Losing a website hurts. A bad plugin update, a hacked login, or a host that shuts down can wipe out years of work in one minute. The good news: a solid backup plan costs little and takes about an hour to set up.
Below are 9 website backup tips we use ourselves, with real prices for host backups, backup plugins and cloud storage. All prices were checked on November 11, 2026.
Quick answer
The best website backup plan follows the 3-2-1 rule: keep 3 copies of your site, on 2 different kinds of storage, with 1 copy away from your web host. Do not rely only on your host’s backups, because many cheap plans only back up once a week (Hostinger Premium and Bluehost Starter both list weekly backups). Add a backup plugin or service, send a copy to cheap cloud storage like Backblaze B2 ($6.95 per TB per month) or Cloudflare R2 ($0.015 per GB per month), and test a restore at least once.
Backup options compared (prices checked November 2026)
This table shows what each option backs up and what it costs. Hosting prices are the cheapest plan with that backup level. Some prices are Black Friday offers, so renewal prices matter more.
| Option | Best for | Backups | First-term price | Renewal price | Refund window |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hostinger Premium | Cheapest hosting with backups | Weekly | $1.99/mo (48 months) | $10.99/mo | 30 days |
| Hostinger Unlimited | Daily backups on a budget | Daily | $2.79/mo (48 months) | $16.99/mo | 30 days |
| SiteGround StartUp | Daily backups on every plan | Daily, up to 30 days kept | $2.99/mo (12 months) | $17.99/mo | 30 days |
| Bluehost Starter | Simple WordPress starter sites | Weekly | $3.99/mo (36 months) | $9.99/mo | 30 days |
| Kinsta Single 20GB | Managed WordPress with easy restores | Daily, 14 days kept | 1st month free, then $17.50/mo for 3 months | $35/mo | 30 days |
| Jetpack VaultPress Backup | Real-time WordPress backups | Real-time, 10 GB | $119.40/yr ($9.95/mo) | Not listed separately | 14 days (yearly) |
| BlogVault Personal | Offsite backups with no storage bill | Daily, 30 days kept | $49.50/yr (50% off) | $99/yr list price | 14 days |
| UpdraftPlus Personal | Plugin backups to your own cloud | Scheduled, 2 sites | $70/yr | Not listed separately | 10 to 14 days |
| Backblaze B2 | Cheap offsite storage | Storage only | $6.95/TB/mo, first 10 GB free | Same | Pay as you go |
| Cloudflare R2 | Offsite storage with no download fees | Storage only | $0.015/GB/mo, 10 GB free | Same | Pay as you go |
1. Follow the 3-2-1 backup rule
The 3-2-1 rule is the simplest backup plan that really works. It means:
- 3 copies of your site: the live site plus 2 backups.
- 2 kinds of storage: for example, your host’s backup system and a cloud storage bucket.
- 1 copy offsite: away from your web host, in case the whole account is lost.
Why does this matter? If your only backup sits on the same server as your site, one problem can take out both. A hacked account, a billing problem, or a closed account can delete your site and its backups at the same time.
Do this if: you only have one backup today. Adding a second, offsite copy is the single biggest upgrade you can make.
2. Check what your host really backs up
“Free backups” on a hosting page can mean very different things. Here is what the cheapest plans at four popular hosts include, checked November 11, 2026:
- Hostinger Premium ($1.99/mo for 48 months, renews at $10.99/mo) includes free weekly backups. The Unlimited plan ($2.79/mo, renews at $16.99/mo) includes daily backups. Cloud Startup ($7.99/mo, renews at $25.99/mo) adds on-demand backups.
- SiteGround StartUp ($2.99/mo for 12 months, renews at $17.99/mo) includes free daily backups, and SiteGround says it keeps up to 30 days of restore points. On-demand backups start on GrowBig ($4.99/mo, renews at $29.99/mo).
- Bluehost Starter ($3.99/mo for 36 months, renews at $9.99/mo) lists weekly website backups. Bluehost also sells CodeGuard as an add-on, but no price was shown on its hosting page.
- Kinsta Single 20GB ($35/mo regular price) includes automatic daily backups kept for 14 days. Backups every 6 hours cost $20 per site per month, and hourly backups cost $100 per site per month.
A weekly backup means you could lose up to 6 days of posts, orders or comments. For a small blog that changes once a week, that is fine. For a busy store, it is not.
