BackupRidge vs BackWPup
BackWPup is one of the oldest names in WordPress backup — 400,000+ installs and a free tier that got real work done for over a decade. Its version 5 rewrite changed workflows enough that many long-time users are weighing a BackWPup alternative. This page is the decision comparison: where BackupRidge’s incremental, settings-migrated-forward releases and free pre-update rollback pull ahead, and where BackWPup genuinely still wins. The switching guide carries the step-by-step how.
Comparison data verified from wordpress.org and backwpup.com on August 11, 2026. BackupRidge is not affiliated with BackWPup or WP Media.
A stability decision more than a feature decision
Choose BackupRidge if…
- You never want an update to rebuild your backup workflows — settings and schedules migrate forward automatically on every release
- You want a snapshot before every plugin/theme/core update with one-click rollback, free
- Your site is on slow or cheap shared hosting — backups measure your host, tune themselves, and resume across PHP time limits
- You run more than 20 sites — our top tier is unlimited; BackWPup’s tops out at 20 domains for the same yearly price
Stay with BackWPup if…
- You want free Dropbox backups — plus Microsoft Azure, SugarSync, and Rackspace, a wider free destination list than ours
- You value their support team — recent reviews consistently praise it, including from free users
- You want the cheaper paid entry point — Starter is $49/yr for 2 sites
- You have already absorbed the v5 transition and your jobs run clean — switching has a cost too, and if v5 works for you, that is a fine place to be
How the two plugins treat your existing setup
A backup plugin is infrastructure. The v5 rewrite is what happens when infrastructure changes shape underneath you — and it is the single biggest reason this page exists.
Settings migrate forward, always
Every BackupRidge release migrates your schedules, destinations, and settings forward automatically. Updates are small and changelog-driven — no release has ever asked users to rebuild their jobs.
A rollback before every update
Free pre-update snapshots run before plugin, theme, and core updates, with one-click rollback. The exact scenario v5 put people in — an update that changes things you did not expect — is the scenario this feature is built for.
Backups that finish on cheap hosting
BackupRidge profiles your host’s actual throughput, tunes archive part sizes to it, and resumes across PHP time limits — with per-destination success/failure reporting on every run.
Free tier vs free tier
Where a feature is paid, we say so — on both sides.
| Feature | BackupRidge Free | BackWPup Free (v5) |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled automatic backups | ✓ Free | ✓ Free |
| One-click restore | ✓ Free, any size | ✓ Free — added in v5, after 10+ years of backup-only free versions |
| Cloud storage destinations | ✓ Local, FTP, SFTP, S3, R2 — sent simultaneously, free | ✓ Local, FTP, Dropbox, S3, Azure, SugarSync, Rackspace |
| Google Drive / OneDrive | Pro | Pro |
| Backup retention (auto-prune old backups) | ✓ Free · tiered GFS in Pro | ✓ Free, per job |
| Snapshot before plugin/theme/core updates, with one-click rollback | ✓ Free, on by default | — Not listed on their feature pages |
| Site migration | ✓ Receive free, any size · push is Pro | Pro |
| Disaster recovery: reconnect storage on a fresh install and adopt existing backups | ✓ Free — even backups from a different domain | — Not offered |
| Encryption | Pro | Pro |
BackWPup feature placement verified from wordpress.org and backwpup.com on August 11, 2026. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we’ll fix it.
Where BackWPup genuinely wins
Free Dropbox, and a wider free destination list. BackWPup Free sends backups to Dropbox, Microsoft Azure, SugarSync, and Rackspace Cloud Files — none of which BackupRidge Free covers. If Dropbox is your destination, their free tier has you covered today and ours does not (it is Pro on our side).
A support team people rave about. Recent wordpress.org reviews consistently praise their support responsiveness, including from users on the free tier. That is rare and worth naming.
A cheaper paid entry point. Starter at $49/yr for 2 sites undercuts our entry tier. If you have one or two sites and just want Google Drive or encryption, their entry price is lower.
They are iterating quickly again. Whatever v5’s transition cost users, the team is shipping — recent releases added restore to the free tier and new capabilities like AI-assisted management. The plugin’s trajectory is active, not abandoned.
What you are weighing against that: a 4.0-star rating that reflects a painful transition, no free pre-update rollback, migration behind the Pro tier, and a top plan capped at 20 domains. Both free tiers are real — the difference is which plugin treats your working configuration as something to protect.
