Choosing a WordPress backup plugin is not really a feature comparison, it is a choice between two philosophies of how backups should work. BlogVault sits squarely in the managed-SaaS camp: backups live off-site on BlogVault’s infrastructure, restores run from their servers, and you barely touch your own host. UpdraftPlus takes the opposite stance, a self-hosted plugin that runs inside WordPress, uses your server’s resources, and pushes archives to whichever cloud storage you connect.
Both plugins solve the same surface problem, getting your site back when something breaks, but they make very different trade-offs around server load, restore speed, encryption, and how much of the workflow you actually own. UpdraftPlus is the most-installed WordPress backup plugin on the planet with three-plus million active sites; BlogVault is the choice of agencies and security professionals who want incremental backups that never strain the origin server.
This comparison walks through pricing, real-world backup performance, restore reliability, staging environments, and the small workflow details that decide whether a backup tool earns its keep over months and years. By the end, you should know which one matches the way you actually run WordPress sites.
⚡ Quick Verdict
- →Pick BlogVault if you want off-site incremental backups, one-click staging, and restores that bypass your host’s resource limits.
- →Pick UpdraftPlus if you want a free, self-hosted plugin that uses your own cloud storage and gives you full ownership of archives.
📋 In This Comparison
BlogVault Overview
BlogVault is a managed WordPress backup, staging, and migration service that has been running since 2011 and protects sites for agencies, e-commerce stores, and individual publishers. Its core promise is that backups never run on your origin server: the plugin’s footprint is tiny, the heavy lifting of compression, encryption, and storage happens on BlogVault’s infrastructure, and restores pull from off-site copies rather than fighting your host for resources.
The service ships with incremental backups that only transfer changed bytes, real-time backups for WooCommerce stores that capture every order, and a one-click staging environment that spins up on BlogVault’s servers without touching the live site. There is also a built-in migration tool that handles host-to-host moves without manual file copying. For agencies, the multisite-style dashboard manages dozens of sites from a single login. See our roundup of the best WordPress backup plugins for how it stacks up against the broader field.
UpdraftPlus Overview
UpdraftPlus is the most-installed backup plugin in the WordPress ecosystem with over three million active installations. It is a traditional self-hosted plugin: install it on your site, point it at a remote storage destination (Google Drive, Dropbox, S3, Backblaze, OneDrive, and a dozen more), and schedule backups that run on your own server. The free version covers manual and scheduled backups; UpdraftPlus Premium adds incremental backups, more storage destinations, multisite support, encryption, and the UpdraftCentral remote dashboard.
Because the plugin runs in WordPress itself, all backup CPU and memory load happens on your hosting account. That keeps things cheap and gives you direct control over where archives live, but it can collide with shared hosting limits on larger sites. UpdraftPlus also offers UpdraftClone for staging and a Vault add-on for first-party cloud storage if you would rather not configure a third-party bucket.
Pricing Compared
BlogVault is subscription-only with no free tier, starting at roughly $89 per year for one site on the Basic plan (daily backups, 90 days of retention, staging, migrations). Higher tiers add real-time backups, longer retention, malware scanning, and white-label dashboards for agencies. Agency plans bundle 5, 10, 20, or more sites with steep per-site discounts. All plans include unlimited storage on BlogVault’s servers, which removes the math around archive size.
UpdraftPlus has a permanent free tier that covers manual and scheduled backups to one cloud storage destination, which is enough for many small sites. UpdraftPlus Premium starts at $70 per year for two sites with all add-ons (incremental backups, encryption, multisite, more storage destinations, UpdraftCentral). The Personal plan covers two sites, Business covers ten, and Agency covers thirty-five. Storage is whatever your chosen cloud provider charges, so a heavy site on S3 or Google Drive can add a separate ongoing bill.
On pure plugin cost, UpdraftPlus is cheaper, especially at the free tier. On total cost including storage and your own server resources, BlogVault often comes out close or ahead for sites above a few gigabytes.
Backup Architecture
This is the deepest difference between the two. BlogVault uses an off-server incremental model: the plugin sends only changed files and database rows to BlogVault’s infrastructure, where compression, deduplication, and encryption all happen. Your origin server barely notices a backup is running, which matters on shared hosts that throttle CPU or memory. Backups run every 24 hours by default, with real-time backups available for WooCommerce stores that need order-level granularity.
UpdraftPlus runs everything in-process on your server. The free plugin does full backups, and Premium adds incremental backups that skip unchanged files. Compression and encryption happen locally, then the archive uploads to your chosen remote storage. On a healthy VPS this is fine; on entry-level shared hosting with a 5GB site, you may see backup jobs time out or trigger PHP fatal errors. There is no real-time backup mode, so a WooCommerce store relies on scheduled snapshots between which orders can be lost.
For background on why off-server backups matter, see our guide to backup and restore plugins and how they compare on resource usage.
Restore Reliability
A backup is only worth the restore it provides. BlogVault restores run from BlogVault’s servers, so even if your origin is down, hacked, or running out of disk, the restore process still works. The plugin handles huge sites by streaming files in small chunks rather than relying on a single big upload. There is also an auto-rollback feature that takes a fresh snapshot right before a restore, so a bad restore can itself be rolled back. Restore time is typically minutes for a site under 1GB.
