BackupBliss vs UpdraftPlus

BackupBliss and UpdraftPlus both back up and migrate WordPress sites, but they're at very different points in their lifecycle. BackupBliss is a newer, lighter plugin that bundles 1GB of its own free cloud storage into the free version. UpdraftPlus is the long-established incumbent, with incremental backups and encryption built in.

BackupBliss markets itself on speed and simplicity — a light plugin with fast backups and an easy setup. UpdraftPlus instead leans on breadth: multiple simultaneous storage destinations, database encryption, and the ability to restore from a backup made by a competing plugin.

Quick verdict: Choose BackupBliss if you want a light, fast backup plugin with free built-in cloud storage and don't need advanced compliance features. Choose UpdraftPlus if you want the more established option, with encryption, multi-destination storage, and a bigger track record.

BackupBliss vs UpdraftPlus at a glance

Install and rating figures above are StatWP's own estimates, sourced from WordPress.org and refreshed daily rather than a fixed snapshot.

Feature and starting price at a glance

The free-storage detail matters more than it looks: most backup plugins, including UpdraftPlus, expect you to bring your own storage account from day one, so BackupBliss's 1GB is a genuine head start for a small site with no cloud account set up yet.

Worth noticing: BackupBliss's premium plan is $45.89/year for 2 sites and throws in 5GB of storage for the first year on top of the free version's 1GB. UpdraftPlus's cheapest paid plan costs more — $70/year for 2 sites — but ships only 1GB of its own storage and expects most people to connect their own Dropbox or S3 account instead. Swap the names and this fact reverses: it's specifically BackupBliss's newer, storage-bundling business model that undercuts UpdraftPlus's storage-agnostic one here, not just a generic "cheaper plugin wins" story.

What does BackupBliss actually do?

BackupBliss's own site describes a plugin built around speed and ease of setup:

• Manual or scheduled automatic backups, without a complicated setup flow.

• What its own site calls “super-fast migration from one host to another.”

• 1GB of free storage on BackupBliss's own cloud service, with OneDrive, pCloud, and SFTP available as premium options.

• Automatic backups before a plugin or core update, with rollback if the update causes problems.

• Smart exclusion rules that skip cache and debug files automatically, to keep backup size down.

BackupBliss's own marketing calls it “the best UX of all backup and migration plugins” — its pitch leans on simplicity and speed for a newer, lighter plugin rather than a long feature list.

What does UpdraftPlus actually do?

UpdraftPlus's own site describes a more established set of mechanics, built over more than a decade:

• Smart auto-backups triggered automatically before a WordPress, plugin, or theme update.

• Incremental backups that only capture what's changed since the last run, rather than re-exporting everything.

• One-click migration to a new domain or host, including direct site-to-site transfer.

• Simultaneous backups to multiple storage destinations — Dropbox, Google Drive, Amazon S3, OneDrive, Azure, and others.

• Database encryption and anonymization, for sites with compliance requirements.

UpdraftPlus's own marketing leans on being “the most installed WordPress backup and migration solution,” positioning scale and track record ahead of any single standout feature.

What features does each one have that the other doesn't?

BackupBliss's clearest edge is free storage bundled in from the start — 1GB on its own cloud service with no separate account to configure — plus a lighter footprint that its own marketing ties directly to backup speed.

UpdraftPlus's clearest edge is the compliance and continuity layer: encryption, anonymization, and the ability to restore a site from a backup made by a different plugin entirely, which lowers the switching cost for anyone moving off a competing tool.

Which should you actually use?

If you're running a smaller site and want backups working quickly without setting up a separate cloud storage account first, BackupBliss's built-in free storage and lightweight footprint make it the faster path to a working backup. If you need encryption, multi-destination redundancy, or you're migrating away from a different backup plugin and want to restore straight from its output, UpdraftPlus's longer track record and broader feature set are the safer bet, particularly for sites with real compliance requirements.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between BackupBliss and UpdraftPlus?

BackupBliss is a newer, lightweight backup and migration plugin with 1GB of free cloud storage built in. UpdraftPlus is the more established option, with incremental backups, database encryption, and the ability to restore from a competing plugin's backup file. BackupBliss leans on simplicity and a fast start; UpdraftPlus leans on breadth and a longer track record.

Is UpdraftPlus better than BackupBliss?

Not universally — it depends on what you need. UpdraftPlus is the stronger pick if you need encryption, multiple storage destinations, or migrating away from another backup tool. BackupBliss is the stronger pick if you want backups running quickly with free storage and no separate cloud account to set up. Neither is a strictly better version of the other.

Does BackupBliss really include free cloud storage?

Yes — per its own site, the free version includes 1GB of storage on BackupBliss's own cloud service, with additional storage providers like OneDrive and pCloud available as premium add-ons.

Is UpdraftPlus free to use?

The core plugin is free and covers scheduled backups to a connected storage destination. Premium adds incremental backups, encryption, multiple simultaneous destinations, and a single hosted staging-site token, starting at $70/year for 2 sites.

Can BackupBliss restore a backup made by another plugin?

That's not advertised on BackupBliss's own site, unlike UpdraftPlus, which specifically markets the ability to restore from a backup created by a different backup plugin.

See the live, current numbers for either plugin any time on StatWP's BackupBliss page or StatWP's UpdraftPlus page, or run this comparison yourself with StatWP's compare tool.