When it comes to WordPress backup plugins, UpdraftPlus has dominated the market for years with over 3 million active installations. But does popularity always mean the best value? In this comprehensive comparison, we’ll examine how Backup Copilot Pro stacks up against UpdraftPlus Premium to help you make an informed decision for your WordPress backup strategy.
The Hidden Cost Problem with UpdraftPlus
UpdraftPlus markets itself with an attractive free version and affordable premium pricing starting at $70/year. However, what they don’t advertise prominently is that this base price gets you only basic features. Want migration capabilities? That’s an extra $30/year add-on. Need multisite support? Add another $50/year. Require advanced reporting or incremental backups? More add-ons.
By the time you’ve assembled all the features most WordPress professionals actually need, you’re looking at $175-$300 per year for a single site. This fragmented pricing model can catch users off guard and significantly inflate their actual costs.
Backup Copilot Pro takes a different approach: everything is included at $95/year for one site, $175/year for five sites, or $345/year for unlimited sites. No add-ons, no surprises, no feature gates.
Feature Breakdown: What You Actually Get
Cloud Storage Integration
UpdraftPlus boasts support for 13 different cloud storage providers, which sounds impressive on paper. However, several of these require premium add-ons to unlock. The base Premium version supports only a handful of providers.
Backup Copilot Pro includes three of the most popular cloud storage options right out of the box: Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive. More importantly, you can configure automatic synchronization to all three simultaneously, creating true multi-cloud redundancy without manual intervention.
Here’s the real advantage: with UpdraftPlus, you manually select a single destination for each backup. With Backup Copilot Pro, you set it up once, and every backup automatically syncs to all three cloud providers. This is the difference between having 3-2-1 backup strategy compliance by default versus hoping you remember to manually manage multiple backup copies.
Backup Scheduling Flexibility
UpdraftPlus Premium offers basic scheduling with a maximum frequency of daily backups. While this works for many sites, it’s insufficient for high-traffic e-commerce stores, membership sites, or any WordPress site where content changes frequently throughout the day.
Backup Copilot Pro provides granular scheduling options ranging from hourly to monthly frequencies. You can create unlimited backup schedules, each with its own retention policies and cloud storage preferences. For example:
- Hourly database backups during business hours (9 AM – 5 PM)
- Daily full site backups at 2 AM
- Weekly complete backups retained for 90 days
- Monthly archive backups kept for one year
This level of flexibility means you can tailor your backup strategy to your specific business needs rather than adapting your needs to plugin limitations.
Smart Retention Policies
One area where UpdraftPlus falls particularly short is backup retention management. The premium version offers only basic retention by count (keep the last X backups). When your backup storage starts filling up, you’re left manually deleting old backups.
Backup Copilot Pro implements intelligent retention policies based on:
- Age-based retention: Automatically delete backups older than X days
- Count-based retention: Keep only the most recent X backups
- Size-based retention: Limit total backup storage to X GB
You can mix and match these policies per schedule. For instance, keep 30 days of daily backups but retain monthly archives for a full year. The plugin handles cleanup automatically, ensuring you never run out of storage space while maintaining the backup history you need.
Email Notifications and Monitoring
Here’s a shocking omission in UpdraftPlus Premium: no built-in email notifications. If a scheduled backup fails, you won’t know unless you manually check the plugin dashboard. For mission-critical sites, this is unacceptable.
Email notifications require purchasing the UpdraftPlus Reporting add-on for an additional fee. Even then, the reporting capabilities are basic compared to what Backup Copilot Pro includes by default.
Backup Copilot Pro sends detailed email notifications for every backup event:
- Success confirmations with backup size, duration, and file counts
- Failure alerts with specific error messages and troubleshooting guidance
- Summary reports showing backup history and storage usage
- Support for multiple email recipients (perfect for teams)
You’ll know immediately if something goes wrong, giving you time to address issues before they become disasters.
Migration and Site Cloning
UpdraftPlus Premium does not include migration or cloning capabilities in the base license. You must purchase the Migrator add-on ($30/year) to move sites between domains or hosts.
Backup Copilot Pro includes a full-featured migration tool with database search-and-replace functionality. Whether you’re moving from development to production, changing domain names, or migrating between hosting providers, the built-in migrator handles it seamlessly.
The migration process is straightforward:
- Create a full backup on the source site
- Download the backup file
- Upload to the destination site
- Run the restore process with URL replacement
- Test and go live
No additional purchases, no separate tools to learn, no hassle.
Multisite Network Support
WordPress multisite networks present unique backup challenges. UpdraftPlus Premium offers only basic multisite support, and advanced multisite features require purchasing a separate add-on for $50/year.
Backup Copilot Pro includes comprehensive multisite capabilities in every license:
- Network-wide backups (all sites in one backup)
- Per-site backups (individual site backups)
- Granular access control (limit subsite administrators to their own backups)
- Safety backup system (automatic pre-update backups)
- Centralized management from the network admin dashboard
If you manage even a single multisite network, Backup Copilot Pro’s included multisite features represent significant savings over UpdraftPlus.
Performance and Resource Usage
Independent benchmarks have shown that UpdraftPlus can be resource-intensive, particularly for large databases. Some users report backups taking 30+ minutes and causing noticeable server slowdowns during execution.
Backup Copilot Pro uses an optimized mysqldump implementation that’s approximately 50% faster than standard approaches. Large database backups that might take 20 minutes with UpdraftPlus complete in 10-12 minutes with Backup Copilot Pro.
