ManageWP vs UpdraftPlus for WordPress Backups, Plus the 3-2-1 Rule

UpdraftPlus is a backup plugin that runs inside your WordPress site and sends copies to storage you choose, such as Google Drive or Dropbox; the free version handles scheduled backups, and Premium costs $70 to $399 a year at the time of writing (October 2026). ManageWP is a GoDaddy-owned dashboard that copies your site to its own servers, monthly for free or daily and more often with its Backup add-on, from $2 per site per month. When weighing ManageWP vs UpdraftPlus, choose UpdraftPlus to keep backups in an account you control, ManageWP to look after several sites from one place, and with either one keep a second copy somewhere else.

How do ManageWP and UpdraftPlus work?

UpdraftPlus works from inside your site, ManageWP from outside it. UpdraftPlus, made by TeamUpdraft and listed on WordPress.org with more than 4 million active installations, builds each backup on your web server, uploads it to the storage you connect, and restores from your WordPress dashboard.

ManageWP, part of GoDaddy since 2016, is a web dashboard. A small connector plugin, ManageWP Worker, links each site, and ManageWP pulls backups into its own cloud. The same dashboard handles updates, uptime checks and reports across many sites.

Feature	ManageWP	UpdraftPlus
Free schedule	Monthly	Every 2, 4, 8 or 12 hours, daily, weekly, every two weeks or monthly
Paid price (October 2026)	From $2 per site per month	From $70 a year for 2 sites
Paid extras	Weekly to hourly and on-demand backups, downloads, cloning	Set backup times, backups before updates, more destinations
Where backups go	ManageWP's servers (US or EU)	Your server by default, or your own cloud storage
Incremental backups	Yes, free and paid	Premium only
How long backups are kept	90 days	As many backups as you choose

How much do ManageWP and UpdraftPlus cost?

These prices are at the time of writing (October 2026).

ManageWP is free on unlimited sites, monthly backup included. The Backup add-on costs $2 per site per month, billed at the end of the month for what you used. It runs daily by default, and ManageWP notes that changing the frequency can change the price. Agencies can instead pay $75 a month to cover backups on up to 100 sites.

UpdraftPlus Premium is a yearly subscription that renews automatically. Every tier includes the full Premium feature set and 1 GB of UpdraftVault, TeamUpdraft's own cloud storage:

• Personal: $70 a year for up to 2 sites
• Business: $95 a year for up to 10 sites
• Agency: $145 a year for up to 35 sites
• Enterprise: $195 a year for unlimited sites
• Gold: $399 a year for unlimited sites, with 50 GB of UpdraftVault and the UpdraftCentral dashboard

If you cancel, Premium keeps working without updates or support. Extra UpdraftVault space starts at $35 a year for 5 GB (a $1 first-month offer was also running).

Where are your backups stored, and why does off-site matter?

Off-site means on a different system from your website, so a server failure, a hack or a locked hosting account cannot take the backups down with the site.

ManageWP backups are always off-site, on its servers in the US or EU region you pick. They are kept 90 days, or 30 days after you turn backups off and 7 days after you remove the site. Changing region deletes the old region's backups, and only the paid add-on lets you download a copy.

UpdraftPlus keeps backups in a folder inside wp-content on your own server until you connect remote storage, which TeamUpdraft strongly advises. The free plugin sends to one destination, such as Google Drive, Dropbox, Amazon S3, FTP or email. Premium adds OneDrive, Backblaze, SFTP, Azure, Google Cloud and others, and can send each backup to several places. UpdraftVault, built on Amazon S3, works with the free plugin too; if you cancel it, your backups are deleted after two weeks, so move them first.

How do restores work in ManageWP and UpdraftPlus?

ManageWP restores from its own dashboard; UpdraftPlus restores from inside WordPress, which you may need to reinstall first.

ManageWP: pick a date on the backup calendar and click Restore. ManageWP puts back only the files and database tables that changed, and it does not delete files added after the backup, so a restore alone does not clean up a hack. If the site is down, it can restore over FTP using details you saved in its settings. Moving a backup to a new server uses the Clone tool, which needs the paid add-on.

