How to Write Release Notes: 20 Examples and 5 Free Templates

Release notes are short, user-facing summaries of what changed in a software release: new features, bug fixes, breaking changes, and known issues. To write one, lead with the change that matters most to users, group the rest under clear headings, and add a version number and date. This guide gives you 5 copy-paste release notes templates and 20 real examples organized by industry, so you can publish good release notes in minutes, not hours.

Key Takeaways

• Templates come first. Scroll to “5 Free Release Notes Templates” if you need one now.
• Release notes should lead with user impact, not feature names.
• App Store release notes have strict length limits: 4,000 characters on iOS, 500 on Android.
• Organizing examples by industry improves both readability and topical depth for search.
• Publishing in-app (AnnounceKit widget) and by email together consistently drives higher feature adoption than either channel alone.

What should a release note include?

Every release note needs six parts: a version and date, a one-line summary, new features, bug fixes, breaking changes, and known issues. The release notes best practices guide covers the writing rules in more depth. The essentials are below.

Version number and date

Always include a version identifier (v2.4.1, Build 1023, or simply the release date) and the publish date. Users who troubleshoot or reference a specific release depend on this information. It also gives your changelog page a chronological structure.

Summary of changes

Open with a one- or two-sentence TL;DR that answers one question: “What is the most important thing that changed in this release?” This serves users who skim. It also helps AI systems and search engines extract your release note for an AI Overview or search snippet.

New features

List new capabilities in benefit-first language. Not: “Added dark mode toggle to Settings.” Better: “Dark mode is here, and your eyes will thank you. Enable it in Settings under Appearance.” For launch-scale features, borrow the structure in these new feature announcement examples.

Bug fixes

Acknowledge what was broken and confirm it is resolved. Avoid vague entries like “Various bug fixes.” Be specific: “Fixed a crash that occurred when opening the dashboard with more than 50 active projects.”

Breaking changes

If anything changes in a way that requires user or developer action, call it out explicitly at the top. Never bury it. Breaking changes deserve their own dedicated section, not a line in the general features list.

Known issues

Disclosing known issues proactively builds trust and reduces support tickets. A simple “Known issues: X is intermittently slow on Firefox. Fix expected in the next release” saves your team hours of repeated support conversations.

5 Free Release Notes Templates

Copy the template that matches your release type and replace the bracketed fields. Each one follows the structure above: summary first, then features, fixes, breaking changes, and known issues where they apply.

Template 1: Major Software Release

Version [X.X] - [Date]

We’ve released [Product Name] version [X.X]. This release includes [primary benefit], [secondary benefit], and several performance improvements.

New Features

• [Feature 1]: [Benefit-first description]
• [Feature 2]: [Benefit-first description]
• [Feature 3]: [Benefit-first description]

Bug Fixes

• Fixed: [Specific issue] that caused [symptom].
• Fixed: [Specific issue] on [platform/browser].

Breaking Changes

• [API endpoint / setting] has changed. See [migration guide link] for update instructions.

Known Issues

• [Issue]: Under investigation. Expected fix in [version/timeframe].

Template 2: SaaS Feature Release

[Feature Name] is now live - [Date]

[Feature Name] lets you [primary user benefit]. Here’s how to get started:

What it does
[1 to 2 sentences explaining the capability in plain language]

How to use it

1. [Step 1]
2. [Step 2]
3. [Step 3]

Who it’s for
[User segment or plan level]

Availability
[Plan name] and above. [Link to upgrade if needed]

If the feature is big enough to deserve its own launch, this guide on how to write a new product announcement expands the same structure into a full announcement.

Template 3: Hotfix / Patch Release

Hotfix [X.X.X] - [Date]

We’ve released a hotfix to address [brief description of the issue]. No action is required on your end. The fix is live.

What was fixed

• [Issue]: [Description of what was broken and what the symptom was]
• [Root cause, briefly]: [One sentence explaining what caused it, if appropriate to share]

Affected users
[Who was affected, e.g. “Users on the Pro plan who connected Google Calendar after January 15, 2026.”]

If you experienced issues related to this, please [contact support / refresh your session / clear cache]. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Template 4: App Store / Google Play Release Notes

iOS limit: 4,000 characters. Android limit: 500 characters. Write for Android first, then expand for iOS.

What’s New in Version [X.X]

Bug fixes and performance improvements.

For iOS, add:

• [New Feature 1]: [1-sentence benefit]
• [New Feature 2]: [1-sentence benefit]
• Fixed: [Specific crash/bug] that affected [user action].

Thanks for the feedback that helped us improve! If you love the app, please leave us a review.

Note: “Bug fixes and performance improvements” is the most common App Store entry, but it has poor engagement. If you shipped anything users care about, name it. Specific entries increase downloads and retention.

Template 5: Internal / Engineering Release

Internal Release [X.X] - [Date]
Audience: Engineering, QA, Customer Success

Deployed to production: [Date/Time] [Timezone]
Deployed by: [Engineer name / team]
Rollback plan: [Link or description]

Changes in this release

• [Service/component]: [What changed, technical detail as needed]
• [Database migration]: [Migration ID, expected run time, rollback steps]
• [Feature flag]: [Name], [default state], [how to enable/disable]

Known risks
[Any degraded-mode scenarios, edge cases, or monitoring alerts to watch]

Post-deploy checks

• [Check 1]
• [Check 2]

How to Write App Store and Google Play Release Notes

Mobile app release notes have constraints that desktop and SaaS release notes do not face:

For Google Play especially, 500 characters forces prioritization. Lead with the single most user-visible change. Studies by app growth consultancies consistently show that descriptive release notes, ones that name specific features, correlate with higher update adoption than generic “Bug fixes and improvements” entries.

