diff --git a/scripts/deploy.sh b/scripts/deploy.sh
index f3b6287..6298a52 100755
--- a/scripts/deploy.sh
+++ b/scripts/deploy.sh
@@ -3,6 +3,49 @@ set -e
 
 echo "🚀 Starting optimized deployment..."
 
+# Backup database
+echo "💾 Creating database backup..."
+
+# Try to find database path from docker-compose.yml or .env
+DB_PATH=""
+
+# Check if docker-compose.yml exists and extract DATABASE_URL
+if [ -f "docker-compose.yml" ]; then
+    DB_PATH=$(grep -oP 'DATABASE_URL=file:\K[^\s]+' docker-compose.yml | head -1)
+fi
+
+# Fallback to .env if not found
+if [ -z "$DB_PATH" ] && [ -f ".env" ]; then
+    DB_PATH=$(grep -oP '^DATABASE_URL=file:\K.+' .env | head -1)
+fi
+
+# Remove any quotes and resolve path
+DB_PATH=$(echo "$DB_PATH" | tr -d '"' | tr -d "'")
+
+if [ -n "$DB_PATH" ]; then
+    # Convert container path to host path if needed
+    # /app/data/prod.db -> ./data/prod.db
+    DB_PATH=$(echo "$DB_PATH" | sed 's|/app/|./|')
+    
+    if [ -f "$DB_PATH" ]; then
+        # Create backups directory
+        mkdir -p ./backups
+        
+        # Create timestamped backup
+        BACKUP_FILE="./backups/$(basename "$DB_PATH" .db)_$(date +%Y%m%d_%H%M%S).db"
+        cp "$DB_PATH" "$BACKUP_FILE"
+        echo "✅ Database backed up to: $BACKUP_FILE"
+        
+        # Keep only last 10 backups
+        ls -t ./backups/*.db | tail -n +11 | xargs -r rm
+        echo "🧹 Cleaned old backups (keeping last 10)"
+    else
+        echo "⚠️  Database file not found at: $DB_PATH"
+    fi
+else
+    echo "⚠️  Could not determine database path from config files"
+fi
+
 # Pull latest changes
 echo "📥 Pulling latest changes from git..."
 git pull