Additionally, Backup Copilot Pro implements intelligent chunking for large files, background processing to minimize server impact, and resource throttling to prevent server overload. Your site remains responsive even while backups are running.
REST API Access
For developers and agencies managing multiple client sites, automation is essential. UpdraftPlus Premium does not provide REST API access, limiting your ability to integrate backups with external monitoring systems, custom dashboards, or automation workflows.
Backup Copilot Pro includes a comprehensive REST API that allows you to:
- Trigger backups programmatically
- Check backup status and history
- Download backup files
- Manage schedules and settings
- Receive webhook notifications
This makes it easy to integrate WordPress backups into your broader infrastructure management tools, CI/CD pipelines, or custom client reporting systems.
Real-World Use Cases
Scenario 1: Freelance Developer Managing 10 Client Sites
With UpdraftPlus Premium:
- Personal plan ($70/year) only covers 2 sites
- Must purchase Business plan ($95/year) for 10 sites
- Need Migrator add-on ($30/year) for site transfers
- Total annual cost: $125/year
- Missing: Email notifications, advanced multisite, REST API
With Backup Copilot Pro:
- 5 Sites plan ($175/year) covers half the sites
- Second 5 Sites plan ($175/year) covers remaining sites
- All features included (migration, multisite, API, notifications)
- Total annual cost: $350/year
- Benefit: More features, better automation, professional email alerts
Scenario 2: E-commerce Store Owner
With UpdraftPlus Premium:
- Personal plan ($70/year) for 1 site
- Limited to daily backups (product changes between backups are lost)
- Manual cloud storage management
- No email alerts if backup fails
- Total annual cost: $70/year
With Backup Copilot Pro:
- 1 Site plan ($95/year)
- Hourly database backups during business hours
- Automatic sync to Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive
- Email alerts for all backup events
- Emergency rollback feature for quick recovery
- Total annual cost: $95/year
- Benefit: Pay $25/year more for significantly better protection
Scenario 3: Agency Managing 50+ WordPress Sites
With UpdraftPlus Premium:
- Business plan ($95/year) covers up to 10 sites = $475/year for 50 sites
- Add Reporting add-on for email alerts = $300/year extra
- Add Migrator for site transfers = $300/year extra
- Total annual cost: $1,075/year
- Still missing: REST API, advanced automation
With Backup Copilot Pro:
- Unlimited Sites plan ($345/year)
- All 50+ sites covered
- Full REST API for custom integrations
- Email notifications included
- Migration tools included
- Total annual cost: $345/year
- Savings: $730/year while gaining more features
The Bottom Line: Total Cost of Ownership
When evaluating backup plugins, look beyond the advertised price. Calculate what you’ll actually pay for the features you actually need:
UpdraftPlus Premium (typical full-feature setup for 1 site):
- Premium base: $70/year
- Migrator add-on: $30/year
- Multisite add-on: $50/year (if needed)
- Reporting add-on: $50/year
- Total: $175-$200/year for one site
Backup Copilot Pro (all features for 1 site):
- Complete package: $95/year
- No add-ons needed
Over a three-year period, that’s a difference of $240-$315 in savings while getting superior scheduling, better multisite support, REST API access, and emergency rollback features that UpdraftPlus doesn’t offer at any price.
Making the Switch from UpdraftPlus
Migrating from UpdraftPlus to Backup Copilot Pro is straightforward:
- Install Backup Copilot Pro alongside UpdraftPlus
- Create your first backup with Backup Copilot Pro
- Configure cloud storage and scheduling preferences
- Test a restore on a staging site to verify everything works
- Deactivate and remove UpdraftPlus once satisfied
Both plugins can coexist during the transition period, giving you time to familiarize yourself with Backup Copilot Pro’s interface and features without risk.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Can I import my existing UpdraftPlus backups into Backup Copilot Pro? A: While both plugins use ZIP format, the internal structure differs. It’s best to create fresh backups with Backup Copilot Pro. You can keep your old UpdraftPlus backups as archives.
Q: Does Backup Copilot Pro have a free version? A: Yes, there’s a free version available on WordPress.org with basic backup and restore functionality. The Pro version adds cloud storage, scheduling, retention policies, email notifications, and more.
Q: How does support compare? A: Backup Copilot Pro includes priority email and live chat support. UpdraftPlus Premium offers email support, with live chat available only on higher-tier plans.
Q: What about incremental backups? A: UpdraftPlus offers incremental backups as a premium feature. Backup Copilot Pro currently focuses on full backups with intelligent compression and chunking for large files. For most sites, well-scheduled full backups provide better reliability than incremental approaches.
Better Features, Better Value
UpdraftPlus has earned its popularity through years of reliable service and extensive free version capabilities. However, when you need professional-grade features, the premium version’s add-on-heavy pricing model quickly becomes expensive and fragmented.
Backup Copilot Pro delivers everything WordPress professionals need in a single, transparently-priced package. Advanced scheduling, multi-cloud sync, email notifications, REST API access, migration tools, and comprehensive multisite support all come standard at $95/year.
If you’re currently using UpdraftPlus Premium with multiple add-ons, you’re likely paying $175-$300/year for features that come included in Backup Copilot Pro at $95/year. That’s not just a better deal—it’s a smarter approach to WordPress backup management.
Ready to switch from UpdraftPlus to a more powerful, cost-effective solution? Backup Copilot Pro includes all premium features at $95/year with no hidden costs or add-ons. Get automated cloud sync, advanced scheduling, email notifications, and emergency rollback—everything you need in one package. Save money and get more features—try it risk-free today!
