If you want your developers to test fresh WordPress plugins, themes, and customizations, you must have a development environment. By using a sandbox to test the new changes before implementing them on the live site, your team can work more effectively with the client and with one another. And that’s where the top WordPress staging plugins can be useful.
Uncertain of its meaning? Let’s give a quick explanation, then.
A staging site is an exact replica of your website that is accessible only to you and your team. You can make changes to the site on the staging site without affecting the live version. And a WP staging plugin enables quick creation of such a staging site from your live site.
Let’s say you want to make significant design changes or your website is experiencing some performance issues. However, you worry that altering the live site might result in audience loss and downtime. You can use a staging area to your advantage here. You don’t need to worry about trying out novel styles, layouts, themes, or plugins breaking your website or causing downtime.
Following extensive research, we have created a list of the top 6 staging plugins for WordPress. We’ll put together a thorough overview of them.
So make yourself a cup of coffee and review our list.
Best Staging Plugins for WordPress Sites: Expert Opinion
Anyone can easily create any website using WordPress thanks to its vibrant ecosystem of plugins and themes. Similarly, there are numerous staging plugins with a wealth of features. One by one, we will describe them.
1. InstaWP Connect
The WordPress community has gone wild over this recently released WordPress staging plugin. The plugin enables users to quickly create a duplicate website for development, A/B testing, and design modifications.
You can manage multiple such sites simultaneously from your InstaWP account, where the staging lives are added.
You can quickly and easily create a staging site of your current WordPress website using this free WP Staging plugin. New features are added quickly, and the premium version gives you access to some of the most potent choices.
A Chrome Extension is also available from InstaWP to launch quick plugin and theme demos for lightning-fast testing.
Powerful Features of InstaWP Connect:
- The cloud servers used by InstaWP are used to build and host all staging sites.
- supports WordPress updates up to version 3.7.
- PHP supports versions 5.6 through 8.2.
- Included are a free SSL and a domain name.
- Easily import “Templates” to new staging sites by creating them.
- Contact any hosting company with ease to migrate your website.
- Include teammates.
- Log in automatically to your connected sites.
- Recurrent site health updates.
- basic facts about the site.
- Pushing back and forth from staging to live.
Pros:
- immediate site creation
- simple transition to any hosting company
- SFTP/SSH access (premium)
- Document saved and shared
- Support for GitHub actions and integration with Git
- configurations for third-party services
- Human assistance
- Clone staging sites quickly to make multiple copies.
- doesn’t use any of the resources or space on your hosting server.
Cons:
- per live site, one staging site
- Websites larger than 500 MB must upgrade to premium
- brand-new to the WordPress sector
Final Verdict:
The quickest and easiest way to set up a WordPress staging site is through InstaWP Connect. Having your staging sites hosted on a different server from your live hosting server is a key benefit of using InstaWP. The plugin helps designers, developers, and companies of any size to streamline their processes and produce better WordPress sites more quickly.
In comparison to its rivals, the plugin offers all the features and more for less money (starting at $14/mo).
2. WP Staging
It is a well-known WordPress staging plugin that facilitates the creation of production site backups, clones, and staging sites. The folder where your live site is installed contains a subfolder where this plugin creates staging sites. Storing staging sites on the same server can use up a lot of disc space, even though this is not a good practise.
Any website can be copied using the plugin, even those that are hosted on shared servers. While creating a staging site, the plugin automates complex tasks and is user-friendly for beginners.
Powerful Features of WP Staging:
- Login information for the staging site
- Establish user roles for access to the staging site.
- Utilises shaky servers
- uses WordPress Multisite to function.
Pros:
- Free version is offered
- Simple to use
- Fast
- assistance with large websites
- multiple staging sites are supported.
Cons:
- temporary free version
- No capability to test different PHP versions.
- To move from a staging site to a live site, you need the pro version.
- No support for permalinks
- most features in the pro version
- Unsecure configuration.
- does not produce a unique URL.
Final Verdict:
WP Staging is a good option if you’re looking for a quick and simple way to create staging sites. A pro version of the plugin is also available for $49.91/month.
