Backing up the WordPress website is necessary for many reasons, and why choose Google Drive to backup the WordPress site?
WordPress is a content management system (CMS) that can be used to create and manage websites. A WordPress site refers to any website that uses WordPress as its CMS. The importance of the amount of data that a website contains is obvious. Backing up a WordPress site can make it easier to recover if the site goes down or some of the data is lost.
Google Drive provides 15GB of free storage space for each account, which is more than the free space provided by most other cloud storage services. If your website is not large, 15 GB may be enough. Plus, if there's a problem with the website, you can restore the required data from Google Drive.
The good news is that advances in technology have made it possible to find more efficient ways to back up your WordPress site to cloud storage by using a plugin for this purpose.
There are several free and paid plugins that can do the job of backing up your WordPress site. Keep reading and you will know the best WordPress backup plugin Google Drive.
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What Is Google Drive?
Google Drive is a free online storage service provided by Google where you can store your files, be it photos, videos, music, documents, and more. You can also store your WordPress site's backup folder on the platform so you can access it whenever you want.
By creating a regular backup of your WordPress site on Google Drive, you not only have free access at any time, but you also have the peace of mind of knowing that your site is secure in case of disaster.
However, storage is only free for up to 15GB, after which you have to upgrade for about $1.99 per month for 100GB, or if you need a lot more space, you can get 1TB or 10TB for $9.99 and $99.99 per month respectively. Most sites can get by with the free 15GB storage, but as your site grows, you can upgrade to a higher plan with more storage.
The five WordPress to Google Drive backup plugins we'll look at all offer the ability to back up your site to Google Drive. Other plugins may not have the direct link, but allow you to download the backup folder as a ZIP file, which you can then upload directly to Google Drive.
This is a convenient option that you can access through your Google or Gmail account and does not require multiple logins. It also works with some backup plugins in the WordPress repository, although there are those that you have to pay for an add-on to add the Google Drive platform to your list of backup destinations.
How Google Drive Works with WordPress Backup Plugins
This process requires that you take care in following the respective documentation of each plugin for a smooth experience.
What you should keep in mind is that the backup plugin will store a client ID and a "secret" on your Google Drive account. This way, it can upload the backups of your WordPress site to the Drive. If you have a small site, using Google Drive's free 15GB storage can be sufficient in terms of both space and economic benefits, especially when used with a free backup plugin.
You also have the ability to access your account without additional login and from anywhere or anytime. The downside of using cloud storage such as Google Drive is in terms of security, control, and efficiency.
When you want to restore your backups from Google Drive, you can do so directly on your WordPress dashboard, although not all plugins allow this. In addition, it's also not easy to find and restore every file in the ZIP folder containing your site's backup files if the plugin allows you to restore individual files.
Storing individual files also has disadvantages such as higher downtime, especially if the site is large, or the hosting company may limit the time to restore each file, forcing you to restore the site manually. This is tedious if you are running a professional website, which is why you need to control the backups and restores of your site.
In Google Drive, security becomes an issue when there is only one login for all accounts. When this is compromised, all accounts are compromised, including Google Drive which uses the same credentials.
Similarly, your backup plugin can be vulnerable because it stores the client ID and secret of your Google Drive account, which can lead hackers to your stored backups if the site is hacked. Storage space is an issue when you run out, as the plugin performs regular backups, otherwise, you won't have backups to restore your site when you need it most.
When using Google Drive as your site backup storage service, organize the backups with labels so you can easily find them in the future. The last thing you want is disorganization and the need to comb through hundreds of backed-up files on disk when your site is down.
Best WordPress Backup Plugin Google Drive
With all this in mind, let's take a look at the best plugins that can help you backup your WordPress site to Google Drive.
We'll also show you a step-by-step process of how to use each plugin for the backup process on the drive.
1. UpdraftPlus
UpdraftPlus is one of the most popular backup plugins for connecting WordPress to your Google Drive account, especially because it includes Google Drive in the free edition plus remote backup to other storage services. UpdraftPlus is more powerful than some of its alternatives like BackupBuddy and Duplicator.
With this plugin, you can create full backups of your site and download them to your computer or store them on the cloud. It supports both scheduled and on-demand backups, and you can choose which individual files you want to save to disk.
The plugin will automatically upload your backups to storage sites such as Google Drive and other services. Plus, you can restore backups easily and directly from your WordPress admin dashboard.
You can use the free version, or pay $70 for the premium version, which offers add-ons you can use to clone or migrate your site, multi-site support, database search, and replace, among many other features. You'll also get priority support and other powerful backup features.