What free covers, and what paid costs
| BackupRidge | BackWPup | |
|---|---|---|
| Free tier | Scheduled backups, restore, retention, pre-update rollback, migration-receive, simultaneous destinations, no size caps | Scheduled backups, restore (since v5), retention, seven storage options incl. Dropbox |
| Entry paid tier | $49/yr — 3 sites | Starter $49/yr — 2 sites |
| Top end | $199/yr — unlimited sites, every Pro feature | Pro $199/yr — 20 sites (no unlimited tier offered) |
BackWPup prices from backwpup.com, verified August 11, 2026. Founder lifetime pricing is available on BackupRidge Pro while it lasts (a launch offer, not a standing SKU), and all paid plans carry a 14-day money-back guarantee.
Decided? The switching guide takes it from here
We keep the how separate from the why: this page is the comparison, and the Switching from BackWPup guide is the step-by-step — mapping your jobs and destinations, running a verified first backup alongside BackWPup, and retiring it only once you hold a restore you have tested.
Install BackupRidge alongside BackWPup
They coexist cleanly — see Getting Started. Pre-update snapshots switch on automatically from this moment.
Map your jobs using the guide
BackWPup jobs map to scheduled backups with one or more destinations — the guide covers the destination-by-destination mapping, including the Dropbox caveat.
Run, verify, then retire BackWPup — and keep its archives
Verify a restore on a staging site first, and keep your old BackWPup archives at their destination — they are standard ZIP/TAR files and stay readable without the plugin.
Questions people ask before switching
Is BackupRidge really free?
Yes. The free plugin includes scheduled automatic backups, one-click restore with no size caps, pre-update snapshots with rollback, site-migration receive, and unlimited simultaneous storage destinations — local folder, FTP, SFTP, Amazon S3, and Cloudflare R2. Pro adds Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Backblaze B2, incremental backups, encryption, verification, and migration push. BackWPup’s free tier is genuinely capable too — this comparison is about engineering and stability, not a hollow free tier on their side.
What actually changed in BackWPup version 5?
The 2024–2025 version 5 rewrite rebuilt the plugin’s UI and reorganized long-standing job workflows, and the transition removed and relocated features many users had built routines around. It also brought real improvements — restore is now included in free, after more than a decade of backup-only free versions. The plugin’s rating currently sits at 4.0 stars across roughly 1,300 reviews, low for the backup category, and much of the recent feedback traces back to that transition.
Does BackupRidge support Dropbox for free like BackWPup?
No — and we will say it plainly: BackWPup’s free tier includes Dropbox, plus Microsoft Azure, SugarSync, and Rackspace Cloud Files. On BackupRidge, Dropbox is a Pro destination; free covers local, FTP, SFTP, Amazon S3, and Cloudflare R2 — sent to several destinations simultaneously. Google Drive and OneDrive are paid on both sides.
Can BackupRidge restore my existing BackWPup archives?
Not directly — BackupRidge restores its own backups. The good news is that BackWPup archives are standard ZIP or TAR files, so they stay readable with any archive tool even after you deactivate the plugin. Keep them at their destination, take a fresh BackupRidge backup, and verify a restore before you retire the old setup. The switching guide walks through this step by step.
Will a BackupRidge update ever break my configured jobs the way v5 did?
Our track record and our design say no: BackupRidge ships small, changelog-driven releases, and settings and schedules are migrated forward automatically on every update. We cannot promise the future, so judge us the same way you now judge BackWPup — by the public changelog. Every release is documented, and none of them has required users to rebuild their backup jobs.
Is it safe to run BackupRidge and BackWPup at the same time?
Yes. They store their files in separate directories and do not interfere. Run both while you switch: take and verify a BackupRidge backup first, and remove BackWPup only when you are confident.
Who is behind BackupRidge, and is it actively maintained?
BackupRidge is built by Stava Tech and released under GPL v2. Every release is documented in a public changelog, and the plugin ships frequent, incremental updates rather than big-bang rewrites.
Infrastructure should be boring
Install BackupRidge next to BackWPup, recreate your most important job, and watch it run — small releases, settings that migrate forward, and a snapshot before every update.
BackWPup is a trademark of its respective owner. BackupRidge is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by BackWPup or WP Media. Feature and pricing information verified from public sources on August 11, 2026 and may have changed since — report an inaccuracy.