UpdraftPlus restores by downloading archives back to your server and unpacking them in WordPress. On a healthy site this is straightforward, but on a hacked or broken site the same PHP environment that caused the problem also runs the restore, which sometimes fails silently. Large archives can also exceed your host’s PHP upload and memory limits unless you adjust php.ini. UpdraftPlus does ship a separate restoration script for emergencies where WordPress itself will not load, which is useful but requires SSH or FTP comfort.
Staging and Migrations
BlogVault includes one-click staging on every plan: spin up a staging copy on BlogVault’s infrastructure, make your changes, then merge specific files or database tables back to production. No subdomain configuration on your host, no separate hosting account needed. The migration tool is equally hands-off, point it at a new host and BlogVault moves everything across, including database search-and-replace for the new domain.
UpdraftPlus offers UpdraftClone, a paid staging service that creates a temporary copy on UpdraftPlus’s servers for a few credits per clone. It works well for one-off testing but is less integrated than BlogVault’s bundled staging. For migrations, the Migrator add-on (included with Premium) handles host moves and URL changes, but you still drive the process manually compared to BlogVault’s two-click flow.
User Experience
BlogVault’s dashboard lives off-site, which means you log into blogvault.net to manage backups, scans, staging, and migrations across every connected site from one place. For agencies running ten or fifty sites, this is a meaningful workflow improvement over logging into each WP admin separately. The interface is opinionated and clean, with little WordPress decoration.
UpdraftPlus runs entirely inside your WordPress admin, which fits the workflow of solo site owners who live in wp-admin anyway. UpdraftCentral (free for Premium customers) adds a remote dashboard for managing multiple sites, but it is a separate plugin you self-host or use UpdraftPlus’s hosted version. Configuration is more flag-heavy than BlogVault, with dozens of settings tabs that reward careful reading.
Side-by-Side Table
| Feature | BlogVault | UpdraftPlus |
|---|---|---|
| Free Plan | No, 7-day trial | Yes, scheduled backups to one destination |
| Starting Price | $89/year, 1 site | $70/year, 2 sites (Premium) |
| Backup Storage | Unlimited, off-site | Your own cloud provider |
| Incremental Backups | Yes, all plans | Yes, Premium only |
| Real-Time Backups | Yes, on higher tiers | No |
| Restore Source | BlogVault servers | Your server |
| Staging Environment | One-click, included | UpdraftClone, paid credits |
| Migration Tool | Built-in | Migrator add-on (Premium) |
| Multisite Support | Yes, all plans | Yes, Premium only |
| Server Load | Minimal, off-loaded | Runs on your hosting |
| Best For | Agencies, WooCommerce, large sites | Solo owners, budget setups |
Which Should You Choose
Pick BlogVault if you manage client sites, run a WooCommerce store that needs real-time backup, host on shared infrastructure where backup load is a problem, or want staging and migrations baked into the same dashboard. Agencies and security-conscious owners are the natural fit.
Pick UpdraftPlus if you run a personal blog or small business site, already have cloud storage you trust, want the freedom of owning your archives directly, or simply need a free backup solution that works. The free tier is genuinely useful and the Premium upgrade is the cheapest path to incremental backups in WordPress.
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Start BlogVault Trial →FAQs
Is BlogVault better than UpdraftPlus?
Better depends on context. BlogVault wins on off-server backups, restore reliability, and bundled staging. UpdraftPlus wins on price (free tier exists), ownership of archives, and flexibility with storage destinations. For agencies and stores, BlogVault usually pays for itself. For solo sites, UpdraftPlus is hard to beat.
Does BlogVault have a free plan?
No, BlogVault is paid-only with a 7-day free trial. The cheapest plan is roughly $89 per year for one site, which includes daily backups, staging, and migrations.
Can UpdraftPlus restore a hacked site?
Yes, but with caveats. Because UpdraftPlus runs inside WordPress, a thoroughly compromised site may prevent the plugin from loading. UpdraftPlus ships a standalone restoration script for these cases, but it requires SSH or FTP access. BlogVault’s restores run off-site and bypass this problem.
Does BlogVault back up WooCommerce orders in real time?
Yes, on the higher-tier plans. Real-time backups capture every order, customer record, and inventory change as it happens, so a restore never loses revenue between scheduled snapshots.
Where does UpdraftPlus store backups?
You choose. UpdraftPlus supports Google Drive, Dropbox, Amazon S3, Backblaze B2, OneDrive, Microsoft Azure, Rackspace, UpdraftVault, FTP, SFTP, and email. The free plan supports one destination at a time; Premium allows multiple parallel destinations.
Can I migrate a site with UpdraftPlus for free?
No, migrations require the UpdraftPlus Migrator add-on, which is included with Premium. BlogVault includes migrations on every paid plan.
Does BlogVault include malware scanning?
Yes, on the Plus tier and above. The scanner runs daily and the included MalCare integration can clean infected files automatically.
Which is faster for large sites?
BlogVault. Because compression and upload happen off-server with byte-level incrementals, large sites back up in minutes rather than hours, and never trip PHP timeout limits.
Final Word
Both BlogVault and UpdraftPlus are legitimate choices that have kept WordPress sites alive through outages, hacks, and bad updates for years. The split is structural: BlogVault is for people who want backups handled by infrastructure they do not have to maintain, UpdraftPlus is for people who want the plugin in their hands and the archives in their bucket. Match the choice to how you actually want to spend your operations time. For more options across the category, see our best WordPress staging plugins roundup.