SafeGuard vs UpdraftPlus Backup Speed Battle

completedBlog Starter (XS) -- XS

SafeGuardPROvsUpdraftPlusPRO

SafeGuard v1.2.0UpdraftPlus v1.24.2
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🔒 SequentialBlog Starter (XS) — XSNone Load
Speed Winner
SafeGuard
6.1svs6.7s

Fastest total time (backup + restore)

Storage Winner
SafeGuard
37 MBvs40 MB

Smallest archive size

Best Overall
SafeGuard

No other plugin is both faster AND produces a smaller backup.

⚠️Different backup scope -- results may not be directly comparable

One plugin backs up more data categories than the other, which affects both speed and archive size.

Backup Scope

SafeGuard
DBPluginsThemesUploadswp-configWP Core

wp-config.php is not in the archive. Plugins that leave it out rebuild it during their own restore, so this is recorded rather than penalised. Why

UpdraftPlus
DBPluginsThemesUploadswp-configWP Core

Overall Median Times

SafeGuard
Backup
3.2s
Restore
2.9s
UpdraftPlus
Backup
4.7s
Restore
2.0s

Per-Profile Median Times

Median backup + restore time broken down by hosting profile.

Shared Hosting
SafeGuardTotal: 6.2s
Backup
3.2s
Restore
3.0s
UpdraftPlusTotal: 6.8s
Backup
4.7s
Restore
2.0s
Managed WordPress
SafeGuardTotal: 6.1s
Backup
3.2s
Restore
3.0s
UpdraftPlusTotal: 6.7s
Backup
4.7s
Restore
2.1s
VPS Standard
SafeGuardTotal: 6.1s
Backup
3.2s
Restore
3.0s
UpdraftPlusTotal: 6.7s
Backup
4.7s
Restore
2.0s

Backup Size & Efficiency

SafeGuard
Data backed up111.0 MB
Archive size37.0 MBZIP
Compression3:1
Throughput34.8 MB/s
Compression methodDEFLATE Normal (Level 6)
UpdraftPlus
Data backed up127.0 MB
Archive size40.0 MBGZ
Compression3.2:1
Throughput27.0 MB/s
Compression methodgzip

Backup Inventory

CategorySafeGuardUpdraftPlusDiff
FilesSizeFilesSizeFiles
Database1156.0 KB130.4 KB=
Plugins2,40221.5 MB3,68333.4 MB+1,281
Themes39013.6 MB39013.6 MB=
Uploads24968.9 KB24968.9 KB=
WP Core2,78257.4 MB2,78257.4 MB=
wp-config00 B15.8 KB+1
Other19187.8 KB19187.8 KB=
Total5,61893.8 MB6,900105.5 MB+1,282

Phase Breakdown

Iteration 6 (median)

SafeGuard
SCAN
0.1s
VERIFY
0.0s
ARCHIVE
2.6s
DB_EXPORT
0.1s
UpdraftPlus
SCAN
0.0s
VERIFY
0.0s
ARCHIVE
4.0s
DB_EXPORT
0.3s

Iteration Results

9 iterations across 3 hosting profiles -- median highlighted per profile. Compression shows archive-to-raw ratio (higher = better). * = no compression detected.

Shared Hosting3 iterations
#PluginBackupRestoreTotal
1
SafeGuard
3.2s3.0s6.2s
UpdraftPlus
4.7s2.1s6.9s
2Median
SafeGuard
3.2s3.0s6.2s
UpdraftPlus
4.7s2.0s6.8s
3
SafeGuard
3.2s3.0s6.2s
UpdraftPlus
4.7s2.0s6.7s
Managed WordPress3 iterations
#PluginBackupRestoreTotal
4Median
SafeGuard
3.2s2.9s6.1s
UpdraftPlus
4.7s2.1s6.7s
5
SafeGuard
3.2s3.0s6.1s
UpdraftPlus
4.7s2.1s6.7s
6
SafeGuard
3.1s3.0s6.1s
UpdraftPlus
4.7s2.0s6.7s
VPS Standard3 iterations
#PluginBackupRestoreTotal
7
SafeGuard
3.2s3.0s6.1s
UpdraftPlus
4.7s2.1s6.8s
8Median
SafeGuard
3.2s3.0s6.2s
UpdraftPlus
4.7s2.0s6.7s
9
SafeGuard
3.2s2.9s6.1s
UpdraftPlus
4.6s2.0s6.7s

Downloads

Metrics (CSV)Full Results (JSON)File Inventory — SafeGuard (TXT)File Inventory — UpdraftPlus (TXT)

Raw log archive is temporarily unavailable while the benchmark cluster is offline. Metrics, results, and inventories remain downloadable.

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