With Kinsta’s external backups add-on, you can back up your WordPress site to Google Cloud Storage or Amazon S3. The external backups feature can be configured for weekly or monthly backups and doesn’t require installing any plugins or additional tools.

Kinsta’s external backups add-on is a great option if you’re looking for an easy way to handle offsite backups.

The external backups add-on costs $2/month for each site backup plus $1/GB per month for bandwidth. The sample calculations below show how the pricing model works for three sites using external backups.

  • Site A uses 5 GB of external bandwidth: $2 + $5
  • Site B uses 8 GB of external bandwidth: $2 + $8
  • Site C uses 20 GB of external bandwidth: $2 + $20
  • The total cost per month for external backups is $39

Keep in mind this example does not include storage costs, which are billed separately and directly by Google Cloud Platform or AWS.

External Backups Add-on With Google Cloud Storage

To use Google Cloud Storage (GCS) for your external backups, you’ll need to:

  1. Create a Google Cloud storage bucket.
  2. Create a service account.
  3. Create a service account key pair.
  4. Configure the External Backups Add-on In MyKinsta.

If you need more details on the steps to follow in Google Cloud Platform, see our guide on Creating and Configuring a Google Cloud Storage Bucket.

Configuring the External Backups Add-on In MyKinsta

To configure the external backups add-on in MyKinsta, you’ll need three pieces of information from Google Cloud to link your storage bucket to Kinsta’s external backups tool.

  1. Google Cloud bucket name
  2. Google Cloud project ID
  3. Your service account’s private key

Once you have these details and you’re ready to add the external backups add-on to your plan, log in to MyKinsta, click on WordPress Sites > sitename > Backups > External, and click the Choose button under the Google Cloud Storage option.

Select the Google Cloud Storage option for external backups.
Select the Google Cloud Storage option for external backups.

Fill in the storage details form with your Google Cloud Storage bucket and service account information:

  1. In the Service account’s file content (JSON) field, paste the contents of your JSON file (private key).
  2. In the Google Cloud bucket name field, paste your bucket name.
  3. In the Google Cloud project ID field, paste your project ID.
  4. If you want to back up your site to a unique site-specific folder, check the Create sitename subfolder box. Click Next to proceed to the next step.
Add your GCP credentials in MyKinsta.
Add your GCP credentials in MyKinsta.

Next, choose whether you want to back up your site’s files, database, or both. You can choose between monthly and weekly backups.

After you’ve made your selections, press Next to continue.

Specify backup type and frequency for your external backups.
Specify backup type and frequency for your external backups.

Finally, review the external backup subscription details and your choice of settings. If you need to make any changes to the backup options, press the Back button. If everything looks good, press the Enable external backups to complete the setup process.

Confirm your external backup add-on.
Confirm your external backup add-on.

You should now see the add-on in the External section of your backups page.

Google Cloud Storage external backup add-on.
Google Cloud Storage external backup add-on.

External Backups Add-on With Amazon S3

To use Amazon S3 for your external backups, you’ll need to:

  1. Create an Amazon S3 Bucket.
  2. Create an AWS User.
  3. Configure the External Backups Add-on In MyKinsta.

If you need more details on the steps to follow in Amazon Web Services (AWS), see our guide on Creating and Configuring an Amazon S3 Bucket.

Configuring the External Backups Add-on In MyKinsta

To configure the external backups add-on in MyKinsta, you’ll need three pieces of information from Amazon S3 to link your storage bucket to Kinsta’s external backups tool:

  1. AWS S3 bucket name
  2. AWS access key ID
  3. AWS secret access key

Once you have these details and you’re ready to add the external backups add-on to your plan, log in to MyKinsta, click on WordPress Sites > sitename > Backups > External, then click the Choose button under the Amazon S3 option.

Select the Amazon S3 option for external backups.
Select the Amazon S3 option for external backups.

Fill in the storage details form with your S3 and IAM user information:

  1. In the AWS S3 bucket name field, paste the name of your S3 bucket.
  2. In the AWS access key ID field, paste your IAM user’s access key ID.
  3. In the AWS secret access key, paste your IAM user’s secret access key.
  4. If you want to back up your site to a unique site-specific folder, check the Create sitename subfolder box. Click Next to proceed to the next step.
Add your AWS credentials in MyKinsta.
Add your AWS credentials in MyKinsta.

Next, choose whether you want to back up your site’s files, database, or both. You can also choose between monthly and weekly backups. After you’ve made your selections, press Next to continue.

Specify backup type and frequency for your external backups.
Specify backup type and frequency for your external backups.

Finally, review the external backup subscription details and your choice of settings. If you need to make any changes to the backup options, press the Back button. If everything looks good, press the Enable external backups to complete the setup process.

Confirm your external backup configuration.
Confirm your external backup configuration.

You should now see the add-on in the External section of your backups page.

Amazon S3 external backup add-on.
Amazon S3 external backup add-on.

How to Remove the External Backups Add-on

To remove (and stop) the external backups add-on, go to WordPress Sites > sitename > Backups, and click the Disable button.

Remove the external backup add-on.
Remove the external backup add-on.

To confirm the removal of the external backups add-on, click Remove backups.

Confirm the removal of the external backups add-on.
Confirm the removal of the external backups add-on.

Summary

Kinsta’s external backups add-on provides an easy way for you to store WordPress site backups in your Google Cloud Storage bucket or on Amazon S3. If you have any questions about our external backups add-on, reach out to our support team for further assistance.