Duplicator

We get it. Everyone knows that it’s important to backup your website, but with so many options and technical jargon surrounding backups, it can be difficult to know where to start.

With years of website management experience, we’ve tested countless backup solutions. Now, we’re putting Duplicator to the test.

In this detailed Duplicator review, we’ll see if this popular backup plugin has everything you need to safeguard your website from security threats and human errors.

Duplicator Review: Why Use It in WordPress?

Feeling overwhelmed by website backups and migrations? Duplicator is a powerful backup and migration plugin that can create complete WordPress file and database backups.

You can create backups manually at any time, or schedule those backups to happen automatically so you never forget to perform this important task.

Duplicator has all the backup features you need, including recovery points, archive encryption for enhanced security, support for WordPress multisite, and more.

Unlike some other backup plugins, Duplicator lets you safely store your backups to all the popular cloud services including Dropbox, Google Drive, FTP, OneDrive, and Amazon S3. In this way, you can access your latest backups from any location, at any time.

When you need to restore a backup, the Duplicator Recovery Wizard will walk you through the process, step-by-step.

If you want to move WordPress to a new host or server with no downtime, then Duplicator is a great choice. It comes with an easy migration wizard, a streamlined installer, server-to-server imports, customizable pre-configured sites, large site support, and more.

If you want to move WordPress to a new domain, then Duplicator will detect the new URL and its path automatically. That said, you can change a website’s domain name without losing SEO or breaking any links.

If you’re looking for a free plugin, then you can download Duplicator Lite from the official WordPress repository.

With this free plugin you can create backups manually at any time. You can also move, migrate or clone a WordPress site between domains or hosts without any downtime.

However, if you want to schedule your backups, create recovery points, migrate an entire WordPress multisite network, and access other advanced features, then you’ll need to upgrade to Duplicator Pro.

Duplicator Review: Why Use It in WordPress?

You can backup and migrate your website manually, but smart website owners save time by using a WordPress plugin.

With that in mind, in this Duplicator review we’ll see if it’s the right backup and migration plugin for your WordPress website.

1. Easy to Use

Unlike some other backup plugins that have complicated settings and options, Duplicator makes it easy to backup your WordPress site.

To start, simply head over to Duplicator Pro » Packages and then click on Create New.

You can then follow the onscreen instructions to choose a storage location, select the files you want to backup, give the file a name, and more.

After configuring the backup, Duplicator will scan your WordPress blog or website to make sure everything is in order.

If it finds any common WordPress errors or problems, then Duplicator will show a warning so you can troubleshoot the error and fix it quickly.

Once you get a ‘Good’ rating, just click on the ‘Build’ button and Duplicator will go ahead and create the backup.

2. Backup Your Entire WordPress Website

Duplicator can backup all your files and databases including your WordPress themes, plugins, files, and database table filters.

This makes it easy to backup an entire website, so you don’t need to worry about losing any important data.

3. Create Custom Backups

You may not always need to create a full backup.

In this case, Duplicator can back up the database only, media only, or you might even create a custom backup where you choose exactly what files Duplicate includes and excludes. For more on this topic, please see our guide on which WordPress files you should backup.

This flexibility makes Duplicator a great choice if you have multiple websites with different backup requirements.

By excluding non-essential files and data from a backup, you can often create backups more quickly, particularly if you have a very large website.

You might also create partial backups if you’re worried about running out of storage space, or you want to avoid extra storage fees.

4. Schedule Automatic Backups

With Duplicator, it’s easy to create backups manually. However, busy website owners can easily forget to backup their site, which is bad news if you encounter problems and need to restore an earlier version.

For that reason, we recommend scheduling your backups so you always have a recent copy of your site, no matter how busy you get.

The good news is that Duplicator can automatically backup your site at specific times like daily, weekly, monthly, or even hourly. This allows you to create a backup on a day and time that works for you.

For example, if you usually post a new WordPress blog every Monday, then you can schedule the backup to run on Monday night so its stores all your latest changes.

5. Store Your Backups Locally or Use Off-Site Cloud Providers

This Duplicator review won’t be complete without discussing how it stores your backups. The good news is that Duplicator gives you lots of options.

Unlike some backup plugins that only support local storage, Duplicator can store your backups using off-site cloud providers like Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, and Amazon S3.

Duplicator works with any S3 Compatible Cloud Storage including
BackBlaze B2, Wasabi, and Cloudflare R2. You can also store your backups and packages on any web server that supports FTP or an SFTP connection.

By using cloud storage, you can access the backups at any time, and from any location. You can also easily share backups with other team members and clients, no matter where they are in the world.

If you’re worried about running out of storage, then you can set the maximum number of backups that Duplicator can save. Once it reaches this limit, Duplicator will start deleting the oldest package.

This means you’ll always have a recent backup, without running out of storage.

6. Email Notifications and Alerts

If a backup fails, then you’ll want to know about it so you can fix the problem as quickly as possible, and resume making backups.

Duplicator can notify you every time it creates a backup, and when it encounters a problem. In this way, you’ll know exactly what’s happening with your backups without having to check manually. This is particularly important if you’re using an automated backup schedule.

By default, Duplicator sends these messages to your WordPress admin email. However, you can easily change this in the plugin’s settings.

You can even send the notification to multiple addresses, to make sure the issue is always addressed quickly.

Pro Tip: You’ll want to make sure these notifications arrive safely in your inbox, and not in the spam folder. With that in mind, we recommend using an SMTP service provider to improve deliverability rates and fix the issue with WordPress not sending emails properly.

7. Recovery Points and 1-Click Restore 

With Duplicator, it’s easy to restore WordPress from a backup. Simply select the backup you want to restore, and Duplicator will handle the rest.

For most websites, the process will only take a few minutes so your site will experience minimal downtime.