Do this if: you have never logged in to see your host’s backup page. Look for three things: how often backups run, how many days they are kept, and whether you can restore and download them yourself for free.
If you are still picking a host, our guide to choosing web hosting covers backups along with renewal prices and support.
3. Keep one copy off your web host
Offsite storage is cheaper than most people think. Two good options:
- Backblaze B2 costs $6.95 per TB per month, and the first 10 GB is always free. Downloads are free up to 3 times your stored amount each month.
- Cloudflare R2 costs $0.015 per GB per month for standard storage, with 10 GB free each month. Cloudflare charges no egress (download) fees, so restoring a big site costs nothing extra.
Most small sites are under 10 GB, so a weekly offsite copy can be free on either service. A 50 GB site would cost about $0.60 per month on R2 after the free 10 GB.
Some managed hosts also offer offsite backups. For example, Cloudways charges $0.033 per GB for offsite backup storage, on top of server plans that start at $14 per month.
Do this if: all your backups live inside your hosting account. Connect a backup plugin or service to B2, R2, Google Drive or Dropbox.
4. Match backup frequency to how often your site changes
You do not need hourly backups for a site that changes once a month. Use this simple guide:
- Brochure or portfolio site (changes rarely): weekly backups, plus one before every change.
- Blog (new posts and comments each week): daily backups.
- Online store or membership site (orders every day): real-time or hourly backups.
Stores need more because every order is data you cannot get back. If your shop takes 20 orders a day and your last backup was 6 days ago, a restore could erase about 120 orders. That is why tools like Jetpack VaultPress Backup and BlogVault’s WooCommerce plan offer real-time backups.
Do this if: you run WooCommerce. Our WooCommerce hosting guide lists hosts with stronger backup features.
5. Add a backup plugin or service (for WordPress)
A plugin gives you backups you control, even if you switch hosts. Here are three solid choices with prices checked November 11, 2026.
UpdraftPlus
UpdraftPlus sends backups to cloud storage you choose, like Google Drive, Dropbox or Amazon. Premium Personal costs $70 per year for up to 2 sites. Business costs $95 per year for up to 10 sites, and Agency costs $145 per year for up to 35 sites.
- Pros: works with many storage services, cheap for many sites, includes staging and incremental backups on Premium.
- Cons: backups run on your own server, which can slow a cheap host during big backups. The pricing page lists both a 10-day and a 14-day money-back window, so check the refund terms.
Pick this if: you want to own your backups and store them in your own cloud account.
Jetpack VaultPress Backup
Jetpack VaultPress Backup costs $9.95 per month, billed $119.40 per year. It includes real-time cloud backups, 10 GB of storage, a 30-day activity log and one-click restores. Jetpack gives full refunds within 14 days on yearly plans.
- Pros: real-time backups save every change, backups are stored off your server, restores are simple.
- Cons: 10 GB fills up fast on big sites (older backups get deleted when you hit the limit), and it does not support WordPress multisite.
Pick this if: you run a store or busy site and want every change saved without thinking about it.
BlogVault
BlogVault Personal costs $49.50 per year per site right now (50% off its $99 list price). It backs up every 24 hours, keeps 30 days of backups, and supports sites up to 20 GB. Storage is included: BlogVault keeps nine encrypted copies across two providers. Every paid plan has a 14-day money-back guarantee.
- Pros: no separate storage bill, backups run on BlogVault’s servers (not yours), higher plans keep backups for up to 365 days.
- Cons: priced per site, so many sites add up. The Business plan is $149.50 per year per site at the current discount.
Pick this if: you want a hands-off offsite backup with storage included.
6. Take a backup before every big change
Most site disasters start with a change you made yourself. Take a fresh backup before you:
- Update WordPress, a theme, or a big plugin.
- Install a new plugin you have not used before.
- Change PHP versions or DNS settings.
- Move to a new host.
On-demand backups make this easy. SiteGround includes them from GrowBig ($4.99/mo intro, renews at $29.99/mo), and Hostinger includes them on Cloud Startup ($7.99/mo intro, renews at $25.99/mo). Any backup plugin can also do a manual backup with one click.
Do this if: you have auto-updates turned on. Schedule your backup to run before your update window, not after.
7. Test a restore at least twice a year
A backup you have never restored is only a hope. Files can be broken, the database can be missing, or the backup may be too big to restore on your plan.
Here is a simple test that takes about 30 minutes:
- Create a staging site (many hosts and UpdraftPlus Premium include staging).
