List of The Best WordPress Cloning Plugins

WordPress clone plugins allow you to create a complete copy of your website (without the domain name).

Is a Cloning the Same as a Regular Backup?

Unlike a regular backup which may only backup and create copies of certain parts, usually just the database, a clone, creates a complete copy of everything, including the theme, all plugins, the settings, pages and posts, the database, images, etc.

There are several times where you may need to create a clone of your website. Some of the reasons you might need to clone your site include:

  • To create a copy of your website to use as the baseline for another project.
  • Create a staging area to develop and test things such as plugins, themes, or modifications without risk of damage to your live site.
  • To make a backup of your entire site and not just the databases to use as part of a Multi-Site network, where you have multiple copies of your site in different languages
  • Multi-Site network, where you have multiple copies of your site in different languages.
  • To migrate a site to a new domain or host

WordPress, is no different than any other web based application, it can be vulnerable to everything from security flaws, server crashes, fatal plugin and theme updates, hacking attempts that corrupt all your data including the backups provided by your hosting provider. 

When bad things happen, you need to be ready to react immediately to mitigate the issues. Cloning provides you with the peace of mind that you will be ready when disasters strike.

One of the main reasons to clone your WordPress site is for testing and development (staging).

 The last point, I would like to mention is that you can move your site manually without the use of plugins, however going that route entails a very technical process, that is also time consuming and confusing. We highly recommend the use of a plugin when the need arises to clone your site.

The Best WordPress Cloning Plugins:

1. Duplicator

With over 25 million downloads Duplicator effectively enables WordPress users to  migrate, transfer, move, or clone their sites. Duplicator also functions as a straightforward backup utility

Duplicator provides a package that contains all of the site’s plugins, themes, content, database, and WordPress files. This program may then be used to migrate a WordPress site effortlessly to any location. Move inside the same server, between servers, or to virtually any location where a WordPress site can be hosted. No installation of WordPress is necessary, as the package contains all site files.

Duplicator’s Features

  • It lets you to seamlessly move, migrate, or clone a WordPress site between domains or hosting.
  • Download a live site to localhost for development purposes.
  • Manually backup a WordPress site or sections of a site Transfer a WordPress site from one host to another
  • Duplicate a live site or vice versa
  • Compose your full WordPress site into a single package for easy re-use or distribution
  • Conduct a complete WordPress transfer without relying on cumbersome import/export sql scripts

Duplicator Pro’s Features

  • Backups that are scheduled
  • Drag-and-Drop installation — simply drag an archive to the desired location!
  • Dropbox, Google Drive, Microsoft, OneDrive, Amazon S3, and FTP/SFTP Cloud Storage
  • A unique two-step optimized installer mode for lightning-fast installation
  • Recovery Points have been added to allow for extremely rapid site restoration in the event of an emergency
  • Support for managed hosting providers such as WordPress.com, WPEngine, and GoDaddy Managed
  • Multi-threaded, allowing for the handling of larger websites and databases
  • Database and user creation using the cPanel API are integrated into the installation
  • Connect directly to cPanel from the installer
  • Professional support

Duplicator cost : $69 for Pro Version

2. UpdraftPlus

UpdraftPlus is one of the highest-rated and most popular backup plugins available. Not only is it feature-rich, but it is also simple and intuitive to use. Additionally, due to its large user base, it has been tried and tested in a variety of diverse settings.

With UpdraftPlus you can backup directly to Dropbox, Google Drive, Amazon S3 (or a compatible cloud storage provider), UpdraftVault, Rackspace Cloud, FTP, DreamObjects, Openstack Swift, or email.

 In addition, UpdraftPlus Premium has a tool called UpdraftMigrator which allows you to clone and migrate your website.

UpdraftPlus’s free edition backs up your website perfectly well. If you require additional features and settings, you can upgrade to the Premium edition.

UpdraftPlus Premium, you can enjoy the following benefits:

  • Backups on an incremental basis
  • Duplicates or migrates websites with ease (with Migrator)
  • Compatibility with several sites/networks
  • Backups of non-WordPress files and databases to a variety of distant locations
  • Additional storage locations (for example, OneDrive, BackBlaze, Azure, and SFTP) and various locations
  • WP-CLI support
  • Support from a qualified professional is always complimentary.

