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Free Plugin by Rene Hermenau v4.11.1

WP STAGING

WordPress backup plugin: backups, restore & migration in minutes. Clone or duplicate your site, test updates on a staging copy. 100% unit-tested.

WP STAGING

The facts

Rating
4.8★ from 2,464
Active installs
100k+
Price
Free
Last updated
24 Aug 2026
Added
Aug 2015
Requires WP
3.6
Tested up to
WP 7.1
Requires PHP
7.0
Downloads
5,950,336

Our analysis

AI-assisted

WP STAGING is a WordPress plugin that provides backup, restore, staging, cloning, and migration functionalities. It allows you to create full backups or exact clones of your website quickly, facilitating safe testing of updates and easy site migrations. Designed for agencies, developers, and businesses, it ensures that all data remains on your server unless you opt for a transfer or remote storage workflow.

The plugin supports efficient background processing, making it suitable for sites on shared hosting. It offers features like scheduled backups, SEO-friendly staging sites, and extensive logging. WP STAGING is built to handle large databases and is compatible with various server types, ensuring reliability and speed in backup and migration tasks.

Best for: This plugin suits agencies, developers, and businesses needing reliable backup and migration workflows.

What it does well

  • All-in-one solution for backup, restore, staging, cloning, and migration
  • Supports WooCommerce stores, including orders and customer data
  • Fast and efficient, even on weak shared hosting servers
  • No external accounts required; all data stays on your server
  • Extensive logging features for tracking processes

Where it falls short

  • Limited information on advanced features available in the PRO version
  • No specific details on user interface or ease of use beyond basic claims

Verdict

WP STAGING provides a comprehensive set of tools for managing WordPress backups and migrations. It is particularly useful for users who require a robust solution without relying on external services.

From the developer

Rene Hermenau's own description of WP STAGING, lightly tidied.

WordPress Backup, Restore, Staging, Cloning & Migration — All in One

WP STAGING is the all-in-one WordPress backup, restore, staging, cloning, and migration plugin, built for professional workflows with 100% unit-tested code, thousands of automated tests, and extensive end-to-end testing across supported PHP versions.

Create a full backup or an exact clone or copy of your website in minutes. Use it to duplicate your site, test plugin and theme updates safely, restore your site when needed, move or migrate WordPress to another server, transfer your site to a new host, or build a staging copy before making changes. WP STAGING also works as a WordPress duplicator, so you do not need a separate duplicator plugin to copy your website.

WP STAGING reliably backs up, clones, and migrates WooCommerce stores too, including orders, products, and customer data.

WP STAGING is developed in Germany and designed for agencies, developers, and businesses that need reliable WordPress backup, recovery, staging, restore, and migration workflows.

WP STAGING | PRO also includes advanced workflows such as Remote Sync, which lets you pull a WordPress site securely from one server to another using an API key, and WP STAGING CLI, which can turn a WP STAGING backup into a local Docker-based development site.

All data stays on your server unless you choose a transfer or remote storage workflow. WP STAGING is designed for speed, reliability, and low-resource environments, including shared hosting.

WP STAGING automatically performs search and replace for links and paths during cloning, backup, restore, and migration workflows.

This staging and backup plugin can clone your website quickly and efficiently, even if it is running on a weak shared hosting server.

Wp STAGING free – backup & STAGING features

  • Clone the entire production site into a subdirectory like example.com/staging-site.
  • High-performance backup and cloning, even for websites with very large databases.
  • Create full or partial backups — full-site backup, database-only, or files-only backups.
  • Scheduled backups with automatic daily backups.
  • Easy to use: create a clone or backup in one click.
  • Efficient background processing without slowing down your website.
  • No Software as a Service and no external account required.
  • All your data stays on your server. Your data belongs to you only.
  • No server timeouts on huge websites or weak servers.
  • Fast backup, clone, and restore workflows depending on site size and server resources.
  • Use the clone as part of your backup and update strategy.
  • Only administrators can access the cloned or backup website.
  • SEO-friendly staging sites with login protection and no-index handling.
  • The admin bar on the staging / backup website is orange colored and shows when you work on the staging site.
  • Extensive logging features.
  • Supports Apache, Nginx, Microsoft IIS, and LiteSpeed Server.
  • Every release passes extensive automated tests to keep the plugin robust, reliable, and fast.
  • Fast and professional support team.

Wp STAGING | pro – backup & STAGING features

The features below are available in WP STAGING | PRO.

  • Remote Sync – Pull a WordPress site securely from one server to another.
  • WP STAGING CLI – Turn a backup into a local Docker-based development site.
  • Migrate and transfer WordPress to another host or domain.
  • Push staging changes to production (staging to live), including plugins, themes, and media files, with one click.
  • Clone a backup or staging site to a separate database.
  • Choose a custom directory for a backup or cloned site.
  • Select a custom subdomain destination like dev.example.com.
  • Define user roles for accessing the clone or backup site. This can be clients or external developers.
  • Multisite support for migration, backup, and cloning.
  • Schedule recurring backups by time and interval.
  • Download and upload backups to another server for migration and transfer.
  • Backup retention settings.
  • Custom backup names.
  • Email notifications if a backup cannot be created.
  • WordPress multisite backup and restore.
  • Cloud backup, offsite backup, and remote backups to external storage providers.
  • Backup to Google Drive.
  • Backup to Amazon S3.
  • Backup to (S)FTP.
  • Backup to Dropbox.
  • Custom backup folder destinations for cloud storage providers.
  • Priority support.

Documentation

How to Backup and Restore WordPress
Backup and Restore WordPress

Read the full description on the official page →

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