- Restore your latest offsite backup to it.
- Open 5 pages, log in, and check that recent posts or orders are there.
- Write down how long it took, so you know what to expect in a real emergency.
Do this if: you cannot remember the last time you restored anything.
8. Back up everything, not just files
A full website backup has more parts than people expect:
- Files: themes, plugins, images and uploads.
- Database: posts, pages, users, orders and settings. Without it, your site is an empty shell.
- DNS records: export or screenshot them, so you can rebuild email and verification records fast.
- Email: host email is often not included in site backups. Check this on your plan.
If you deploy on Vercel, Netlify or similar platforms, your code already lives in Git, which is a backup of its own. Both platforms also let you roll back fast. On Vercel, the free Hobby plan can roll back to the previous production deployment only, while Pro can roll back to any earlier production deployment. Netlify lets you publish any earlier deploy with one click, and keeps deploys for 30 days (90 days on paid plans). But neither of these backs up your database or user uploads, so back those up separately.
Do this if: your app uses a database such as Postgres or MySQL. Set up a daily database export to offsite storage.
9. Download a full backup before you cancel or switch hosts
When a hosting account ends, the host’s backups usually end with it. If you cancel, forget to renew, or your card fails, you may lose both the site and its backups.
Before you move or cancel, download a full copy of your files and database to your own computer or cloud storage. Then keep it for at least 30 days after the new site is live. Our guide on moving to a new host without downtime walks through the steps.
Also protect your backups like your site. Use strong passwords and two-factor login on your host, your backup plugin and your cloud storage. Our web server security checklist covers the basics.
Do this if: your hosting renewal is coming up and you are thinking about switching.
How we picked these tips
We focused on the backup problems we see most often: relying only on host backups, weekly backups for busy sites, no offsite copy, and backups nobody tested. We then checked the official pricing pages of every host, plugin and storage service named here on November 11, 2026, including first-term prices, renewal prices and refund windows. No company paid to be included, and affiliate links did not decide which products we named.
Who should choose what
- New blog on a tight budget: a host with daily backups (Hostinger Unlimited at $2.79/mo or SiteGround StartUp at $2.99/mo) plus a free weekly offsite copy to Backblaze B2 or Cloudflare R2.
- Several WordPress sites: UpdraftPlus Business ($95/yr for up to 10 sites) sending backups to your own cloud storage.
- Online store: real-time backups with Jetpack VaultPress Backup ($119.40/yr) or BlogVault’s WooCommerce plan.
- Hands-off owner: BlogVault Personal ($49.50/yr at the current discount), with storage included.
- Managed WordPress: Kinsta’s daily backups (14 days kept on Single 20GB), plus the $20/mo 6-hour add-on if your site changes a lot.
- Apps on Vercel or Netlify: Git for code, instant rollback for deploys, and a daily database export to R2 or B2.
FAQ
How often should I back up my website?
Back up a blog daily, a store in real time or hourly, and a site that rarely changes weekly. Always take an extra backup before updates or big changes.
Are my web host’s backups enough?
Usually not on their own. Host backups sit with your hosting account, so if the account is hacked, suspended or closed, you can lose them too. Keep at least one copy offsite.
What is the 3-2-1 backup rule?
Keep 3 copies of your data, on 2 different types of storage, with 1 copy offsite. For a website, that can be your live site, your host’s backup and a copy in cloud storage.
How much does website backup storage cost?
Very little for most sites. As of November 2026, Backblaze B2 costs $6.95 per TB per month with 10 GB free, and Cloudflare R2 costs $0.015 per GB per month with 10 GB free.
What is the best backup plugin for WordPress?
It depends on your site. UpdraftPlus ($70/yr for 2 sites) is great if you want backups in your own cloud, Jetpack VaultPress Backup ($119.40/yr) is best for real-time backups, and BlogVault ($49.50/yr per site at the current discount) includes its own storage.
Do Vercel and Netlify back up my site?
They keep past deployments so you can roll back your code, and your code also lives in Git. They do not back up an outside database or user uploads, so you need a separate backup for those.
How long should I keep website backups?
Keep at least 30 days of backups. Hacks and broken changes are not always noticed right away, so older restore points can save you.
Disclosure: this post may contain affiliate links, and we may earn a commission if you buy through them. It costs you nothing extra.
Update log
- November 2026: Published, using pricing checked on November 11, 2026.
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