BackupBuddy vs SafeGuard Backup Speed Battle

completedBlog Starter (XS) -- XS

BackupBuddyPROvsSafeGuardPRO

BackupBuddy v9.1.5SafeGuard v1.2.0
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🔒 SequentialBlog Starter (XS) — XSNone Load
Speed Winner
SafeGuard
6.8svs43.3s

Fastest total time (backup + restore)

Storage Winner
SafeGuard
37 MBvs48 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

BackupBuddy
DBPluginsThemesUploadswp-configWP Core
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

Overall Median Times

BackupBuddy
Backup
5.0s
Restore
38.2s
SafeGuard
Backup
3.2s
Restore
3.5s

Per-Profile Median Times

Median backup + restore time broken down by hosting profile.

Shared Hosting
BackupBuddyTotal: 45.0s
Backup
5.3s
Restore
39.6s
SafeGuardTotal: 6.9s
Backup
3.3s
Restore
3.6s
Managed WordPress
BackupBuddyTotal: 43.3s
Backup
5.0s
Restore
38.2s
SafeGuardTotal: 6.9s
Backup
3.3s
Restore
3.6s
VPS Standard
BackupBuddyTotal: 44.2s
Backup
5.2s
Restore
39.0s
SafeGuardTotal: 6.8s
Backup
3.3s
Restore
3.5s

Backup Size & Efficiency

BackupBuddy
Data backed up167.0 MB
Archive size48.0 MBZIP
Compression3.4:1
Throughput31.5 MB/s
Compression methodDEFLATE Normal (Level 6)
SafeGuard
Data backed up111.0 MB
Archive size37.0 MBZIP
Compression3:1
Throughput33.4 MB/s
Compression methodDEFLATE Normal (Level 6)

Backup Inventory

CategoryBackupBuddySafeGuardDiff
FilesSizeFilesSizeFiles
Database33286.8 KB5273.4 KB-28
Plugins9,31059.9 MB2,44322.0 MB-6,867
Themes39414.4 MB39414.4 MB=
Uploads304.1 MB24968.9 KB-6
WP Core2,73355.9 MB2,73355.9 MB=
wp-config211.5 KB28.9 KB=
Other18178.9 KB17178.9 KB-1
Total12,520134.8 MB5,61893.8 MB-6,902

Phase Breakdown

Iteration 6 (median)

BackupBuddy
SCAN
4.6s
VERIFY
0.1s
ARCHIVE
0.0s
SafeGuard
SCAN
0.1s
VERIFY
0.1s
ARCHIVE
2.6s
DB_EXPORT
0.1s

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
BackupBuddy
5.1s39.1s44.2s
SafeGuard
3.3s3.5s6.9s
2
BackupBuddy
5.4s39.6s45.0s
SafeGuard
3.3s3.6s6.9s
3Median
BackupBuddy
5.3s39.7s45.0s
SafeGuard
3.2s3.6s6.9s
Managed WordPress3 iterations
#PluginBackupRestoreTotal
4
BackupBuddy
5.0s38.1s43.0s
SafeGuard
3.2s3.5s6.8s
5
BackupBuddy
5.0s38.9s43.9s
SafeGuard
3.3s3.6s6.9s
6Median
BackupBuddy
5.1s38.2s43.3s
SafeGuard
3.3s3.6s6.9s
VPS Standard3 iterations
#PluginBackupRestoreTotal
7
BackupBuddy
5.2s39.4s44.6s
SafeGuard
3.3s3.5s6.8s
8Median
BackupBuddy
5.2s39.0s44.2s
SafeGuard
3.3s3.6s6.9s
9
BackupBuddy
5.2s38.2s43.4s
SafeGuard
3.3s3.5s6.8s

Downloads

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

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

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