UpdraftPlus: go to Settings, then UpdraftPlus Backups, click Restore on a backup and tick the parts you need (plugins, themes, uploads, other files, database). If the site is gone, install a fresh WordPress and UpdraftPlus, connect the same storage and click "Rescan remote storage". The backups are standard zip and SQL files, so they can also be restored by hand. One limit: the free version skips wp-config.php and folders outside WordPress, which Premium covers.

Are your backup files secure?

Treat them like the site itself: a backup holds your whole database, including user accounts, form entries and, on a store, customer and order details.

• ManageWP and UpdraftVault both encrypt backups in transit and at rest.
• UpdraftPlus Premium can also encrypt the database with a passphrase only you know. Keep it safe, because a restore needs it.
• Turn on two-factor sign-in for the account that holds your backups.
• Do not rely on copies stored only on your web server, where an intruder can reach them too.

What is the 3-2-1 backup rule for WordPress?

Keep three copies of your site, on two different types of storage, with one copy off-site. CISA, the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, puts it as one primary and two backups, on two media types, with one stored outside your home or business. For a WordPress site:

• Three copies: the live site plus two backups.
• Two kinds of storage: for example, your host's backups and a separate cloud service.
• One off-site: at least one copy with a company other than your host, in an account you control.

In practice that might be UpdraftPlus sending backups to your own Google Drive while your host keeps its copies, or ManageWP plus UpdraftPlus, scheduled at different times. WordPress.org suggests keeping three to five recent backups in different places, such as the server, a cloud service and your own computer.

How often should you back up a WordPress site?

As often as the site changes, and always before updates. WordPress.org suggests weekly backups for smaller sites and daily for busy ones.

• A blog or brochure site updated a few times a month: weekly, plus after big edits.
• A site that takes leads through forms: daily, since many form plugins store entries in the database.
• A WooCommerce store: at least daily, and more often on busy days, because orders and customer accounts live in the database. UpdraftPlus can give the database its own, more frequent schedule; ManageWP's paid add-on goes down to hourly.
• Before every update: UpdraftPlus Premium and ManageWP's Safe Updates take one automatically. Our guide to WordPress update disasters shows why that copy matters.

Keep enough history to reach back past a problem you did not spot straight away, such as a hack found weeks later.

How do you know a backup will actually restore?

Test it. A few times a year, and after changing hosts or backup tools, restore a recent backup onto a staging copy or a temporary site, then check pages, forms, logins and checkout. UpdraftClone, a paid TeamUpdraft add-on priced in tokens, can create a temporary copy for this. Turn on failure alerts too: ManageWP can tell you by email or Slack when a backup fails, and UpdraftPlus Premium sends detailed reports to the people you choose.

Are your host's backups enough?

They are a useful layer, not the whole plan. WordPress.org notes that getting a copy back from a host can take time. Host backups also sit with the same company as your site, so a suspended account, a billing problem or a breach at the host can cut you off from both. Ask how often your host backs up, how long it keeps copies and whether you can download them, then keep one copy of your own elsewhere.

ManageWP vs UpdraftPlus: which should you choose?

• Choose UpdraftPlus (free) if you run one simple site, want backups in your own Google Drive or Dropbox, and are comfortable restoring from the WordPress dashboard.
• Choose UpdraftPlus Premium if you run a store or busy business site and want backups before updates, incremental backups, several destinations or database encryption.
• Choose ManageWP if you look after several sites and want backups, updates and reports in one dashboard, or off-site storage without setting up a cloud account. Add the Backup add-on for daily backups, downloads and cloning.
• Use both if you want two independent copies made by two different tools.

If you would rather not manage backups yourself, WP Resolve's care plans include daily off-site backups kept for 30 days. Not sure your current backups would restore? The free site health check looks at your updates, backups, security and speed, or you can text (916) 209-0917.

Frequently asked questions