Pros
+ Has a free version but the paid version is also affordable
+ Easy to use
+ Good user interface
+ Offers more cloud storage options compared to other plugins
+ Offers automatic scheduled backups
+ Automatically restores your site after backing it up.
+ Wide coverage for your website
+ Wide compatibility
+ Uses less memory
Cons
- The free version has limited features
2. BackupBuddy
Backupbuddy is another good choice for a WordPress to Google Drive backup plugin. It sends your backup to the drive so that you know the files are stored safely offsite in your Google Drive account.
The plugin has auto backup programs that you can use to send the backup files automatically to the drive once each backup has been completed. This is a popular premium plugin used by many WordPress sites because it makes it easy to schedule daily, weekly, or monthly backups.
You can automatically store them not only on Google Drive, but also on other cloud storage services including Amazon S3 and Dropbox, among others, or email them to yourself if you prefer. The plugin comes with Stash Live, a cloud service that allows you to make real-time backups.
Among the advantages of using this plugin, there is no subscription, so you won't have to pay monthly fees to use it. You can also use it on multiple websites depending on the plan you choose.
BackupBuddy also comes with access to the premium support forum, 1GB of Stash storage to store your backups, and regular updates.
It also has an iThemes Sync feature that allows you to manage up to ten sites from a single dashboard.
If you want more than just backups, you can always use BackupBuddy to migrate, duplicate or restore your website. This is a cost-effective but high-quality backup plugin for your WordPress site, which offers many features to backup, restore and move your site.
The plugin backs up everything from your site pages, posts, comments, widgets, theme and plugin files, WordPress settings, database and master files, as well as users, images, videos, and more.
All of these items are compressed into a downloadable ZIP file, and you can upload them to your cloud storage, or choose to automatically send them to various storage services, including Google Drive, Dropbox, and more.
BackupBuddy sends you instant email notifications when it finishes or needs your attention, and the ImportBuddy tool it provides allows you to restore the site from a previous backup in case of a disaster.
Pros
+ Easy to use
+ You can schedule backups at any time
+ You can store your backups in the cloud and restore them easily.
+ Allows for site migration
+ Offers a malware scan function
+ The interface is easy to use for both beginners and professionals.
+ Provides full data backup, including settings such as plugins and themes.
+ Multiple options to schedule your backups
+ Multiple cloud storage options available
+ It's easy to restore, roll back or migrate your site.
+ The Live Stash feature also offers great cloud storage.
Cons
- Some features may seem technical for beginners
- Pricing is annual, not one-time, so you have to subscribe.
- There is no free trial or money back guarantee.
- It is not compatible with some hosting providers
3. BackWPup
This is a free plugin for backing up your WordPress site. You can create full backups for free and store them on cloud storage services, email, and even on your computer.
It's an easy-to-use backup plugin that offers automatic scheduling of backups based on how often your site is updated, and you can simply restore your site from the backup whenever you want.
If you want to store backups on Google Drive, you need to upgrade to the Pro version.
This one offers additional benefits, such as priority support, and other useful and powerful features, such as quick restoration from the background using a standalone application. You also get tasks such as analysis, optimization, and repair of your database.
The process is simple. Just get a Google account if you don't have one, and select Google Drive as your backup destination when you create a backup order.
Connect Google Drive to BackWPup and follow the instructions to backup your WordPress to Google Drive with BackWPup. Your backups will land in your Google Drive account, where you need them most.
Pros
+ Free
+ Tutorials available to learn how to use the plugin
+ Checks for corrupted files in your database and repairs them
+ Many backup destinations
Cons
- Its speeds are not as good as other backup plugins
- The dashboard can be confusing for beginners
- Pro version lacks advanced features
4. BoldGrid Backup
This backup plugin for WordPress is designed to help you create website backups and restore your website in the event of damage of irreversible nature.
BoldGrid backup plugin allows you to make backups - scheduled and unscheduled - of your site. Moreover, you can use it to move and restore your site safely and easily.
The plugin comes with a page builder plugin, which you can always get from the WordPress Plugin Directory, and it is made to work with other website builder plugins in the BoldGrid suite.
However, it can also work as a backup utility for your WordPress site when used on its own rather than in a suite. It is free to use, but there is a premium version in the form of an extension that comes with many other extras to back up your files to Google Drive.
In addition to backing up your site, it's a good tool for protecting it, as it comes with automated remote backups and other tools you can use to restore your site, automatically undo failed updates, and more.
Some of its powerful features include automatic and manual backups, including before major updates, site monitoring in case of problems with email alerts, and the ability to migrate or clone your site.
When you want to store your backups on Google Drive, you can easily and securely do so remotely via Google Drive and other cloud storage services, or via FTP/STP. It provides secure and consistent backups and has tools to prevent your site from crashing in the first place.
