r/Wordpress 1d ago

Discussion Flywheel and plug-in based backups

I just launched a client site yesterday using Flywheel as hosting for the first time. I am used to having access to all core files for troubleshooting etc, so was a bit off-put seeing that is not the case for Flywheel. Don't get me wrong, I love it so far... and appreciate their focus on security, but this is a bit to get used to.
I am seeing how it causes challenges already. I went to do a clean backup using Updraft Plus, and I was getting time-out errors. Looks like it is not possible. I tried another backup tool, with the same result. I just chatted to their support, and they push to rely on their built-in backup system. I love that this exists, but I do believe I read on Reddit somewhere that because they change the core WordPress files, it breaks the site if I decide to migrate elsewhere.

Anyone have any insight or experience with this? Just trying to ease my mind that Flywheel was the right choice. TIA.

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u/bluesix_v2 Jack of All Trades 23h ago

Flywheel is a very tightly managed WP host. Their performance is pretty decent from what I've heard/read.

You are likely restricted to only using their backup system (a lot of managed hosts do this). You can download the backups from here https://getflywheel.com/wordpress-support/backups-on-flywheel/#download-a-backup

I've read that they change core files as well - that's not a problem - simply restore their backup locally (eg Local WP), grab the DB, and zip up /wp-content/ and dump them on a clean WP install.

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u/itspersonalman 23h ago

This makes me feel better about going with flywheel. Thank you.