What each host documents
| Host | Frequency and retention | Downloadable copy | Restore behaviour |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kinsta | Daily; 14, 20 or 30 days depending on plan; up to 5 manual backups | Once per week; ZIP of database and files; available for 48 hours | Restoring creates a new backup first; can restore to a staging environment |
| WP Engine | Daily checkpoints; 30 days kept | ZIP, full or partial; downloadable for up to 7 days once prepared | Described as destructive; files not in the backup are removed; no automated partial table restore |
| SiteGround | Up to 30 daily copies on shared hosting, up to 7 on Cloud; 5 manual slots on GrowBig and higher | Only with the Premium Backup service; .tar.gz link available for 24 hours | Restore all, files only, database only or emails; no preview before restore |
| Liquid Web managed WordPress | Daily; 7-day on Essentials, 14-day on Pro, 30-day on Elite plan cards | Not verified | Not verified |
Paid upgrades to frequency and storage
Kinsta's backup documentation lists a 6-hour backup add-on at $20 per site per month and an hourly backup add-on at $100 per site per month, each keeping those extra backups for 24 hours. It also lists an external backups add-on at $2 per month for each site backup plus $1 per GB per month for bandwidth, with storage billed separately by Google Cloud or AWS. Kinsta notes that external backups cannot be restored directly in MyKinsta.
SiteGround's Premium Backup adds download access, hourly backups for the past 48 hours, and extra copies, up to a maximum of 37 daily backups on shared hosting and 14 on Cloud.
For a membership site, the gap between daily backups is the gap in orders and lesson progress you could lose. If the site takes many purchases a day, hourly or 6-hour backups shrink that gap, but they are kept only for 24 hours at Kinsta, so they protect against today's mistake, not last week's.
Why restores are risky on a site that takes payments
WP Engine calls its restore process destructive. Kinsta says the site will be rolled back to the time the backup was created. SiteGround says there is no option to preview a backup before restoring. In each case, restoring the database to live discards every order, renewal, enrolment and lesson completion recorded after the backup, while your payment processor keeps the real charges.
The safer pattern is to restore to a separate environment and copy back only what you need. Kinsta documents restoring a live backup to a staging environment. SiteGround offers files-only and database-only restores, which at least lets you avoid rolling back the database when only files are damaged. WP Engine notes that partial database restores of specific tables are not supported in the automated process and must be done manually.
Why you still need an off-host copy
- Retention is short relative to detection time. A corrupted course or a silently broken renewal can go unnoticed for longer than 7 or 14 days.
- Host backups live inside the host account. A billing dispute, account lock or a deleted site affects the backups too; Kinsta keeps backups of deleted sites for 14 days.
- Download windows are short: 48 hours at Kinsta, 7 days at WP Engine, 24 hours at SiteGround with Premium Backup. An off-host copy has to be pulled on a schedule, not on demand during an emergency.
- Migrations need a portable copy. A host backup is restorable on that host; moving hosts needs a database export and file archive you hold.
- Host backups may exclude things. Kinsta states a backup will not contain MyKinsta settings or custom server-side configurations, and WP Engine lists categories it chooses not to back up.
A minimum backup policy for a course or membership site
Keep the host's daily backups as the first line. Add an off-host copy of the database at least daily and of uploads at least weekly, stored with a provider unrelated to your host. Before any plugin update, migration or staging push, take a manual backup on the host. Once a quarter, restore an off-host copy to a staging environment and check that recent orders, member records and lesson progress are present, as described in our backup restore rehearsal guide. Write down which host retention applies to your exact plan, because Kinsta and Liquid Web both vary retention by plan.
Questions before you decide
Is 30 days of retention enough?
It covers mistakes you notice within a month. It does not cover slow-burning problems or the loss of the host account itself, which is why an off-host copy is still recommended.
Can I download SiteGround backups on a standard plan?
SiteGround's knowledge base states that backups can be downloaded as files for sites with the Premium Backup service.
Sources & verification
Product details and prices can change. Check the linked provider before buying.
- Kinsta: Backups Accessed 13 Oct 2026
- WP Engine: Backup and restore your site Accessed 13 Oct 2026
- SiteGround: Backup service in Site Tools Accessed 13 Oct 2026
- Liquid Web: Managed WordPress hosting plans Accessed 13 Oct 2026
Sources link directly to providers. Product buttons may use separately labeled affiliate links. Read our disclosure.