6 Web Hosting Providers with Free Backups

Here are the shared web hosting providers that have free backups.

Here’s how the backup features of the various web hosts compare to each other for shared hosting:

Web Hosting	Days of Backups	Offsite Storage?	On-demand Backups?	1-click Restore?
HostArmada	7-14	✅	✅	✅
KnownHost	2 + 1 week	❌	✅	❌
NameHero	1 + weekly	✅	✅	✅
DreamHost	Up to 14 days	❌	✅	✅
GreenGeeks	1	❌	Pro plan	❌
SiteGround	30 days	✅	✅	✅

Here’s a detailed look at the pros and cons of the backups provided by each of these providers.

1. HostArmada (Recommended)

HostArmada is my recommended web host for free backups on shared hosting because it offers a generous retention period starting at 14 days and going up to two weeks. You can restore your website to any time in between. Here’s an article on the HostArmada backup service for an in-depth explanation.

The cost is quite low, starting at just $2.99/m. HostArmada is great for hosting in countries like India because they have more data centers than any other host on this list. Get the best discount with this HostArmada promo.

At the higher-tier “Speed Reaper” plan, HostArmada offers the LiteSpeed web server, which has inbuilt server-side caching and 21-days of backups. Other web hosts like DreamHost that are lower on this list don’t let you choose the exact day of the restoration copy. These are the reasons why HostArmada is #1 on this list of web hosting providers with free backups. Here’s the complete HostArmada review for a more in-depth study of its features.

2. KnownHost

KnownHost keeps two days of complimentary backups on shared hosting and a weekly backup, just in case you want to revert to an even earlier date. However, you need to raise a ticket to restore your backups, which is inconvenient. Hopefully, though, you won’t have to use it that often. The basic KnownHost shared hosting pricing starts at $/m. Here are all the KnownHost coupons to get you started.

Here’s the complete guide to KnownHost backups with all the pros and cons explained in greater detail.

KnownHost is well-known for its performance. Its resource limits are low, but only because they strictly control the number of accounts they host on shared hosting. So if you’re looking for better performance and free backups, KnownHost is a solid choice. In addition to regular support, their customer support forums are very active, and you can connect with other KnownHost customers. They offer the LiteSpeed web server on all their plans, unlike HostArmada, which only has it on the most expensive package. Here’s the comprehensive KnownHost review for a complete analysis.

3. NameHero

NameHero is very cheap, and the starting price for shared hosting is only $2.69/m. It offers free backups on all plans but only stores backups for 24 hrs before discarding them. But it also takes a weekly backup of your entire account if you need to go back further. Here’s the best NameHero coupon to get started.

NameHero also has excellent customer service, with the CEO Ryan Gray very active on Youtube and Twitter, with complete disclosures of system outages and service interruptions. The NameHero backups are stored offsite on a separate network, so data corruption is not a concern. These reasons, along with features like 1-click restore, are why I like NameHero backups. Like KnownHost, there is integration with QUIC.cloud, thanks to the LiteSpeed web server. Here’s the full NameHero review to learn more.

4. DreamHost

DreamHost offers free backups with both its shared and unlimited hosting plans. You have three options for restoration – short-term, medium, and long-term. Unlike with the other hosts, you can’t choose the exact date to which you want to restore. This makes it less flexible than the others on this list. Because of the lack of a specific backup policy, I wouldn’t rely too much on them. Pricing starts at $2.95/m. Here’s the best DreamHost coupon to get started.

DreamHost has the most extended money-back policy for shared hosting – longer even than InMotion Hosting at 97 days. This is more than three times longer than other web hosts. While the automatic backups are excellent, DreamHost’s unclear backup policy means that it’s too risky to rely on them in cases of emergency. I would choose one of the others on this list instead.

5. GreenGeeks

GreenGeeks is the third web hosting provider on this list to feature a LiteSpeed web server on shared hosting. While they have free backups on all their plans, they restrict on-demand backups only to the “Pro” plan. This makes them less attractive than the others on this list. Pricing starts at $2.95/m. Here’s the best GreenGeeks coupon to use.

While GreenGeeks takes daily backups of your website, there’s no weekly backup. As a result, if you want to restore your site to an earlier date, you’re out of luck. Also, only the first restoration per month is free. After that, it costs a fee each time you need to restore your account. And you need to open a ticket to restore your website.

Overall, I wouldn’t recommend GreenGeeks if backups are critical to you.

6. SiteGround

SiteGround has excellent backups with 30-days of storage and 1-click restoration. It only falls behind the others like NameHero because you can’t create on-demand backups on the StartUp plan. Otherwise, SiteGround has everything you need. So why is it last on my list?

The reason I don’t recommend SiteGround is that it’s costly, with a starting renewal price of $14.99/m. Thanks to massive price hikes, SiteGround is no longer affordable, and there are better options like KnownHost and NameHero.

Alternatives to Free Backups on Shared Web Hosting

If none of the above solutions meet your backup needs, you have the following options:

1. Purchase a Backup Add-on for Shared Hosting

Most web hosting providers let you purchase add-ons for backups. Here’s a table of backup add-ons offered by different web hosts:

Web Host	Backup add-on Price	Benefits
NameHero	$5.98/m	30-days retention 5 GB backup storage
KnownHost	$2.00/m	30-days retention
InMotion	$2.00/m	10 GB backup storage
Hostgator	$2.00/m	1 GB backup storage
DreamHost	$0.95/m	40 GB backup storage

So if you’re concerned that the web host you’re looking at doesn’t have free backups, check to see if they have a backup add-on. Yes, it’ll raise the cost of hosting, but it might be worth it. Many web hosts include the cost of backups in their hosting packages, so it might be the same price in the end. Hostgator’s CodeGuard basic add-on is suitable only for small sites, but it might be all you need.

2. Choose a Higher-Tier Shared Hosting Plan

Many web hosts offer backups on higher-tier plans and not on lower-tier ones. Those with backups on all plans might reserve special features for pricier packages. For example, here are three web hosts that have additional backup options for higher-tier hosting plans:

Web Host	Higher-Tier Backup Option
SiteGround	On-demand backups
GreenGeeks	On-demand backups
HostArmada	21-days of backups

While higher-tier hosting plans cost more, it might cost the same as purchasing an add-on. Often, it’s cheaper. So don’t forget to check pricier plans if you want better backup options.

3. Choose Something other than Ordinary Shared Hosting

Shared hosting plans tend to have poor backup policies. However, if you opt for something like managed WordPress hosting, you’re likely to get free integrated backups included with the price.

For example, Hostgator shared hosting doesn’t have backups by default, and you need to purchase the CodeGuard add-on. However, the Hostgator WordPress plan has CodeGuard enabled by default and has many other perks like SiteLock, inbuilt caching, and more.

Kinsta is an example of a managed WordPress host that has excellent backup policies. However, the Kinsta cost is relatively high, so it’s not a good choice for cheap shared hosting.

4. Get a 3rd Party Backup Solution

If your host doesn’t provide backups, or you’re not enamored of the backup solutions it offers, you might be better off purchasing a 3rd party backup solution. For example, if you have a WordPress site, the Jetpack Backup service gives you 10 GB of storage and backs up your site in real-time. CodeGuard has a personal plan for use with one site that can also be cost-effective. I use DropMySite instead, but that was before they changed their focus on business-only solutions.

Final Thoughts on Web Hosting with Free Backups

Shared web hosting providers don’t usually give a massive priority to backups since they’re trying to keep prices low. The ones in this article have free backups and should be your first choice if backups are a priority. But even without free backups on shared hosting, you have several options, including purchasing add-ons or going your own way with a 3rd party backup solution.