WordPress backup plugins compared (as of November 2026)
Five widely used backup plugins with verifiable figures from the official plugin directory – and the question that matters more than the choice.
The figures below come from the public API of the WordPress.org plugin directory, retrieved on 2 November 2026. The install counts are the rounded numbers published there, not our own estimates. The comparison covers the free versions – all five also have paid tiers with a different feature set.
The figures
All-in-One WP Migration: 5,000,000 active installations, version 7.113, rated 4.5 out of 5 from 7,676 votes, in the directory since January 2014.
UpdraftPlus: 4,000,000 installations, version 1.26.14, 4.8 out of 5 from 8,709 votes – the most ratings in the field – since May 2012.
Duplicator: 1,000,000 installations, version 5.1.0, 4.9 out of 5 from 4,940 votes, since June 2011. Requires WordPress 6.2 and PHP 7.4.
BackWPup: 400,000 installations, version 5.7.8, 4.0 out of 5 from 1,323 votes, since July 2009 – the oldest of the five.
WP Staging: 100,000 installations, version 4.19.0, 4.8 out of 5 from 2,470 votes, since August 2015.
All five are listed as tested up to WordPress 7.1.4 and were last updated in October 2026 – none of them falls down on maintenance.
What the figures do not say
Install counts measure reach, not suitability. All-in-One WP Migration leads the field but began as a migration tool: it produces one single file containing the whole site, which is handy when moving and quickly runs into limits as a daily backup for a large site.
A rating of 4.0 against 4.9 also says less than it appears: BackWPup has 1,323 votes spread over 17 years, Duplicator 4,940. Old ratings refer to old versions.
The difference that matters is in none of these columns: does the plugin store the backup **off** the server, and can it be restored when the site is no longer reachable? A backup sitting next to the website in the same account is just as gone as the website in a server failure or a break-in.
The question that matters more than the choice
When did you last try a restore? Almost every backup that fails when it is needed was not created badly – it was never tested. A database without the files from wp-content/uploads, a transfer that broke off, a storage target whose credentials expired months ago: all of that only shows up during a restore.
In practice: once a quarter, restore the backup into a test environment and check whether the site is complete. Which of the five plugins you use for that is secondary – that you have done it once is not.
Sources and further documentation
Frequently asked questions
Is my host's backup enough?
As the only backup, usually not. Many hosts back up daily and keep the copies for only a few days – if a break-in is noticed after two weeks, every available copy is already affected. On top of that the backup sits with the same provider. As an additional layer it is valuable, as the only one it is risky.
Why are there no prices in this list?
Because the plugin directory does not publish prices and we only state what is verifiable. All five have paid tiers whose prices and scope change – the current ones are on the respective vendors' own pages. The figures above, by contrast, can be checked yourself at any time.
More guides
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