SiteVault – Backup, Restore & Migration

There is no limit on the number of backups. Old backups are automatically cleaned up based on your retention settings. The default retention is 30 backups.

Backups are stored in wp-content/uploads/sitevault/backups/ and are protected from direct access with .htaccess rules.

Backup time depends on your site size. Small sites (under 100MB) typically complete in under a minute. Larger sites may take several minutes.

Yes! Create a migration package and use the included installer on your new server. URLs are automatically replaced.

Backups are stored in protected directories with .htaccess restrictions.

Yes! Backup and restore works with WooCommerce sites.

This plugin creates backups when you click the “Create Backup” button in the admin screen. It does not schedule automatic backups.

• Full – Database + all files (plugins, themes, uploads)
• Database – Just the MySQL database (fastest)
• Plugins & Themes – Just plugins and themes, no uploads or database
• Uploads – Just media library files

Go to Backups, find your backup, and click “Restore”. The plugin validates the backup and restores your site automatically.

Yes! Each backup has a download button so you can save copies locally or transfer to another server.

UpdraftPlus Premium, Duplicator Pro, BackupBuddy (Solid Backups), All-in-One WP Migration Premium, WP Vivid Pro, BlogVault, and ManageWP all charge $50–199/yr per site for features SiteVault includes free: full backups, one-click restore, migration packages with a standalone installer, automatic URL remapping, and backup downloads. SiteVault has no storage caps, no file size limits, and no per-site licensing. The optional Pro upgrade adds cloud destinations (Google Cloud, Dropbox, Amazon S3, OneDrive, FTP/SFTP), AES-256 encryption, staging environments, and email notifications.

Yes. SiteVault is built for shared hosting from the ground up. The async backup engine uses chunked ZIP streaming, primary-key pagination, adaptive chunk sizing, and semaphore locking — all designed to complete on hosts with strict 30-second PHP timeouts, 128MB memory limits, and limited file handle counts. Tested on HostGator, Hostinger, SiteGround GoGeek, Bluehost, GoDaddy, A2 Hosting, and DreamHost.

No. The plugin only runs when you click “Create Backup” or “Restore” in the admin — there is no scheduler running in the background and zero impact on visitor-facing pages. The admin UI loads only when you visit a SiteVault settings page.

Yes. Translated posts in WPML, Polylang, TranslatePress, and qTranslate are backed up like any other WordPress content — the language taxonomy, translation meta, and per-language post records are all included in full and database-only backups. After a migration or restore, translated content reappears with all language relationships intact.

Yes. Create a Migration Package on your live site, download it, and run the included standalone installer (installer.php) on your staging server, local environment (Local by Flywheel, MAMP, XAMPP, DevKinsta), or a fresh WordPress install. SiteVault automatically remaps the site URL and handles serialized data so widgets, theme customizer settings, page builder content, and plugin options all work without manual search-and-replace.

There is no fixed maximum — SiteVault streams ZIP archives with adaptive chunk sizing, so the limit is your server’s available disk space and execution time. Sites with 50+ GB of uploads have been backed up successfully on shared hosting using the async engine. For very large sites, the database-only backup option remains fast even when full backups take longer.

Yes. SiteVault automatically excludes the WP Rocket, W3 Total Cache, LiteSpeed Cache, WP Super Cache, FlyingPress, and Autoptimize cache directories from backups (they regenerate on the destination site after restore, so backing them up is wasted space). The plugin’s own admin pages are not cached because caching plugins exclude /wp-admin/ by default.