If you don’t want to restore an entire site, then you can restore specific parts, such as just the database or a particular WordPress file.

You can also set recovery points. When you need to restore WordPress, your website will revert back to these saved files and database settings.

This lets you quickly roll back to a recent point where you site was in a good, secure, and working condition.

8. User-Friendly Migration Wizard

Migrating a website manually can take a lot of time and effort. You need to move the database, files, plugins, theme, and more, while minizing downtime so your users don’t see a broken website.

As awe already mentioned in this Duplicator review, the plugin has a simple step-by-step wizard that guides you through the process of migrating WordPress to a new host, domain name, local server, or live site. Duplicator can even migrate your site to destinations where the database is shared with another WordPress website.

Simply follow the onscreen instructions to create a migration package and then download it to your computer along with Duplicator’s installer script.

After that, you can simply upload the installer script and package to the new server or host, and run the migration wizard. Duplicator will then unpack the package and install it for you.

If you’re migrating between managed hosts, then Duplicator supports WordPress.com, WPEngine, GoDaddy Managed, LiquidWeb Managed WordPress, and more. You can even directly transfer packages from server to server.

If you need to create multiple websites with the same theme, plugins, content, and settings, then Duplicator can save you a ton of time. For example, if you’re a WordPress development agency then you might create a starter site that has all the content and settings you use for your client websites.

You can then turn this into a Duplicator package and apply the pre-configured site to as many websites as you want. In this way, you can set up new client websites, fast.

9. Built-in Search and Replace

When you migrate to a new domain, the database still references your old URLs by default. Manually updating these URLs to reference your new domain name would take a lot of time and effort, and there’s always a chance you might overlook some links.

Duplicator can update your URLs automatically as part of the migration process. When migrating your site, simply add your old domain in the ‘Search’ box and the new domain name in the ‘Replace’ box, and Duplicate will handle the rest.

This means you don’t have to worry about making this change manually or installing a plugin that performs the search and replace for you.

10. Support for Multisite and Large Websites

Do you want to back up an entire WordPress multisite network?

Duplicator lets you backup multisite networks and sub-sites within a WordPress multisite network. You can even install a sub-site as a standalone website.

Similarly, Duplicator is designed to work seamlessly with very large websites. This means you can create a complete backup, no matter how much data and content you have on your site. In fact, according to the Duplicator website, someone has used the plugin to successfully migrate a 100GB site.

In addition, Duplicator can perform direct package imports from any URL, so you don’t have to download the package to your computer first. This can be particularly useful when migrating very large websites.

11. Professional and Community Support

As you’ve seen in this Duplicator review, it’s easy to create complete WordPress file and database backups. However, sometimes you may need some extra help.

If you prefer to research yourself, then Duplicator has detailed online documentation.

There’s also a Duplicator blog where you’ll find in-depth articles covering everything from how to use the plugin, right through to general advice such as how to create and use a staging website.

Even better, you can access all these resources no matter whether you download the free Duplicator plugin, or buy a premium license.

If you upgrade to the premium plugin, then you’ll also get access to professional support.

Simply raise a support request in your account, and the Duplicator team will aim to respond within 24 hours, Monday-Friday.

Duplicator Review: Pricing and Plans

If you’re looking for a free manual backup plugin, then Duplicator Lite is a great choice. However, backups are crucial for keeping your website secure and running smoothly, so we always recommend creating an automated backup schedule.

All the premium Duplicator plans support automated backups. That said, you’ll always have access to a recent copy of your site, without having to create these backups manually.

Although every plan supports automatic backups, there are some key differences:

• Basic. For $49.50 per year, you can use Duplicator Pro on 2 websites. You can store your backups on all the major cloud services, and access advanced migration tools. This is perfect if you want to move WordPress from a local server to a live site, or migrate to a new domain name or host.
• Plus. Priced at $99.50 per year, this plan allows you to use Duplicator on up to 5 websites. You can also brand the installer file with your own look and feel, regenerate the WordPress SALT keys, and create hourly backups. Hourly backups make Plus a great choice for online stores and eCommerce websites, where you want to avoid losing important order or customer information.
• Pro. For $199.50 annually, you can migrate a complete multisite network, install a sub-site on a standalone website, or install a sub-site into a different multisite network. With that said, Duplicator Pro is a great option if you run a WordPress multisite network. However, you can also use Duplicator on up to 20 websites, so Pro is a good fit for WordPress development agencies, or anyone who owns many different websites.
• Elite. Priced at $299.50 per year, this plan allows you to use Duplicator Pro on up to 100 websites. That said, the Elite plan is perfect if you need an easy way to backup a long list of client websites.

Duplicator Review: Is it Worth It?

To conclude this Duplicator review, we’re confident that it’s the best backup and migration plugin for WordPress. It can create as many backups as you want, and schedule them to happen at regular intervals.

It also has a user-friendly migration wizard that shows you how to move WordPress to a new hosting provider, server, domain name, or even a different multisite network.

All the Duplicator plans support automatic backups. However, if you run a busy membership site or online marketplace, then we recommend upgrading to Duplicator Plus or higher. This allows you to schedule hourly backups, so you can keep all your recent user or customer data safe.

Meanwhile, Duplicator Pro unlocks powerful features that can help you manage WordPress multisite networks. It also allows you to use Duplicator Pro on up to 20 websites, so it’s a good choice if you manage client websites or even own a portfolio of sites.

Finally, you can use Duplicator Pro on up to 100 websites with an Elite plan. This makes it a convenient choice for agencies, developers, and freelancers who need a single solution they can use across all their client sites.

We hope this Duplicator Pro review helped you decide whether it’s the right backup and migration plugin for you. You can also check out our ultimate WordPress security guide, or see our expert pick of the best contact form plugins.

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