Are you looking for the perfect WordPress BackUp plugin? With many options available out there with different use complexity, we have selected a list of well-tested WordPress Backup plugins that we have used personally over the years on our WordPress centric projects.

So, without further ado, here are the top backup plugins you can try out for your new or existing WordPress projects.

Top Backup WordPress Plugins for 2022

●     UpdraftPlus WordPress Backup Plugin

●     Duplicator Backup Plugin

●     BlogVault – Backup & Staging

●     BackWPup – WordPress Backup Plugin

●     Backup Guard – WordPress Backup and Migrate Plugin

●     All-in-One WP Plugin

UpdraftPlus WordPress Backup Plugin

Image Source: WordPress.org

When it comes to free backup plugins, none of the other options mentioned in this article come close to what UpdraftPlus has to offer.

Image Source: WordPress.org

With over 3 million active installs and a 5-star rating, you don’t have any reason not to use this plugin for your backup needs.

UpdraftPlus is a WordPress Backup plugin that makes backing up and restoring websites as easy as pie.

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It integrates with top cloud storage services like Dropbox, Google Drive, Amazon S3, UpdraftVault (Their personalised cloud storage), Rackspace Cloud and much more to allow Website to Cloud Storage Direct Backups.

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UpdraftPlus even supports direct backups via FTP which makes it one of the most extensible Backup plugins available for free on the WordPress Repo.

Another extra feature which you would expect to pay for is Scheduling Backups. With UpdraftPlus, you can automate backups daily to any selected storage location for absolutely no cost.

UpdraftPlus also has a premium version (with pricing starting at $70 for two site licenses) which extends its functionality, even more, features like Incremental backups, a powerful add-on for smooth migration (Migrator), an option to backup non-WP files, database encryption and

More storage destinations.

You can download UpdraftPlus from here.

Duplicator Backup Plugin

Image Source: WordPress.org

Duplicator is a WordPress Backup/Migration plugin that enables WordPress owners to Backup their site for absolutely free.

With more than 20 million total downloads since release and 1 million active installs, this is amongst the most popular WordPress Backup you can consider.

Image Source: WordPress.org

Duplicator works by creating a package that contains parts of your website you want to backup; you have the option to backup your database, site plugins, files or your entire installation.

The free version of the plugin allows you to backup and download your site to your local machine as frequently and much as you want.

Image Source: WordPress.org

You can restore a backup using their wizard (Quite complicated for beginners) or install on a new server if you want (migration).

To Backup your site to cloud storages like google drive & dropbox, you would need to upgrade to the Pro version which pricing starts from $59 & comes with some extra advanced backup features as well.

With the Pro version of Duplicator, you can schedule backups daily, weekly or even monthly and Duplicator will automatically store each snapshot to a selected cloud storage location.

This feature gives complete peace of mind as you always know your site is secure with several backup snapshots arranged by date.

All for a one-time fee of $59 (license for three websites)

Even without the Paid version, it is still considered one of the best plugins to backup your website with

BlogVault – Backup & Staging

Image Source: WordPress.org

If you are a total non-tech-savvy WordPress user, then you might most likely run into problems trying to use the other BackUp plugins on this list. Well, not except BlogVault.

Image Source: WordPress.org

Blog Vault is a backup plugin that takes out all the complexity in backing up your WordPress website and restoring them.

Image Source: WordPress.org

We included this plugin because it does not require any technical skills to use; you simply install it and follow the setup wizard and voila; it does all the work for you.

Image Source: WordPress.org

It comes with many premium features (provided for free) like incremental backups, free offsite storage, one-click backup restore, migration, etc.

Blogvault is not just a Backup plugin, but more of a Backup service just like hosting backup tool notably “CodeGuard” that is used by Bluehost among its package addons, Blogvault is actually used by some of the largest web hosting companies out there.

From WPEngine, Pantheon, FlyWheel to many more and aids their free migration services.

It comes with several other features like migration and staging, with Backups being the main focus.

The premium version of the plugin (starting at $89 a year) provides backups in real-time as well as being completely compatible with WooCommerce with a Backups Archive period of 90 days.

If you just want an easy way to backup your WordPress website, you can try out Blogvault, but I would advise you combine this plugin with another as your backup data is stored on an external server that can go offline anytime any day.

