UpdraftPlus and Duplicator are two of the most popular WordPress Backup Plugins with over 3 million and 1 million active installations respectively.
Both of these backup plugins have a basic free version, that can suffice for basic backup scenarios.
However, if you are looking to automate, schedule or customize your backup schedule, you might need to consider upgrading to a premium version.
UpdraftPlus Vs Duplicator
Here’s a detailed feature-wise comparison of the free and premium versions for each of these WordPress backup plugins.
| Feature | UpdraftPlus Free | UpdraftPlus Pro | Duplicator Free | Duplicator Pro |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Backup, migrate, restore, clone locally | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Moneyback Guarantee | NA | NA | ||
| Non-WordPress files or database | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Backup to remote storage | No – only local | |||
| Backup manually | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| # of Language Translations | 35 | 35 | 25 | 25 |
| Incremental Backups | No | Yes | No | No |
| Integrated storage | No | No | No | |
| Backup WordPress installation itself. | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Basic email reporting | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Automatic backup before WordPress, plugin or theme updates | No | Yes | No | No |
| Backup to more than one location for added protection | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Database encryption | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Scheduled backups | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Run backups at set times | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Network / Multisite support | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Restrict access to the backup settings | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Support for WordPress.com | No | No | No | Yes |
| Install a multisite subsite as a new standalone website | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| cPanel integration | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Plugin hooks for developers | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| How to get it | From WordPress.org | From UpdraftPlus.com | From WordPress.org | From Duplicator.com |
In Conclusion
Finally, choosing the best WordPress backup plugin for you, boils down to your backup requirements.
But to me, one of the most important difference between the two backup plugins is the ability to take incremental backups that UpdraftPlus has and Duplicator doesn’t.