UpdraftPlus Plugin Review & Comparisons

Plugin Review

AI-Researched

What is UpdraftPlus?

UpdraftPlus is a backup, restore, and migration plugin built for WordPress. It has been developed by David Anderson and Team Updraft for 14 years. The plugin is actively installed on over 3 million websites worldwide. It holds a 4.8 out of 5 star rating from 8,564 reviews. A full 94% of those ratings are five stars, showing strong user approval.

The plugin handles scheduled backups of your entire site. It can send those backups to multiple remote storage locations. Restoring a site from a backup takes only a few clicks. The free version includes migration tools with a built-in search-and-replace engine. This makes moving a site to a new host or domain straightforward.

Key Features of UpdraftPlus

Scheduled Backups: Set backups to run every 2, 4, 8, or 12 hours, daily, weekly, monthly, or fortnightly.
Remote Storage Options: Store backups to Dropbox, Google Drive, Amazon S3, Rackspace Cloud, FTP, DreamObjects, Openstack Swift, or via email.
Selective Restore: Choose to restore only specific components like plugins, themes, or the database, not the entire site.
Migration Engine: Migrate your site by downloading components from the source and uploading them to the destination, with automatic URL replacement.
Three-Click Restore: Restore your entire WordPress website from a backup using just three clicks on the settings page.
Backup Log Access: Download backup logs directly from the plugin settings page, or find them in the wp-content/updraft directory via FTP.
Automatic Pre-Update Backups (Premium): Get automatic backups before any WordPress or plugin update, allowing you to restore the latest version if something breaks.
Incremental Backups (Premium): Save server resources by only backing up changes to your site, rather than performing a full backup each time.

Who Should Use UpdraftPlus?

UpdraftPlus suits beginners and experienced site owners alike. The plugin is designed to work across millions of different WordPress setups. If you run a single blog, a business site, or an ecommerce store, this plugin provides a reliable safety net. The 3 million+ active installs show it is trusted for sites of all sizes.

The free version covers core needs: scheduled backups, remote storage, and migration. Users who need more control can choose the Premium version. Premium adds features like incremental backups and automatic pre-update backups. The plugin is ideal for anyone who wants to "set and forget" their backup routine.

Installation & Setup

You can install UpdraftPlus directly from the WordPress plugin directory. After activation, the setup wizard guides you to choose a remote storage location and a backup schedule. The plugin requires WordPress version 3.2 or higher, making it compatible with nearly every site. The entire setup process is beginner-friendly and takes only a few minutes.

Support & Community

Support data from the last 2 months shows 50 open threads and 45 resolved threads. This gives a resolution rate of 90%. The development team checks the WordPress support forum daily. Users are encouraged to include the backup log, PHP version, and error description when posting for help.

The rating breakdown is heavily positive. With 94% 3% one-star ratings, the plugin enjoys high satisfaction. The support team also offers a direct ticketing system for Premium customers. This data suggests that most issues are handled quickly and effectively.

Pros & Cons

What's Good

With 3 million+ active installs and a 94% 5-star rating from over 8,564 reviews, it is one of the most trusted backup plugins in the WordPress ecosystem.
The free version supports scheduled backups to multiple cloud destinations including Dropbox, Google Drive, and Amazon S3, with intervals as frequent as every 2 hours.
Restoration is a three-click process that allows selective recovery of individual components like plugins, themes, or the database.
Its built-in search-and-replace engine during migration automatically updates old URLs to new ones, reducing broken links and manual work.
The plugin maintains a 90% support resolution rate on 50 total threads, indicating responsive developer assistance for common issues.

Drawbacks

The free version lacks support for popular cloud storage options like OneDrive, Azure, and Backblaze B2, which are locked behind the paid tier.
Backup files can become quite large for media-heavy sites, and there is no built-in compression level adjustment in the free version to manage file size.
The plugin’s interface can feel cluttered with promotional banners for the premium version, which may distract users during setup.
Restoring very large databases may time out on shared hosting environments with strict execution limits, requiring manual intervention or server tweaks.