BackupBuddy Review PROS & CONS (2023) | BackupBuddy vs UpdraftPlus vs VaultPress vs BlogVault

BackupBuddy

9.3

Easy to use

9.4/10

Settings

9.5/10

Price

9.2/10

Overall quality

9.1/10

Pros

• Easy to use interface
• Multiple scheduling options
• Cloud-based storage options
• Site restoration, rollback or migration
• Full backup of all data
• Malware scans
• Live Stash feature

Cons

• No refund policy
• No free version
• Some hostings dont allow BackupBuddy

Learn More!

Does your WordPress website need a reliable backup plugin? There might be nothing more frustrating than working on a website, only to see it crash and lose all your hard work. But there’s no reason to have this happen to you. In this BackupBuddy review, I will show you what this popular backup plugin brings and how you can benefit from it features.

There are many different plugins and tools available that can backup and even restore your data. One of the most successful and well-known plugins to accomplish this is BackupBuddy.

BackupBuddy was created to provide developers with a comprehensive plugin that not only saves data and files but can do even more. There are many reasons why a plugin like this can be necessary, and many people have put their trust in BackupBuddy. Does it deserve that trust?

BackupBuddy vs UpdraftPlus vs Vaultpress vs BlogVault

• Name
• Price
• Database backups
• Filesystem backups
• Automated/scheduled backups
• Manual backups
• Easy restoration features
• Security scans/monitoring
• Site migration features
• Backup history
• Backup encryption
• Off-site backup storage
• Storage for your backups
• Automatic restore
• Direct site-to-site migration or cloning
• Automatic backups before updating site
• Network/Multisite supported
• SFTP and FTP backups
• Backup to Dropbox
• Backup to Googledrive
• Backup to OneDrive
• Backup to S3
• Backup to Microsoft Azure
• Backup to Google Cloud
• Backup to BackBlaze
• Run From WP-CL
• Restore a backup from other plugins

• BACKUPBUDDY
• Paid version

  $80/year for one site, $127/year for 10 sites, and $199/year for unlimited sites
• 1GB

Read more >

• UPDRAFTPLUS
• Free and paid version

  $87.5/year for 2 sites, $118.75/year for 10 sites, $181.25/year for 35 sites, and $243.75/year for unlimited sites
• 1GB

Read more >

• VAULTPRESS
• Free and paid version

  $39/year Personal, $99/year Jetpack Premium, $299/year Jetpack Professional
• Unlimited storage space

Read more >

• BLOGVAULT
• Free and paid version

  $89/year for one site, $199/year for 5 sites, $499/year for 20 sites
• Unlimited storage space

Read more >

BackupBuddy Review – Features and Options

No matter how solid or reliable you think, your system or internet connection is bad things can happen to anyone at any time. There might be nothing worse than to put your heart and soul into a project — only to see it go down the drain because of malware, hackers, or some technical problem you didn’t foresee.

Unfortunately, WordPress doesn’t come with a backup strategy in place. It’s up to you to sort through various options and decide which backup application you want to use. Some backup plugins back up your existing WordPress files and nothing more (see best free WordPress backup plugins compared). However, some offer more, and BackupBuddy is a plugin that provides a whole suite of features that make it an option that every serious WordPress website owner should consider.

BackupBuddy is, essentially, a security system for your WordPress website. While WordPress is generally quite a secure and reliable platform, the possibility of data loss is always something to be considered. The internet is a big place with lots of dangers. Every week, thousands of content creators get caught out by viruses, data thefts, hack invasions, DDOS assaults, etc. So, it’s essential to back up your data.

It’s not impossible to get lost or stolen data back, but it can be costly and time-consuming. There’s no need to put yourself through the trouble if you use a backup plugin like BackupBuddy. It’s easy to navigate, with a user-friendly interface and automation functions that create regular backups for you. You don’t even have to do it manually.

The two most important functions of a WordPress backup plugin are:

• the plugin must create backups of your WordPress data quickly and with ease (preferably using an automated schedule) and
• it must allow for the fast retrieval of data from these backups.