UpdraftPlus cost: $42 for Premium Version

3. BackupBuddy

BackupBuddy is also one of the better Backup and Cloning plugins for WordPress. The BackupBuddy plugin gives you a complete copy of your WordPress site in a downloadable zip file that you can use as a duplicate version of the site.

Once you run a complete backup with BackupBuddy, you can download a zip file of your site that can be used as a cloned site. All you have to do is upload importbuddy.php at your new location with your backup zip file. When you run the installer, you can enter your new database details and new URL

Backup buddy is a great tool because it covers all four backup elements which are:


  • COMPLETE WORDPRESS WEBSITE BACKUP
    Back up your entire WordPress website (database + all WP files).
  • SCHEDULED, AUTOMATIC BACKUPS
    Set up backup schedules to run automatically
  • STORE WORDPRESS BACKUPS OFF-SITE
    Send and store your backup files off-site in a safe, secure location
  • RESTORE YOUR WORDPRESS SITE
    Restore your WordPress website quickly & easily from a backup

BackupBuddy cost: $52

4. All-in-One WP Migration

Introduced in 2013 and now used by over 60 million websites, All-in-One WP Migration is unquestionably one of the most trusted and widely used WordPress plugins for easily migrating websites. Over 60 million websites make use of it.

All-in-One WP Migration was designed with the non-technical user in mind and includes a slew of newbie-friendly features that enable you to migrate your WordPress website with little to no technical expertise or experience.

Numerous enterprise companies, government agencies, and colleges use, appreciate, and rely on All-in-One WP Migration. This widespread adoption and use of All-in-One WP Migrating demonstrates the plugin’s safety, reliability, and adaptability to virtually any website migration demand.

Steps required to Clone and Migrate a site using WP Migration

1. Install the plugin All-in-One WP Migration.

2. Export your database, media files, plugins, and themes into a single tidy file by clicking the export button.

3. Unpack the file in the new location using the simple “drag and drop” option in your new website’s WordPress admin.

All-in One WP Migration’s Features

  • Cloud Storage Supported:
    All-in-One WP Migration supports and syncs seamlessly with top cloud storage services.
  • Supports custom uploads, plugins, theme folders, and more
  • Supports a vast range of hosting providers
  • Provides a long list of premium extensions that gives you the power to do more.
  • Intelligent and flawless auto-replacement of website url during import

All-in-One WP Migration cost: $69 for Premium Version

5. NS Cloner

NS Cloner is the simplest, quickest, and most user-friendly method of creating fully cloned sites on your Multisite networks. The NS Cloner will take any current site in your WordPress multisite network and clone it into a new site that is absolutely identical to the original in terms of theme and theme settings, plugins and plugin configurations, content, images, videos, and site settings.

Everything is preserved and intelligent replacements are made to ensure that the new site settings reflect your chosen name and title, as well as automatic URL replacements and other background updates to ensure that the new site functions exactly as if you had taken the time to set it all up manually.

Nota bene: this plugin is only compatible with WordPress Multisite (although the pro version works for single sites as well). Your network administration dashboard (wp-admin/network) contains a menu for it.

NS Cloner’s Core Features:

  • Copies a complete website in a matter of seconds
  • Works with subdomains and sub-directories
  • Copies all widgets, menus, and settings for the theme and plugins
  • Works in the background to avoid timeouts or memory shortages on large sites
  • Robust process logging to help with troubleshooting
  • Hook-rich cloning pipeline for developers to extend

NS Cloner Pro’s Features

  • Teleport) – distant cloning capability: clone a subsite to another network or even teleport a whole multisite network to another location
  • Single Site — Obtain the ability to clone regular single sites in addition to multisites, and even to clone between single and multisites or vice versa
  • WP CLI Addon) – quickly and easily clone websites from the command line
  • Search & Replace – do an unlimited number of bespoke searches and replaces on cloned content in an uncomplicated manner
  • Table Manager – manage which database tables are replicated conveniently
  • Cloning Users – the ability to clone all WordPress users and their rights, or to generate new users instantaneously for cloned sites
  • Presets – create shortcuts for frequently used cloning parameters for even greater time savings

NS Cloner cost: $298 for Premium Version