Incremental vs Full Backup
A full backup copies everything each time and restores from one file; an incremental copies only what changed since the last backup, using far less space but needing the full plus every increment to restore. Most websites should run a weekly full, daily or hourly incrementals, and a manual full before any update.
For site owners and admins choosing a backup schedule that keeps storage costs down without making restores slow or fragile.
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- 8
- Updated
- 14 Nov 2026
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- WebJi® team
Last editorial update: 14 November 2026. Prices follow the dated sources on this page; checkout confirms current charges.
Incremental vs full backup: the difference in one table
A full backup copies everything every time; an incremental backup copies only what changed since the previous backup of any kind; a differential copies everything changed since the last full. Full is simplest to restore, incremental uses the least time and space, and differential sits between them.
| Attribute | Full | Incremental | Differential |
|---|---|---|---|
| Copies | All files and the whole database | Changes since the last backup of any type | Changes since the last full |
| Backup time and space | Largest | Smallest | Grows each day until the next full |
| Files needed to restore | One | Last full + every increment in order | Last full + latest differential |
| Main risk | Storage cost, long backup window | One damaged increment breaks the chain after it | Large differentials late in the cycle |
| Typical use | Weekly baseline; before updates or migrations | Daily or hourly between fulls | Simple two-step restores for mid-size sites |
Most websites should combine them: a regular full baseline plus frequent incrementals, and one manual full before any risky change.
A worked week: how much space each approach uses
For a site with 4 GB of uploads and a 60 MB database, nightly fulls use about 28 GB a week, while one full plus six daily incrementals uses roughly 4.2–4.5 GB.
- Sunday full: 4.06 GB in one archive.
- Monday to Saturday incrementals: only new orders, posts and images, often 20–80 MB each, so six of them add roughly 0.1–0.5 GB.
- Nightly full instead: 7 × 4.06 GB ≈ 28.4 GB, and seven long backup windows.
- Nightly differential: each copy holds everything since Sunday, growing from about 80 MB on Monday to several hundred MB by Saturday.
The figures are illustrative; your change rate decides the real numbers. The pattern explains why backup tools default to a periodic full plus incrementals, and why an incremental-only chain without fresh fulls becomes slower and riskier to restore over time.
Restore time and the chain risk
Restoring a full backup is one step; restoring an incremental set means applying the full and then every increment in order, and a single missing or corrupt increment stops you at the point before it.
If Wednesday's increment is damaged, you can restore to Tuesday but not beyond. Keeping a weekly full limits how far back a broken chain can push you. Test the whole chain at least quarterly by restoring to a staging folder and opening the site; a backup you have never restored is an assumption. A step-by-step WordPress restore is in restoring WordPress from a backup.
Modern tools: deduplicated "incremental forever" backups
Tools such as restic and BorgBackup store only new data chunks on each run, like an incremental, yet every snapshot restores like a full backup, which removes most of the chain problem. They also encrypt data before it leaves the server.
# one-time: create an encrypted repository on another server
restic -r sftp:backup@203.0.113.9:/srv/restic/site1 init
# nightly: back up files (database dumped first, see below)
mysqldump --single-transaction -u dbuser -p shopdb > /var/backups/shopdb.sql
restic -r sftp:backup@203.0.113.9:/srv/restic/site1 backup /var/www/shop /var/backups/shopdb.sql
# keep 7 daily, 4 weekly, 6 monthly snapshots and free the rest
restic -r sftp:backup@203.0.113.9:/srv/restic/site1 forget --keep-daily 7 --keep-weekly 4 --keep-monthly 6 --prune
# restore the latest snapshot to a test folder
restic -r sftp:backup@203.0.113.9:/srv/restic/site1 restore latest --target /tmp/restore-testRun restic check regularly to verify repository integrity. --single-transaction gives a consistent InnoDB dump without locking a live shop's tables.
RPO and RTO decide the schedule, not the backup type
Choose the schedule from two business numbers: the recovery point objective (how much data you can afford to lose) and the recovery time objective (how long the site may be down).
| Site | Typical RPO | Schedule | Retention |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brochure site | 1 day | Weekly full, daily incremental | 30 days |
| Blog publishing daily | 1 day | Weekly full, daily incremental, full before updates | 30–60 days |
| WooCommerce store | 1–4 hours | Weekly full, hourly or 4-hourly incremental or database dump | 60–90 days |
| Membership / LMS | A few hours | Weekly full, daily files, database every few hours | 90 days |
How often to run each is discussed further in how often to back up a website.
Snapshots are not backups
A VPS or disk snapshot captures the disk at one moment and usually lives on the same storage system, so it is ideal for a quick rollback before an update but useless if that storage, account or provider is lost. Keep at least one backup on different storage, following the 3-2-1 backup rule: three copies, two media, one off-site.
WebJi® WordPress hosting plans include daily backups, and an off-server copy is available through the Backup.Help app with 200 GB from ₹1,300 a month (or ₹13,000 a year) before 18% GST (published pricing, checked 14 November 2026). For WordPress-only sites, the WordPress backup service covers scheduling and restores. If a restore fails, email support@webji.services with the domain and the date you need; replies are 24/7 in Hindi and English.
Frequently asked questions
Is an incremental backup enough on its own?
Not with classic tools: without periodic fulls the chain grows and every restore depends on every link. Deduplicating tools such as restic or Borg are the exception, because each snapshot is self-contained even though only new data is stored.
Do I need to back up the database separately from files?
Yes, in most setups. Copying live database files can capture them mid-write. Dump the database with mysqldump or your panel's export, then back up the dump alongside the files, so both restore to the same moment.
How long should I keep website backups?
Long enough to cover your slowest-noticed problem. Malware or a broken plugin is sometimes found weeks later, so 30 days is a minimum for most sites and 60–90 days suits stores, with a few monthly copies kept longer.
Which is faster to restore, differential or incremental?
Differential, because you apply only the full and the latest differential. An incremental restore must replay every increment since the full. The trade-off is that differentials take more space as the week goes on.
Checked 15 November 2026 against restic documentation · Prices checked 14 November 2026 · Reviewed by the WebJi® team, Jaipur.
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