It’s every site owner’s worst nightmare — you visit your website and find that it’s completely down. What do you do? Where do you go from here?

There are a variety of reasons your website might be inaccessible — it was hacked, there was a theme or plugin conflict, you accidentally deleted something — but it can be crippling no matter what. If your site is down even briefly, you could lose customers, clients, or followers. If it’s down longer (especially because of a hack) you could lose your cash flow, drop in search engine rankings or suffer permanent damage to your reputation. And, of course, if you have no way to restore it, you might lose your past orders or content, and then need to hire someone to fix it for you.

That’s where backups can save the day! A good backup plugin requires very little setup on your end but saves your site automatically so that, if the unthinkable happens, you can get back up and running again quickly. It’s more than just a handy tool; it’s peace of mind.

But there are a lot of good options out there. How do you know which one to choose?

We’ve examined the best WordPress backup plugins and compared them based on their features, pros and cons, ease of use, and pricing.

Losing your website data can be devastating. Whether due to a server crash, a hacking attempt, or a simple error, not having a recent backup can lead to lost revenue and hours of stressful rebuilding.

This guide covers four reliable ways to back up a WordPress site: (1) a backup plugin, (2) your host’s backup tools, (3) manual backups via cPanel/FTP + phpMyAdmin, and (4) command-line backups via SSH/WP-CLI. You’ll also learn how to verify a backup and how to restore quickly if something breaks.

By the end, you’ll be able to choose and implement the right backup strategy for your site’s needs.