With the premium version of BoldGrid backup, which starts at $60 per year, you can get other tools and services that you won't find in the free version.
If you want to automatically store your backups on Google Drive, just go to BoldGrid Backup settings and click on Backup Storage, then click on Authorize next to the Google Drive icon.
Once you log in to your Google account where the backups will be stored, give the necessary authorization, click on update, then check the box next to Google Drive and save the changes.
You can also restore your backups by retrieving one of your backups remotely to where it is currently stored, usually the web server.
Pros
+ Affordable
+ The Premium version offers powerful features
+ You can set automatic or manual backups with a single click.
+ The automatic error protection feature protects against site update errors.
Cons
- The free version has limited backup features
5. Duplicator
This WordPress to Google Drive backup plugin performs various tasks besides backing up your site. It can also clone, migrate, copy and move your website, with the migration aspect being its main strength with zero downtime.
Specifically, Duplicator allows you to move your site between hosts and domains with zero downtime, convert it to localhost for background development, and even take a bit or full backup. You can also use it to bundle your site for transfer or distribution.
The Duplicator plugin doesn't come with scheduling or cloud storage options, but you can send backups to cloud services like Google Drive, Dropbox, and Amazon S3 for safe keeping.
For scheduling, email backup notifications, cloud storage to more services, and additional support, you can opt for the Duplicator Pro version, which is a paid service.
Duplicator Pro starts at $59 per year for the Personal plan which offers a maximum of three sites, but if you want a license for unlimited sites, you can opt for the Business plan which costs $129 per year.
It offers four different plans: Personal, Freelancer ($79), Business and Gold plan ($359).
The Personal, Freelancer, and Business plans offer 1 year of updates and 1 year of support, while the Gold plan offers lifetime updates and support.
Multisite and number of licenses also vary, with the Personal and Freelancer plans offering 3 and 15 licenses respectively, while the Business and Gold plans both offer unlimited site licenses. You can also get Power Tools on all other plans except the Personal plan.
The premium version comes with more advanced features, unlike the free version which allows you to backup your site or parts of it manually. It also offers instant and scheduled backups so you can back up the site with minimal effort and hassle.
With Duplicator Pro, you can also send your backups directly to cloud storage services and you can limit the number of backups if you want to save storage space, especially with Google Drive.
The plugin is simple to set up and configure and supports WordPress multisite, as well as offering customer support for users of its premium version.
Pros
+ Facilitates server/host migrations and offline backups manually.
+ It has a free version
+ It is not complicated or messy
+ Simple and reliable
+ Regularly updated
+ Sends email notifications
Cons
- Does not offer automatic scheduled backups
How to Choose a WordPress Backup Plugin Google Drive?
Here's what to consider when choosing a WordPress backup plugin that can help you store your site backup on Google Drive:
Reliable: the plugin should be reliable enough that you can backup without worrying about anything. If the backup fails, then it's all in vain, so it must work when you need to use it.
Trial: the backup plugin should offer a trial option so that you can test it and know whether it backs up your files or not, instead of waiting for it to fail first. This also allows you to practice restoring backups so that you are prepared for any eventuality.
Ease of use: the plugin should be easy to use by anyone without complicating the process.
Integration with Google Drive: your backup plugin should be able to integrate or be compatible with Google Drive if you intend to backup your site to the cloud storage service.
The backup location used to be on web servers, but for security reasons, most plugins support sending your files to cloud storage or remote locations like Google Drive. This way, you can restore the entire website in case of a problem.
Backup methods: Find out if the backup plugin you want to use offers different methods of backing up site files. This could be a database backup, a full backup of the entire website including files and database, or a scheduled backup that runs automatically for peace of mind.
Fast restoration: You don't have time to waste when your site is down due to a disaster, so your plugin should allow for quick restoration processes so you don't lose traffic or make things worse than they already are.
Frequent backups: A good backup plugin should allow you to choose how often you want to backup your site. It can be daily, weekly, monthly, or even real-time and give you that flexibility.
Secure offsite storage: Backup needs secure storage independent of the web server, so the plugin you choose should handle that, especially in encrypted form.
Other things to consider are custom backups for automatic scheduling or manual if you prefer, and the plugin should not load your site or overload your server.
Conclusion
It is important to make backups of your website, because somewhere along the way, you may encounter some challenges such as hacker attacks, or your webmaster may make some serious mistakes.
By installing a WordPress backup plugin for your website, you can save your important files to cloud storage like Google Drive or another secure location and have peace of mind knowing that you can always restore them if something goes wrong.