You also want to prioritize backup tools that take advantage of cloud-based storage. Cloud storage is more secure because it cannot be affected by anything that might compromise your computer. You could get completely shut down by a hack attack, and any backup data would still be safe and untouched in the cloud.

Backup Everything

Of course, BackupBuddy’s primary function is as a WordPress backup. When I say that BackupBuddy backs up everything,  I literally mean everything. Yes, it will back up your existing files, but it does so much more than that.

With BackupBuddy, you can back up your entire WordPress installation. This includes files, themes, media files, plugins, and any other setting and items you need for your WordPress-based website. So, should the worst happen and you lose your website, with BackupBuddy, you don’t have to worry — everything is saved and ready for you to bring it back up with just a few simple clicks.

Easy To Use

One of the problems with WordPress and its various options and plugins is that, for a newbie, it can get pretty technical. You might have enough experience and knowledge to create and operate a website, but that doesn’t mean you’re a walking dictionary of high-tech jargon, right?

BackupBuddy is designed with the casual user in mind. This means that much of the work is taken care of behind the scenes, and what’s left is an easy-to-use and easy-to-understand design that lets you know exactly what you’re doing without requiring you to get a degree first.

Of course, the more technical-minded out there can delve deeper into what BackupBuddy has to offer, which means that this plugin can work for you, regardless of your level of expertise.

To create a WordPress backup, all you need to do is complete a quick form and browse through a series of clearly explained choices. Do this and then save the choices. This is enough to create a secure backup of your data.

Schedule Backup Anytime

Another great feature of BackupBuddy is the fact that you can schedule the backups to work around your schedule. Some plugins require you to be logged in and manually start the backup. Others might choose odd and inconvenient times to back up your data. BackupBuddy comes with a convenient scheduling option so you can tell it when to work.

BackupBuddy allows you to schedule multiple backups to various backup items (rather than the whole site), depending on your needs. So, you can schedule smaller backups throughout the week, for example, and then back up the entire site on the weekends. Or change that to fit your needs. Whatever your schedule needs, BackupBuddy can accommodate them.

Store In The Cloud

You might be wondering what good a backup plugin is if the backup itself somehow gets wiped in an attack or some other unfortunate circumstance. Well, BackupBuddy has taken care of this problem, too. By offering a cloud-based backup solution, you essentially never have to worry about issues like this. Your data is always backed up and available with a few clicks, regardless of where you are, what you’re working on, or what set of events led you there in the first place.

BackupBuddy gives you a choice of where you can store backup — Google Drive, Dropbox, Amazon S3, and other cloud-based solutions are available to you, as well as BackupBuddy’s own serves called BackupBuddy Stash.

You also have the choice to download a zip file of your entire backup to a local server as another option. However you want to store your data, BackupBuddy has a convenient and easy solution for you that lets you work with the technology you already have, rather than forcing you to learn an entirely new system to use it correctly.

Restore Data With Ease

What good is it to have your data ready for you to use if you can’t figure out how to access it or get it when easily when you need it?

Thankfully, BackupBuddy has you covered here. While other backup options sometimes make this feature cloudy and confusing, BackupBuddy makes it easy by reducing the entire process to a simple click. That’s right — one click and your entire site is restored, as good as new.

But what if you only need certain elements restored? That’s okay — if you only need certain files to be restored, you can easily pick and choose which one to select and which ones to ignore. You can also tell BackupBuddy to rollback your site to an earlier configuration.

This is really helpful if you make some changes that you later decide you don’t like, or if you accidentally “break” your site in such a way that it’s too difficult to find and fix the problems one by one. Just roll back to an earlier build that worked, and your problems are gone in an instant.

Migrate Existing Site

Should you find, yourself wanting to change your server or web host, the thought of having to migrate all of your data might at first make you want to pull your hair out. The good news is that  BackupBuddy also makes this process easy. Migrating your information is just as simple as restoring a website.

This plugin doesn’t just create backups. It can also move your WordPress website to a different host. Ordinarily, this is a tedious process, but BackupBuddy makes it simple with a superb migration tool.

You can use BackupBuddy to make quick changes to your website’s host, server, or domain name. If you want to change its URL completely, the plugin can do this as well. It makes full-scale WordPress migrations look and feel easy.