You can try BlogVault out by downloading from the WordPress Repo.

BackWPup – WordPress Backup Plugin

Image Source: WordPress.org

One good alternative to UpdraftPlus you could consider if run into issues with it is BackWPup.

Image Source: WordPress.org

This plugin shares many similar features with UpdraftPlus and allows you to backup your WordPress Website for free.

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It also allows Cloud storage locations with a few services like Google Drive being limited to Premium users only.

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You can back up just individual parts of your websites like the Mysql database or your WordPress installation with ease.

With a 4.5 star rating and regular plugin updates every month, this could be the best option for your backup needs.

You can download the BackWPup plugin from your WordPress plugin repo.

Backup Guard – WordPress Backup and Migrate Plugin

Image Source: WordPress.org

Backup Guard is a Backup/Migration plugin that provides you with an easy way to backup, restore, and migrate WordPress Website.

What we like about this plugin is its simple and easy to use User interface, especially the dashboard.

Image Source: WordPress.org

Backups are sorted by date of creation and you the option to either download them to your local machine or Dropbox for free.

Image Source: WordPress.org

To add more Cloud Storage services, you would need to purchase the premium version of the plugin, but by default, the free version allows you to move your backups to dropbox.

It also has BackUp scheduling, Notifications, and migration features just like the other plugins on this list but only for Premium users.

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The only thing free about this plugin is creating unlimited backups and restoring them.

You can download the Backup Guard plugin from your WordPress plugin repo.

All-in-One WP Plugin

Image Source: WordPress.org

All in One WP plugin is actually a migration plugin that can be used for backing up your WordPress website.

Image Source: WordPress.org

It provides functionality to backup (in an export file) your entire WordPress website, including the database, media files, plugins, and themes without any technical knowledge.

Image Source: WordPress.org

It is also quite extensible and does support cloud storage locations like Dropbox, FTP, Google Drive, Amazon S3, OneDrive Box, MegaNZ, DigitalOcean, Microsoft Azure Storage, etc. on purchase of the extension.

With each extension having a starting price of $50 50 $99, this is considered pricy compared to the other plugins on this list.

Image Source: WordPress.org

It provides an easy Drag & Drop backup restoration wizard which makes this ideal for backing up small sites with minimal content if you consider going for the free version.

You can download the All in One Plugin from your WordPress plugin repo or the WordPress.org plugin page here.

Our Personal Favourite (Recommendation)

UpdraftPlus no doubt, has the best to offer when it comes to backing up WordPress website.

Not only is it a powerful plugin, but it’s also free with several premium features you would otherwise pay for to use on other backup plugins.

Image Source: WordPress.org

Duplicator is also a good option but only when you have plans of migrating your backup to another server at a later date as it’s straightforward to do that with the duplicator.

Finally, a tip that’s worth mentioning, if you prefer to minimize the plugins installed on your site, then in that case, then you should know that there are some hosting companies out there that offer Automatic Backups feature. So you might want to keep that in mind

Conclusion

Each Backup plugin has there advantages and disadvantages, it up to you to test them and find the one that works best for what you’re trying to achieve.

You might need to upgrade to a premium version to get what you want but at the end of the day, you should have a well functioning Backup Plugin working smoothly.

Also, make sure you have more than one backup location, never put all your eggs in one basket, i.e. storing backup files in the same server as your website.

Anything can happen, and at any time, so you have to be ready.

That’s all for this article. We hope you found it useful, If you have a question about any of the plugins on this list, please do not hesitate to add a comment below and we would respond as soon as possible

This is a common showdown among users who are confused as to which to pick. Whether you’re a beginner or long-term user, looking at redesigning your website or want to commence a bandwagon for your product or content. Then stick around till the end and know how much impact the right platform can do on your site.

We are going to dive in deep, strategically covering up the necessary points that would aid your knowledge and reading. 

So, if you’re in search of a simplified yet detailed understanding of both platforms. Then stick around, read to the end, and let us know what you think in the comment section. 

What is WooCommerce?

So, for the better understanding of readers, most especially newbies who are inexperienced with the whole concept of WooCommerce. Or are wondering why they come across the word so much but have no idea what it means. Long-term users, on the other hand, can just follow the overview in a like-mind.

