How to back up your Podio data
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To back up Podio you can export each app to Excel, write a script on the Podio API or use a backup service. Only the last two can keep files, comments, relationships and history. We build Podio Backup, so we're not neutral: below is what each option really keeps, including when you don't need us.
Does Podio have its own backup?
Not one you can restore from. Podio runs and secures the platform, but what happens inside your account is permanent: according to Podio's own documentation, deleting an app "is not reversible" and "Podio Support cannot recover this information for you". The same goes for an automation that overwrites thousands of items. A backup is a copy that lives outside Podio.
What a good backup keeps
- items and every field value
- files and attachments
- comments, including those on tasks
- relationships between apps
Option 1: the Excel export
Every app can be exported to Excel from its view. It's free, but Podio's documentation is clear: images, files, tasks, comments and activity are not included, and each export stops at 20,000 items. It runs by hand, app by app. Good for a quick look at one app, not as a backup. More in How to export Podio data.
Option 2: a script on the Podio API
With a developer, a script can read everything. The cost is the work around it. The API allows 250 calls an hour per user for heavy operations such as listing items, so a large account needs hours for a single full copy, and every file has to be downloaded on its own. Then you need storage, a daily schedule and someone to fix it when it breaks.
Option 3: a backup service
A service runs that script for you. Podio Backup connects with read-only access, saves a complete snapshot every day and lets you download any of them, app by app or all at once.
| Excel export | API script | Backup service | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fields | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Files | No | If you build it | Yes |
| Comments | No | If you build it | Yes |
| Relationships | As text only | If you build it | Yes |
| History | No | If you build it | Yes |
| Runs daily | No | If you schedule it | Yes |
How often should you back up Podio?
Daily, since Podio changes every day. Keep at least a month of history: mistakes are often noticed days later, and you'll want the day before they happened.
Test your backup before you need it
Whatever you choose, download a copy once and check that files open and relationships are there. A backup you've never opened is a hope, not a plan.
If you'd rather not build and maintain it yourself, Podio Backup does it every day.