When I read WP Tavern’s post about Jetpack launching a commercial backup feature as a standalone plugin, it seemed that backups had come full circle.
That’s what VaultPress was in one of its previous versions.
So how was this new plugin different from VaultPress?
And what did it mean for my Jetpack plan, which still uses the VaultPress standalone plugin?
Earlier this year, I noticed VaultPress hadn’t been updated recently. I wasn’t too concerned, since it’s developed by Automattic.
A few months ago, when I saw VaultPress hadn’t been updated for the past 3 WordPress major versions, I planned to delete VaultPress.
And spent a few hours going down a rabbit hole trying to figure out what my options were to maintain backups with Jetpack on my paid plan.
After reading the WP Tavern article about Jetpack splitting out backup as a standalone plugin (not named VaultPress), I spent time researching Jetpack plans, VaultPress, and Jetpack Backup services.
Since this post covers a lot of information, I’ve added a Table of Contents.
Background of VaultPress
VaultPress launched in March 2010 as a service (as a beta) providing backups as well as push security fixes.
Over the years, it expanded to become a standalone premium plugin providing backup, security, restores and site scanning.
In 2014, I invited Jackie Stachursky, a member of the VaultPress team, to talk with our Metro Detroit WordPress group about VaultPress.
Which convinced me to make the switch from using BackupBuddy for backups to VaultPress. I’ve depended on VaultPress for years on this site.
In 2016, VaultPress became part of Jetpack, offering backup, security, and scanning though Jetpack’s paid plans.
Jetpack Changes in September 2020
On September 15, 2020, Jetpack announced changes to their product offerings (sadly, there’s no Jetpack news post about the changes) and renamed their paid plans.
Personal note: I expected changes about plans in a Jetpack News post on the Jetpack blog or in a subscriber email message, not in the Jetpack Plans FAQs (archived copy on the Wayback Machine).
The new paid plans are called Jetpack Security (which is available in two versions) and Jetpack Complete.
The prior plans, Jetpack Personal, Premium, and Professional, are retired and considered legacy plans.
According to the FAQs, customers with legacy plans don’t need to do anything and will continue to pay the same price for their legacy plan through 2021.
If current customers want to add Jetpack to a new site, they need to choose from the new plans.
Current customers interested in replacing their legacy Jetpack plans are encouraged to visit the Jetpack plan equivalency chart to learn which new plan would best match their legacy plan.
VaultPress No Longer in Development
From visiting the VaultPress plugin forum, I learned development has stopped on VaultPress.
The plugin details show it’s been tested up to 5.5.6, which means it hasn’t been tested with the latest 3 major WordPress versions (as of October 2021).
According to a June 2021 reply in the support forums, VaultPress wasn’t tested with PHP 8 and WordPress 5.7.
VaultPress customers are recommended to move to Jetpack Backup.
Support will continue to be provided to legacy plan customers if they encounter VaultPress connection, backup, or restore issues.
Jetpack Legacy Plan With VaultPress vs. Jetpack Backup
As a customer with a legacy Jetpack plan, what I found on the site confused me.
Given the name changes, I didn’t understand why Jetpack didn’t notify me of plans to migrate me automatically to the new plan.
It seemed it would be natural, given what I read seemed to indicate the new plans were equivalent to legacy plans.
Which had me wondering if I had to make configuration changes for the new plan?
Along with other questions, including:
- What steps did I need to take to switch to the new plan?
- What would happen to my VaultPress backups if I switched to a new Jetpack plan?
- Is Jetpack Backup offering different features than VaultPress?
So I contacted customer support to ask my questions.
Here’s what I learned:
- I can remain on my legacy Jetpack plan, but switch my backup service to Jetpack Backup
- Once I switch to Jetpack Backup, I’ll need to delete the VaultPress plugin
- Jetpack Backup was built to be more efficient than VaultPress, resulting in faster backups/site restores
- My new backups will be available on WordPress.com, not on VaultPress
- Once I switch, I will no longer have access to my old VaultPress backups
- If I need my prior backups, I can contact support to provide me the backup
- Jetpack Backup has all the same features as VaultPress, with a few added enhancements
Another welcome change: having backups on WordPress.com saves me time; no need to visit the VaultPress site.
If you’re considering the move to Jetpack Backup, be sure to read Jetpack’s transitioning from VaultPress to Jetpack Backup. ,
Two Key Differences Between VaultPress and Jetpack Backup
One big difference between Jetpack Backup and VaultPress: Jetpack Backup comes with an activity log, which records details about specific events on your site.
The second key difference between the two products: with the activity log, you can now restore your site based on a specific event.
Which had me wondering, what does the activity log record?
From the Jetpack activity log page, the events include:
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Login attempts by registered site users
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Published or updated posts and pages
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Comment submission and management activity
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Plugin installations, updates, and removals
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Theme installations, updates, and deletions
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Settings and options modifications
Depending on which Jetpack Backup plan you have, you’ll have access to events for the past 30 days (Jetpack Backup Daily) or for one year (Jetpack Backup Real-time).
Wrapping Up
Jetpack’s new plans have switched to using Jetpack Backup for backup.
Since VaultPress isn’t under development and hasn’t been tested with the last three major WordPress versions, Jetpack users who want to keep their legacy plans should consider switching to the Jetpack Backup service.
Or, if you prefer a standalone backup solution, you can install Jetpack Backup plugin (requires a paid Jetpack plan that includes Backup).
For me, I’ve switch from VaultPress to Jetpack Backup. How about you?