WooCommerce is not exactly an eCommerce site but the significant feature it offers as an open-source plugin for all sites to make it function properly as an eCommerce site.

WooCommerce kicked off in 2011, but now, it is the most popular eCommerce platform utilized by over three million users on their WordPress site. This plugin is installed and activated on the website. 

One distinguishable feature between WooCommerce and Shopify is that the former is distinguished to be a natural platform for WordPress and it is flexible and convenient for users to modify their site to their discretion since it is self-hosted. By self-hosted, it means the store files remain in a single server that is embedded in it, unlike Shopify. 

What is Shopify?

Shopify was launched in 2004, but unlike WooCommerce, the former is not an open-source platform but runs powerful features provided to its user at a monthly fee and commission. But aside from this, it makes up for this by providing users with reliable and user-friendly components that are variously employed to run their eCommerce store.

Another notable feature is the fact that Shopify employs a user-friendly nature that gives room for beginners and individuals with no technical skills. However, the utilization means that your store would run by Shopify software which although is wide but limited. Therefore, you can only make modifications that are permitted by the software, unlike WooCommerce which is self-hosted. 

Trend Overview

Although this is not a major factor for you to decide which is best for your site. But since we are looking at a lot of grounds in this article, we are going to cover the market share trend and figure out the popularity level of both platforms.

As claimed by BuiltWith, it states that as of 2018, 21% of websites employ the use of WooCommerce compared to Shopify that uses 18% of users’ websites. And this research was carried out on the top one million sites on the web.

But with more critical analysis, the research done with other top ten thousand websites stipulates that WooCommerce is 17% behind Shopify and it is greatly utilized by top authority companies. WooCommerce is seen as one of the top alternatives to Shopify but the differences give room for both platforms to grow and perhaps outgrow. 

You should remember that WooCommerce was earlier launched compared to Shopify that has been established for quite a while. The milestone Woocommerce has reached should not be overlooked. 

Let’s take a look at Google Trends as well.

WooCommerce being blue and Shopify being red. We can see the steady growth between both platforms as it gradually passes over the years. And at the end of the trend, there’s a slight increase by Shopify.

And though this is not a reason to choose one over the other. It’s preferable you gain more insight into the features they provide and choose the one comfortable and convenient for your eCommerce store.

However, before moving into the features comparison, let’s take a look at this breakdown. 

What to look out for when choosing between WooCommerce and Shopify? 

Picking the best from both eCommerce platforms can be herculean because both platforms provide users with lots of indisputable features. These features are best used by users to improve their eCommerce store, promote awareness, and obtain a better rank on the search result page. 

So most users are either eager to choose the best for their store or would just want one that perfectly suits their taste, budget, and convenience. 

Therefore if you want to know which to pick between WooCommerce/Shopify, stick around, and let’s discuss the factors or grounds you should consider before deciding the one that best satisfies your needs. 

1. Installation Process

Due to popular opinion, yes, the installation process of both platforms does matter. 

For WooCommerce, it takes the process of installation and activation and a level of knowledge on WordPress sites (this is pertinent where you have barely any knowledge as to the connection of your site to WooCommerce). 

The WooCommerce installation, fortunately, comes with a guide to take you through the whole process of connecting your site to it. So, don’t feel discouraged because it’s straightforward and only takes a few minutes of your time. And in addition, there are provisions for blogs, tutorials, and the WordPress Site community who would come up with discussions as solution to issues on one’s sites. 

However, you have to go through the process of installation and activation of the plugin, installation and configuration of WordPress, and other basic information such as the tax payment, payment gateway, shipping features, and a host of others. This has to be done accordingly before you can use WooCommerce on your eCommerce store. 

A step-by-step guide on the installation process of WordPress sites with other related plugins can be found here.

For Shopify, this is undoubtedly more simple compared to the WooCommerce installation process. All you have to do is create a Shopify account, sync an existing domain name or buy a new one, and finally set up the payment getaway or if you already have an existing Shopify payment gateway process, then it’s easier for you to evade that step. 

2. Practicability

This is also a good factor to consider when comparing both platforms. Now, we would want to figure out which is practical enough for your understanding, that is, easy to use and manage. 

