UpdraftPlus vs. Kakapo Backup: How They Compare on the Day It Matters

UpdraftPlus can be found on a great many WordPress installations, and for good reason: it backs up reliably, supports many cloud destinations, and has a free version. So the question isn't whether it works, but how you can tell that you need something else.

The short answer

UpdraftPlus is the pragmatic choice: free to start, many storage destinations, wide adoption and therefore lots of tutorials online. Paid add-ons provide encryption, incremental runs, and multi-site management.

Kakapo Backup is the proof-oriented choice. Every archive comes with a SHA-256 checksum, optional AES-256 encryption with your key, an optional GPG signature, and a WORM lock that prevents later changes. The run itself stays entirely on your server.

What both can do

• Back up the database and files on a schedule
• Offload to remote storage
• Restore from the interface
• Migrate an installation to a different address
• Set retention limits

Where the two differ

The difference that counts on the day it matters

The real emergency isn't the break-in but the archive that won't open. A checksum answers in advance what you'd otherwise only find out afterward: is the file still exactly the one that was written?

The second case is nastier. Anyone who gains access to a server likes to delete or alter the backups first. A lock against later changes and a chained log entry exist for exactly that — not against disk failures, but against someone covering their tracks.

A backup stored on the same server as the website is no protection against that server failing. At least one copy belongs somewhere else — no matter which plugin you use.

Where the data is stored

Kakapo Backup writes its archives to wp-content/uploads/kwpb-backups and pushes them from there to the destination you've set up. Without a configured destination, nothing goes out. For your data processing documentation, that means: you list your storage provider, not the plugin vendor as well.

When UpdraftPlus is the better choice

• You want to start for free
• You need one specific storage destination that UpdraftPlus supports and another plugin doesn't
• You back up a single site with no obligation to provide proof
• You want to find as many tutorials online as possible

When Kakapo Backup is the better choice

• You need to be able to prove that an archive is unchanged
• You want archives encrypted, with the key staying with you
• You want an automatic way back before every update
• You look after multiple sites and want one license instead of five

Switching: what to do

1. Create one last full backup with the old plugin and download it.
2. Install Kakapo Backup and enter your license key.
3. Set up your storage destination and start a backup manually.
4. Verify the checksum of the new archive.
5. Restore it once to a staging copy — not to the live site.
6. Only then turn off the old plugin's schedule.

Keep the old plugin's last backup for another month. A switch is the worst time to be left without a way back.

Frequently asked questions