UpdraftPlus Premium's Migrator makes this child's play. Especially for non-technical users much easier than manual migration.

Development and testing Make a backup before implementing major updates. If something breaks, you restore within minutes. Essential workflow for developers.

Client sites If you manage websites for clients you want certainty that data is safe. UpdraftPlus with cloud storage means you always have backups, regardless of what happens with hosting.

E-commerce sites For webshops data loss is disastrous. Orders, customer data, inventory – everything must be backed up. UpdraftPlus' daily backups protect your business.

UpdraftPlus is less necessary for:

• Sites hosted with premium hosts with excellent own backup systems (but extra backup never hurts)
• Static sites that never update (monthly backups suffice then)

Pros and cons

Advantages

Free and powerful The free version offers more than many paid plugins. For most sites Free is enough. This makes backups accessible to everyone.

Cloud storage integration Backups on external cloud means your data is safe even if your server completely fails. Integration with popular services (Google Drive, Dropbox) makes it easy.

User-friendly interface Backup plugins can be complex but UpdraftPlus keeps it clear. The setup wizard helps beginners. Once configured it works automatically.

One-click restore Restoring is almost as simple as backing up. You don't have to be a technical ninja. Select backup, click restore, done.

Reliable and mature 10+ years of development, 3+ million users means a battle-tested plugin. Bugs are rare, WordPress compatibility is excellent.

Active development Regular updates for new WordPress versions, security patches and feature additions. Your investment (time or money) remains valuable.

Flexible scheduling You control exactly when and what gets backed up. Daily for database, weekly for files – custom schedules possible.

Great documentation Extensive guides and video tutorials help with setup and troubleshooting. Essential for beginners.

Disadvantages

Cloud storage required for off-site backups The free version uploads to cloud but you do need a cloud storage account. Google Drive free tier (15GB) works but for large sites you must pay for storage.

Restore can be slow For large sites (10GB+) downloading from cloud and restore takes long. This is inherent to large data volumes but can be frustrating during crisis.

Incremental backups only Premium For large sites this is the game changer feature. That it's Premium is understandable but unfortunate. Full backups of 50GB sites are not practical.

Premium pricing per year You pay annually for support and updates. No lifetime license option. For long-term use costs stack up.

Interface can be overwhelming All options and settings are great for flexibility but can overwhelm beginners. Too many choices in the beginning.

Limited free cloud storage Google Drive free tier is 15GB. Large WordPress sites with lots of media quickly exceed this. You must then pay for extra Google storage.

Backup files can be large Full site backups of 5-10GB quickly fill your cloud storage. You must manually delete old backups or pay for more space.

Pricing and licenses

UpdraftPlus uses a straightforward pricing model:

Free ($0)

• Unlimited sites
• All basic backup features
• Cloud storage support
• Community support

Personal ($70/year)

• 2 sites
• Incremental backups
• Migration tool
• Database search/replace
• Priority support
• All Premium add-ons

Business ($95/year)

• 10 sites
• Everything from Personal
• Priority support

Agency Unlimited ($145/year)

• Unlimited sites
• Everything from Business
• Priority support

Prices are for 1 year. After expiration plugin continues to work but you don't get updates or support anymore. Renewal costs the same amount.

For freelancers or agencies Agency Unlimited is the best deal. $145 for all client sites is reasonable compared to per-site licenses.

There is a 30-day money-back guarantee. You can test Premium risk-free.

Alternatives to UpdraftPlus

BackupBuddy (paid, from $80/year) Premium-only backup plugin with all features included. Lifetime license option available. For those who don't need a free version and want lifetime payment.

Duplicator (free/Pro) Mainly known as migration tool but also does backups. Pro version ($59/year) has scheduled backups. Lighter than UpdraftPlus but fewer features.

BackWPup (free/Pro) Solid free backup plugin. Less user-friendly than UpdraftPlus but powerful. Pro version ($75/year) adds encryption and restore via dashboard.

BlogVault (paid, from $89/year) Cloud-based backup service. Backups are stored on their servers (not your own cloud). Including staging and migration. More expensive but fully managed.

Jetpack Backup (paid, from $4.95/month) Real-time backups via Jetpack. Simple but less control than UpdraftPlus. For Jetpack users a logical choice.

VaultPress (now Jetpack Backup) Originally by Automattic (makers of WordPress). Merged into Jetpack. Real-time backups, good but more expensive.

Hosting-level backups Premium WordPress hosting like Kinsta or WP Engine offer excellent backups built-in. If you host there an extra plugin might be redundant.

The choice depends on budget, technical knowledge and specific needs. For most users UpdraftPlus is the best balance between features, price and user-friendliness.

Practical tips for UpdraftPlus users

Test your backups regularly Create a staging site and restore your latest backup there. Verify everything works. Backups are useless if they're corrupt and you only discover that during a crisis.

Store backups in multiple locations Cloud storage AND local download. Redundancy protects against cloud service outages or account issues.

Exclude unnecessary files Cache folders, temp files, and development files don't need to be backed up. This saves storage and time. UpdraftPlus has exclusion options.

Monitor your backup emails If backups fail you get an email. Don't ignore these. Fix issues immediately before you really need a backup.

Update before major changes Before you update WordPress, theme or plugins: make a manual backup. If something breaks you restore within minutes.

Use strong passwords for cloud storage Your backups contain sensitive data. Protect your cloud accounts with strong passwords and 2FA.

Consider encryption (Premium) For sensitive data you can encrypt backups before they go to cloud. Premium feature but valuable for privacy/security.

Schedule during off-peak hours Making backups costs resources. Schedule them at night or during low traffic periods.

Keep some old backups Don't just keep the latest backup. Sometimes you discover problems days later. Multiple versions give you options.

Combine with good hosting UpdraftPlus is not a replacement for good WordPress hosting. Choose a reliable hosting provider AND use UpdraftPlus for extra certainty.

Frequently asked questions

Is UpdraftPlus really free? Yes, the basic version is completely free without limitations on number of sites or backups. You get automatic scheduled backups to cloud storage without having to pay. Premium version ($70+/year) adds features like incremental backups and site migration but is not required.

Where are my backups stored? You choose yourself: Google Drive, Dropbox, Amazon S3, or other cloud storage. Backups are not stored on UpdraftPlus' servers but on your own cloud account. You retain full control and ownership of your data.

How often should I make backups? For sites that update daily: daily database backups. For static sites: weekly or monthly. For e-commerce: certainly daily. You set this in UpdraftPlus settings. For database you can choose a different frequency than for files.

Can I manually download UpdraftPlus backups? Yes, via UpdraftPlus → Existing Backups you click "Download" next to each backup. You get ZIP files that you can store locally. This is useful as extra redundancy next to cloud storage.

Does UpdraftPlus work with WooCommerce? Yes, UpdraftPlus backs up your complete WordPress database including WooCommerce orders, products and customer data. For webshops daily backups are essential. UpdraftPlus works seamlessly with WooCommerce and other WordPress plugins.

How much cloud storage do I need? This depends on your site size. An average WordPress site is 1-3GB. For your media library this can increase. Google Drive free tier gives 15GB which suffices for multiple backups. Check your site size via UpdraftPlus dashboard to estimate storage needs.

Can I restore selectively? Yes, you choose what to restore: only database, only plugins, only themes, only uploads, or everything. This is useful if for example only your database is corrupt but files are intact. You don't have to overwrite everything.

Is UpdraftPlus safe? Yes, the plugin is well maintained and regularly updated for security. Backups are encrypted during transport to cloud storage. For extra security you can encrypt backups (Premium feature) before they're uploaded.