About this plugin
Portamo Backup takes a complete snapshot of your site — database and files — and puts it back when something goes wrong. No size limit, no time limit, no upsell standing between you and your own data.
Most backup plugins fail on the same thing: a big site on a small server. Portamo Backup is built around that problem. The database is streamed row by row, files are walked in batches, and everything runs on a background queue that survives a 30-second PHP timeout.
Close the browser tab — the job keeps going.
What the free version does
- Back up your entire site — full site, database only, or files only. Any size. No cap.
- WooCommerce data only — on a store, a fourth scope narrows the snapshot to the tables WooCommerce writes to plus the uploads folder and wc-logs. Much smaller and quicker to move than a full-site archive when all you need is the shop.
- Restore any snapshot this site created — also any size, also free, forever. Your backups are never held hostage.
- Rollback guard — a database snapshot is taken before every restore. If the restore fails or you cancel it, one click puts the database back the way it was.
- Import a backup from another site — any size, no cap. URLs and serialized data are rewritten automatically, so widget settings, ACF fields and page-builder layouts survive the move.
- Cancel, pause and resume — stop a job mid-flight and pick it up exactly where it stopped.
- Adaptive Dual-Core engine — detects your server at runtime. PHP 7.4 gets small sequential chunks that survive 64 MB shared hosts; PHP 8.0+ gets larger chunks and memory-efficient streaming. Nothing to configure.
- Diagnostics — one page showing which engine is running, queue health, disk space, and whether the storage directory passes a write probe.
- Restore history — every restore attempt is logged with a 7-day success rate, so you know your backups are actually restorable.
- Email and Slack notifications on success or failure, with quiet hours.
What Pro adds
The free version is a complete backup and restore tool on its own. Pro is for people who need automation and off-site copies:
- Scheduled automatic backups — daily, weekly, monthly or a custom cron rule, with retention policy and run history.
- Cloud storage — Google Drive and Dropbox over OAuth 2.0 using your own app credentials, with resumable chunked uploads. Pull a snapshot back from its cloud copy after the local archive has been pruned.
- Token-based site migration — issue a one-time signed token on the source site, paste it on the destination, walk away. The pull completes itself even on hosts with no reliable cron.
- AES-256-GCM encryption — seal every archive with a master password before it leaves your server.
- WooCommerce order journal — captures every order the moment it happens and keeps it outside the snapshot. Restoring an older backup replays the orders placed since, so rolling a shop back never drops revenue. HPOS and legacy order storage both supported.
com/portamo-backup
Why “Adaptive Dual-Core”?
Two execution paths share one interface and are chosen at runtime:
- Standard Mode (PHP 7.4) — small chunks, sequential I/O, conservative memory ceilings. Survives shared hosts with 64 MB RAM and 30-second execution limits.
- Ghost Turbo Mode (PHP 8.0+) — larger chunks, parallel hash-then-write loops, memory-efficient streaming. Uses what a VPS actually has.
You do not pick one. The plugin looks at the server and decides.
Privacy
- Your site’s content is never sent anywhere. Backups, database dumps and archives stay on your own server unless you connect a cloud destination yourself (a Pro feature that uses your own Google or Dropbox credentials).
- Backups are written to /wp-content/uploads/portamo-backup/, protected by an.htaccess rule that blocks direct web access.
- The plugin uses one external service, Freemius, for licensing and updates — see the “External services” section below for exactly what is sent and when.
External services
This plugin uses one third-party service: Freemius, the licensing and update
platform that distributes the paid version.
What it is used for. Freemius handles Pro licence activation, delivers Pro
updates, and — only if you agree — collects basic environment data that helps us
support the plugin.
When data is sent, and what. On activation the plugin shows an opt-in screen
with two buttons:
- Skip — no site data is sent. Freemius is still contacted to check whether a
plugin update is available, and to validate a licence key if you enter one.
- Allow & Continue — in addition to the above, your site URL, the
administrator email address, your WordPress and PHP versions, and the list of
active plugins and themes are sent to Freemius so we can reproduce and fix
problems on setups like yours.
Opting in is entirely optional. Every backup, restore and migration feature works
identically whether you opt in or skip, and you can change the choice later from
the plugin’s settings.
The contents of your site are never sent to Freemius — no files, no database
rows, no backup archives.
- Service provider: Freemius, Inc.
- Endpoint contacted: api.freemius.com
- Terms of Service: https://freemius.com/terms/
- Privacy Policy: https://freemius.com/privacy/