Scan For Malware

Because many issues with WordPress sites come in the form of malware, the creators of BackupBuddy put in what I think is one of their handiest features — a malware scan. This preventative measure might be one of the more useful features offered.

Rather than needing to restore your data, why not side step the problem entirely before it begins by scanning for potential issues and eliminating them?

You’ll be pleased to know BackupBuddy also comes with an integrated malware detection tool. It only takes two or three clicks to launch it and get your entire WordPress website checked for insecurities. It uses a combination of different malware hunting software like Norton Safe Web, Google Safe Browsing, PhishTank, and Site Advisor to do this.

If it detects a credible threat, it will recommend a previous backup point and advise you to restore your website to this safer date. It won’t change anything about the website though. The vulnerability that allowed the malware to get into the site will stay there unless you take action to improve security.

WP Host Compatibility

Some website hosts don’t like BackupBuddy and won’t permit its use. It’s nothing to do with the plugin’s quality. Some shared hosting plans (check best cheap WordPress hosting providers) just won’t accept the demands on memory, disk space, and processor time that backup plugins make. I advise you to check compatibility with your host before you install BackupBuddy.

Support & Documentation

Like all good WordPress plugins, BackupBuddy offers various customer support features. Lots of users say the support needs several days to answer, which is something that BackupBuddy support needs to work on.

What Are BackupBuddy Pros & Cons?

BackupBuddy offers a wide variety of advantages that make it a plugin to consider, which is probably why it’s one of the most popular plugins in use today. These pros include:

• An easy-to-use interface for newbies and techies alike
• Full backup of all data, including your themes, plugins and other settings
• Multiple scheduling options to make BackupBuddy work for you
• Multiple cloud-based storage options, including BackupBuddy’s own BackupBuddy Stash.
• Easy site restoration, rollback or migration
• Malware scans are included
• Makes restoring WordPress websites simple and easy
• Offers superb cloud storage in the form of its Live Stash functions
• The initial setup wizard gets your backups running in a very approachable way.

Of course, nothing’s perfect, and even BackupBuddy comes with a few cons to consider. These include:

• Even though BackupBuddy is considered easy to use, for those who are just starting out some of the options and features can still seem a bit on the technical side
• The pricing is a yearly price — not just a one-time deal. So, be prepared to pay and keep paying later!
• No free trial period available. You also can’t get any money back if you don’t like it.
• Incompatible with some shared web hosts. Check before you use this plugin.

How Much BackupBuddy Costs?

There are multiple price tiers for BackupBuddy, depending on your needs. At its most basic, a yearly subscription will set you back $80. This allows you to back up one site and gives you a full gig of storage on BackupBuddy Stash.

The middle tier costs $127 and lets you back up to 10 sites. The highest tier enables you to back up an unlimited number of websites and give you up to 5GB storage on BackupBuddy Stash. This tier, however, costs $199 a year.

BackupBuddy Review Conclusion

BackupBuddy comes with many features. Is it the only option out there? Certainly not. But it’s been around almost since the beginning of WordPress, and in that time it’s built a rather large following — and for a good reason. This reliable plugin is well worth the money you will invest in keeping your websites and your data safe.

I don’t like the fact BackupBuddy doesn’t have a refund policy. If you decide to use it and hate it, you can’t get your money back. There’s no free trial period, so you can’t road test it to make sure it’s right for you. Make sure you read the terms carefully before you buy it.

Despite this, I like BackupBuddy. It provides a sleek user interface that even the most inexperienced users can easily use. There are helpful on-screen prompts, and it’s challenging to get confused or lose your way with the backup process.

The plugin’s code is of very high quality. BackupBuddy gets regular updates and improvements. As an alternative for backups, I recommend Duplicator plugin, 10Web (see 10Web review), WPvivid (check WPvivid review), VaultPress, BlogVault, WP migrate DB Pro, etc.

Be noted that developers of backupBuddy, iThemes, also have security plugin called iThemes Security if you also need security plugin (see iThemes Security vs WordFence comparison). Overall, I recommend it as one of the most affordable ways to securely back up your WordPress website data.

And if you need to backup your computer system, drive or files, then I suggest you check iBeesoft DBackup tool.