3. WP Stagecoach
WP Stagecoach is another of the top WordPress plugins for staging. Your staging site’s and live site’s databases can be combined using the plugin. It performs well on busy, complicated websites where the database is updated frequently, like WooCommerce and membership sites.
The staging site is built by WP Stagecoach on its live server; your live server’s resources are not used. If the automatic merging fails, WP Stagecoach also offers a manual merging option.
Powerful Features of WP Stagecoach:
- To make it work well on slow servers, import chunk files.
- Media hotlinking expedites the migration process.
- Link revert option to correct any error
- Staging copies are secured with a password.
Pros:
- one-button setup
- password security
- staging off-server
- appropriate for all web hosts
Cons:
- No free model
- lacks support for multisite
Final Verdict:
If you have a big website and the money, you should pick this premium staging plugin. The cost of the premium version is $99 per year.
4. WP Time Capsule
This plugin focuses on backups and makes incremental backups. WP Time Capsule creates a staging site from the backup copy it makes of your entire site. Because the backups are updated incrementally as the live site is updated, the plugin can handle large websites.
To ensure that nothing is left behind, the staging site is divided up into pieces and assembled there. Selective merge is another option available to users.
With a time-stamped backup, you can easily recover and restore your live site, this plugin improves your backup strategy, and the staging site feature enables you to test the changes before publishing them to the live site.
Powerful Features of WP Time Capsule:
- Real-time website backup
- Update the staging site with just one click.
- automatic backups before updates
- includes only a subset of the database tables and files.
Pros:
- User-friendly
- selective fusion
- vehicle backup
- password security
Cons:
- Only staging in the pro version
- Information kept in Amazon S3, Dropbox, and Google Drive.
Final Verdict:
You can utilise this plugin to backup your WordPress websites. The staging feature, which is included with the premium version, is a bonus. Starting at $49 per year is the premium version.
5. WP Pusher
A developer-friendly plugin that makes Git deployments simple is WP Pusher. To seamlessly push updates from staging sites (Git Repos) to live WordPress sites, you can create staging sites on your repository and use WP Pusher. All of the well-known Git services, including Github, BitBucket, and GitLab, are supported.
For organisations that use version-control services in their development workflows, this plugin is ideal. Despite not promoting itself as a staging WordPress plugin, WP Pusher does have this use case.
Powerful Features of WP Pusher:
- ability to update code by choosing a specific branch
- Keeping the staging area and the construction site distinct
- based on an existing WordPress website.
Pros:
- simple setup
- operates everywhere
- Utilises affordable shared hosting
Cons:
- Unfriendly to users
- The user interface is not intuitive.
Final Verdict:
Overall, this plugin is not for inexperienced WordPress users. The premium version of the plugin, which was created especially for developers, begins at $99 per year.
6. Duplicator
A staging site can be built using this backup plugin. You must download a copy of your live website and use the Duplicator plugin to move it to a staging area in order to create a staging site.
However, you must first manually create a folder and domain name before using the Duplicator plugin to move your live site there.
Powerful Features of Duplicator:
- The add-on has multiple threads.
- Make changes to the staging site by logging in to cPanel.
- Notifications via email
- Movement and cloning
Pros:
- searches for site problems
- site download in a few clicks
- bolster large websites and databases
Cons:
- Not suitable for beginners
- UI is difficult.
- Free updates are only available for one year.
Final Verdict:
You can use the Duplicator plugin if you have the necessary technical skills and are familiar with how to use WordPress plugins. For three sites, The Duplicator Pro starts at $51 per year.
Summary
Here is a list of every staging plugin:
Who Wins the WordPress Staging Plugins War
We’ve come to the end of our list of the top WordPress staging plugins, and hopefully you’ve found the one that best suits your requirements.
InstaWP Connect 1-click Staging Plugin is the winner, according to the comparison and features of these staging plugins. The plugin offers the best value for the money if you consider its features and pricing.
The safest way to conduct experiments is with a staging WordPress site if you don’t want to jeopardise your live website. The plugins we’ve listed will make building a staging site simpler.
Please feel free to ask any questions you may have about the plugin list in the comment section.