With the aim of giving your visitors the best website experience, you would want to choose a platform that can be easily managed and operated to suit your convenience. Here, you are tasked with making online deals, managing customers feedback, vendor issues, and a host of others. You should ascertain that the platform suits your eCommerce store and can therefore match your work line. 

Here, WooCommerce wins this round because it provides features that help users to simplify their site’s setting to fit their convenience. For example, the eCommerce payment processing feature. 

3. Level of control over site’s functionality

Another thing to look out for is the level of control you would have over your website over time. You would want to choose that which is flexible and administer a level of website control to the user. 

Here, we have WooCommerce as the clear winner. 

Shopify gives its user some level of control of the website functionality but it is a limited variation, meaning that it’s not a self-hosted site and can not assert the same flexibility that WooCommerce provides.

With WooCommerce, you can;

• Customize your theme. There are unlimited themes to choose from(both free and paid).
• Customize your domain code 
• Extend your WooCommerce feature with additional plugins designated particularly for WooCommerce. Amazing right! There are lots of WooCommerce extensions that can aid your WordPress site. To mention a few, we have; WOOCS – Currency Switcher, Stripe and/or PayPal, Custom Product Tabs, Fancy Product Designer, Beeketing, WooCommerce Memberships, and a host of others. There are thousands of them out there. 

You can visit our blog site for more tips on how you can effectively employ WooCommerce to increase sales on your site. 

In comparison, Shopify offers limited flexibility to its users. This does not imply that it has no flexible content that it provides to its users but is limited. Like the product variation restriction placed in Shopify. Unlike WooCommerce that has no restriction, Shopify restricts its product variation to 100 variations for each product and three total product options. And this is not defined by the plan you are on. 

Apart from that, Shopify allows users to customize their HTML but only applies to their homepage and not all pages. 

So, Shopify allows a measure of control of the website functionality by the user but in comparison, it is unlike WooCommerce. 

4. Extension to Third Party Platforms 

Another factor to consider is if the eCommerce platform you want to set up for your store is not limited to just its features but can extend its thrilling features to external platforms. Things you have to consider here are things like if the platform allows the extension to other social media tools, and email marketing tools as well. 

These tools are to run side by side with the platform chosen in your eCommerce store. You might not be able to get it all with WooCommerce/Shopify but with the extension, you can get it all.

WooCommerce, like earlier discussed, there are over 50,000 extensions made available for WordPress websites to add. And we also have MailChimp; a third-party integration of WooCommerce that further aids email marketing. You can find more third-party extensions of WooCommerce here.

Shopify runs an app store with about 500 applications but if you want your eCommerce store with more admissible extensions, WooCommerce is a better choice.

5.  Customization

For this category, it’s hard deciding which is the winner in the WooCommerce vs. Shopify showdown. You should know that the theme and design play a major role in attracting your website visitors. Some visitors use the website theme and design as a reason to stay on the site. 

So, you have to buckle up and figure out the theme that matches your product and is capable of driving sales to your site. 

Shopify offers over sixty curated themes that can match your product website. In comparison, WooCommerce has lots of thrilling themes, and therefore, the user has a wide range of choices to pick.

Storefront is the official store for WooCommerce themes. 

To know exactly what you want, there is a detailed blog that discusses WooCommerce themes and picking that which you need for your eCommerce store. 

6. Payment method 

A major factor to also consider. Although both eCommerce platforms support lots of payment methods and even the popular ones. 

WooCommerce has a lot of support for major payment methods and even minor ones as well. They have over seventy payment gateway options made available for you.

The major difference between WooCommerce vs. Shopify in the payment option is the fact that Shopify charged up to 2% extra charge on external payment gateway in addition to the normal payment gateway fee. 

7. Hosting Option

You should also try looking at the hosting features in Woocommerce and Shopify.

For Shopify, you don’t get the alternative of choosing another host, unlike WooCommerce. Here, your site would run under the Shopify server.

This is unlike WooCommerce where you get to pick the hosting provider of your site from a wide variety of host providers and subsequently you get to choose the host features such as the size or the bandwidth and other considerable things.

You have to determine the host plan you want to go for, pick the one suitable for your website and matches your budget size. You don’t want to pick a host that might fluctuate on days when you’re running a sale or special event on your website. This is why the option to choose your server is a good thing which is admissible only under WooCommerce.

