WordPress backup & migration plugin complaints: what 89 bad reviews say
89 one- and two-star WordPress.org reviews (80 one-star) of the 12 most-installed plugins in the Backup & migration category, posted 26 Oct 2025 – 25 Oct 2026. Combined: 19,000,000+ active installs.
What users complain about in WordPress backup & migration plugins
| Complaint | Share | Reviews | All plugins |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bugs & errors | 31.5% | 28 | 32.5% |
| Upsell, paywall & pushy Pro version | 23.6% | 21 | 14.9% |
| Called it a scam or misleading | 21.3% | 19 | 8% |
| Slow or no support | 13.5% | 12 | 18% |
| Charges, renewals & refunds | 10.1% | 9 | 11.1% |
| Slows the site or heavy | 5.6% | 5 | 8.8% |
| Crashed or took down the site | 4.5% | 4 | 5.4% |
| Hard to use or set up | 3.4% | 3 | 9.3% |
| Missing features & limits | 3.4% | 3 | 5.9% |
| Broke after an update | 3.4% | 3 | 8.5% |
| AI features or AI support | 2.2% | 2 | 6.1% |
| Ads, nags & admin clutter | 2.2% | 2 | 4.5% |
| Conflicts with other plugins or themes | 1.1% | 1 | 1.9% |
| Lost data, content or settings | 1.1% | 1 | 0.7% |
A review can match several themes; 31.5% match none. “All plugins” = 578 low-star reviews of 138 plugins in 12 categories.
What is different about this category
Compared with all 138 plugins in the study, backup & migration plugin reviews mention called it a scam or misleading 2.7× as often (21.3% vs 8%); upsell, paywall & pushy pro version 1.6× as often (23.6% vs 14.9%). They mention ai features or ai support (2.2% vs 6.1%) and hard to use or set up (3.4% vs 9.3%) less often than average.
WordPress backup & migration plugins by number of bad reviews
| Plugin | 1–2★ | Top complaint (5+ reviews) | Replied | Installs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All-in-One WP Migration | 47 | Upsell, paywall & pushy Pro version 42.6% | 27.7% | 5,000,000+ |
| Jetpack | 15 | Bugs & errors 40% | 66.7% | 3,000,000+ |
| UpdraftPlus | 9 | Slow or no support 11.1% | 77.8% | 3,000,000+ |
| Duplicator | 6 | Bugs & errors 50% | 100% | 1,000,000+ |
| WPvivid | 4 | – | 100% | 900,000+ |
| Migrate Guru | 4 | – | 75% | 200,000+ |
| BackWPup | 2 | – | 100% | 400,000+ |
| Yoast Duplicate Post | 1 | – | 0% | 3,000,000+ |
| Backuply | 1 | – | 100% | 600,000+ |
| ManageWP Worker | 0 | – | – | 1,000,000+ |
| MainWP Child | 0 | – | – | 700,000+ |
| JetBackup | 0 | – | – | 200,000+ |
In users’ words
“I had high hopes on this plugin, but it does not work. They say we should set the limit to 512MB.”
WordPress.org review, Jul 2026
“Avoid this app, you can not upload anything, you will need to pay 69$.”
WordPress.org review, Aug 2026
“… It will charge you to speed it up but it’s the problem slowing your sight down.”
WordPress.org review, Feb 2026
“… I faced multiple issues after using it, including website breakage, slower performance, and compatibility conflicts, especially with Elementor and other plugins.”
WordPress.org review, Sep 2026
“… This last time was the final straw, I just wanted to track stats to compare, It broke my website, I Deactivated, problem went away, Activated came back, waited for update and reactivated, problem continued.”
WordPress.org review, Jun 2026
Do WordPress backup & migration developers reply to bad reviews?
51.7% of these low-star reviews got a reply from the author or support team, median 1 day after the review (all plugins: 70.2%, median 1 day).
What to fix first (our reading of the data)
- Bugs & errors (31.5% of reviews): Reply to each bug review with the version that fixes it, and test against the most popular themes and PHP versions.
- Upsell, paywall & pushy Pro version (23.6% of reviews): Keep the free version useful on its own; move Pro prompts out of every admin screen.
- Slow or no support (13.5% of reviews): Answer forum threads within a day or two; plugins in this study that replied fast had fewer repeat complaints.
This breakdown for your plugin
Your plugin’s low-star reviews by theme, with quotes and reply rate. Revunda has no self-serve WordPress.org report yet: send the plugin URL and we reply with what we can do.
Other categories: Page builders & blocks · WooCommerce & payments · SEO · Cookies & privacy · Images, galleries & sliders · Security & anti-spam · Caching & speed · Forms · Translation · Email & SMTP · Analytics
Data and method: WordPress review study (138 plugins, CC BY 4.0 CSV) · WordPress plugin 1-star reviews: what to fix first · All categories
FAQ
What do users complain about most in WordPress backup & migration plugins?
In 89 one- and two-star WordPress.org reviews of 12 WordPress backup & migration plugins (Oct 2025 – Oct 2026), the top complaints were bugs & errors (31.5%), upsell, paywall & pushy pro version (23.6%), called it a scam or misleading (21.3%).
Do WordPress backup & migration plugin developers reply to bad reviews?
51.7% of these low-star reviews got a reply from the author or support team, median 1 day after the review (all plugins: 70.2%, median 1 day).
Which WordPress backup & migration plugin had the most bad reviews?
All-in-One WP Migration, with 47 one- and two-star reviews in the 12 months to Oct 2026.
How many bad reviews do backup & migration plugins get per million installs?
4.7 low-star reviews per million active installs over 12 months, against 3.5 across all 138 plugins in the study.