And you can see how to improve the speed of your site and what may cause the slowness here. 

8. Maintenance Option

For this category, maintenance is wholly operated by the users unlike Shopify since it is not a self-hosted platform.

WooCommerce gives control and ownership to the user, therefore, the job to secure and maintain your website is given to the users. This is why the web host provider you choose has a great role to play in your website’s maintenance.

Your eCommerce store should have a good hosting provider because this decreases the level of maintenance you have to uphold on your site. This does not delimit the level of security and reliability which WooCommerce provides for its users.

9. Cost of Operation

Another factor to consider is the cost of operating WooCommerce or Shopify. The thing is, it is hard to ascertain which has a higher cost of operation since it depends on the package run by the user. For instance, the premium theme and plugins for WooCommerce, as well as the premium theme and apps for Shopify. This varies accordingly and can affect the cost of operation differently.

WooCommerce has a static price for the domain, hosting, and payment gateway. Shopify is also accountable and has a static monthly payment price that covers most activities done on your site. But this can also be affected by extra fee charges like the one placed on the external payment gateway on Shopify.

10. Multilingual Support

You would be surprised to find out that Shopify is not a great option for a multilingual store. So if your eCommerce store requires communication or connectivity with the world outside your location then you have to restrategize.

To enable Shopify multilingual support, you have to install Langify but have to pay $17.50 every month to continue enjoying its functionality.

Pretty high right! In a year, you would have spent over $200 just to enable the multilingual feature of your site with Shopify. This is aside from other charges you’re still going to make for your site with Shopify.

A preferable alternative is WooCommerce. It provides a multilingual feature with the installment of WPML.  And it is priced at $29 for the first year and $21 for the preceding years, or you can pay once at a commendable fee of $195.

Do the calculations.

11. Support system

Another factor to examine is the support system of WooCommerce and Shopify. Although they are versatile, there might come a time where you would need the support system for any issues.

For WooCommerce, it’s an open-source platform with no formal support system. But this is supplemented with a host of other mediums such as blogs, tutorials, and even the WordPress active community where various issues are collectively discussed and solutions are given.

There is no official support channel indeed but this does not seem to be a hassle because there are other means by which users can easily obtain information on a certain WooCommerce issue smoothly.

For Shopify, there’s provision for an official support medium. There is provision for emails, chats, or you can even try to get hold of their social media handle to communicate with them, and of course there’s the option of hiring a Shopify specialist to help with an issue in your eCommerce store.

12. Dropshipping Feature

For people who are new to the dropshipping feature, it allows eCommerce stores to be an intermediary between the actual supplier and the buyer. This permits the retailer to hold no inventory but displays the goods or product on the site and acts as an intermediary between the buyer and the actual supplier.

Both WooCommerce and Shopify make provision for the dropshipping features. This is to the level that they allow add ons and extension plugins and apps that support the drop-shipping feature on your site.

So I guess both platforms win this round.

Our top Pick- WooCommerce vs. Shopify

There are various reasons as to why we should pick WooCommerce over Shopify and vice versa. But it is pertinent for you to note that Shopify can be termed to be a storefront with product pages, so if you want more classical pages about your store, then WooCommerce should be your top pick.

We are choosing WooCommerce because of its;

• Flexibility
• User’s Controllable features
• Customization
• Multilingual support at a low-cost range, and
• Reliability. Some products are banned from the Shopify product page. You can find more information here.

Conclusion

Our top pick is in no way degrading the excellent feature that Shopify provides to its users. The various factors discussed are a way of showing how much impact both platforms have on the world. But we are picking WooCommerce for the top five reasons stipulated in the preceding subheading.

If you have other reasons, do let us know.

However, choices in this showdown may differ, there are other blogs out there that pick Shopify over WooCommerce, this shows how both platforms provide excellent features to cause such an uproar.

So, take a step back, check the factors discussed again and figure out the one that would best suit your site.

You can also take on a trial period for each platform. But decide this knowing fully well that it is technical going through the migration process of your website for both sides.

If you’re in search of simplicity, Shopify is good for you, whereas if you seek ownership plus flexibility, then WooCommerce is the best option for you. But at the end of the day, it’s all up to you.