20 Release Notes Examples by Industry

The 20 examples below are grouped by industry so you can jump to the companies closest to your own product. Each one shows a pattern worth copying: tone, structure, segmentation, or format.

Collaboration and Productivity

Slack: Slack writes release notes in a conversational, friendly tone that matches its brand. Entries lead with user-visible improvements, use plain language for bug fixes, and avoid internal code names. Its mobile release notes consistently name specific features rather than defaulting to boilerplate, which drives noticeably higher update adoption. For a closer look, see how Slack uses release notes.

Notion: Notion organizes releases into clear sections: “New,” “Improved,” and “Fixed.” Major feature releases ship with short screen-recording GIFs embedded in the changelog, giving users a 5-second preview of the new capability before they try it. This pattern reliably boosts feature activation rates.

Asana: Asana pairs each feature release with a “How to use it” CTA that links to a help article. That closes the gap between “I read about this” and “I tried it.” The notes are structured for both skimmers (bold feature names) and readers (full benefit paragraphs).

Linear: Linear writes release notes for developers and treats readers as intelligent engineers. Entries describe the technical rationale: not just what changed, but why the architectural decision was made. This builds credibility with a technical audience that would dismiss marketing-speak.

Developer Tools and APIs

GitHub: GitHub segments its changelog by product area (Actions, Copilot, Security, Packages). Each entry has a short title, 1 to 3 sentences of description, and a “Learn more” link. Critically, breaking changes are highlighted at the very top with a warning indicator, never buried. This structure is the gold standard for developer-tool release notes.

Stripe: Stripe’s API changelog is the most comprehensive in the fintech category. Every entry specifies the affected API version and the change type (breaking or non-breaking), and breaking changes include a migration code snippet. The audience is developers integrating against the API, so every entry is written with zero tolerance for ambiguity.

Twilio: Twilio’s release notes distinguish between general availability (GA), beta, and preview features using status badges. Developers can quickly see which features are production-safe. This transparent maturity signaling prevents premature production adoption of unstable features.

Vercel: Vercel publishes a public changelog at vercel.com/changelog that is among the cleanest designs in the category: one feature per entry, a single hero image, and a timestamp. Navigation is by month. The design signals that release notes are a product investment, not an afterthought.

Consumer and Mobile Apps

Venmo: Venmo writes App Store release notes in the same casual, emoji-adjacent voice as its in-app copy: “Something felt off? We fixed it.” This consistency between product and release notes creates a seamless experience. It is one reason Venmo’s App Store pages consistently rate above competitors in user trust surveys.

Duolingo: Duolingo treats App Store release notes as a marketing surface, often writing its mascot Duo into the copy (“Duo worked overtime this sprint. Here’s what he shipped”). This personality-driven approach generates social media screenshots of the release notes, free distribution that no other changelog format achieves.

Spotify: Spotify’s release notes are famously minimal: “We fix bugs. We make improvements. Repeat.” The company has turned this into a brand statement about velocity. It works because Spotify has the brand equity to make even a blank release note feel intentional. For most companies, this approach is not recommended.

Calm: Calm’s App Store release notes match the product tone: calm, reassuring, never alarming. Bug fixes become “We tidied up a few things” and new features arrive as “We’ve added something to help you unwind.” Tone alignment between product and release notes strengthens brand cohesion.

SaaS and B2B Products

Salesforce: Salesforce publishes the most comprehensive release notes in the enterprise category, sometimes exceeding 100 pages for a major release. They are structured as a formal document with a table of contents, a feature flags section, and administrator-specific impact notes. Overkill for most companies, but a model for any enterprise product that needs admin and end-user segmentation.

HubSpot: HubSpot uses a “What’s New” blog format for major releases and in-product tooltips for minor ones. Its release notes consistently name the customer segment affected (“Marketing Hub Enterprise”) so admins can quickly judge relevance. This segmentation reduces the cognitive load of scanning release notes on large teams.

Intercom: Intercom’s changelog (opened from the ? menu in-app) uses AnnounceKit-style in-app delivery for minor updates and a dedicated What’s New page for major ones. Entries rarely exceed 100 words per feature, a deliberate choice to respect user attention and avoid the walls of text common among enterprise competitors.

Figma: Figma frames updates in collaborative terms: “Your team can now…” rather than “You can now…”. This framing prompts users to share the update with colleagues, amplifying organic adoption through social proof within the team.

E-commerce and Fintech

Shopify: Shopify’s changelog (at shopify.dev/changelog) segments by audience: Merchants, Developers, Partners. Each entry targets one audience and links to the relevant documentation. This segmentation is essential when a single release means different things for technical and non-technical users.

Square: Square writes release notes for its Point of Sale apps for non-technical retail operators who may not know software terminology. The visible copy avoids version numbers and leads with business outcomes: “Split a bill any way your customers like, now available in more markets.”

Brex: Brex delivers product updates through a combination of in-app banners and email digests, with each release note written to work in both contexts. Entries are short enough to read in an email preview pane but link to full documentation for detailed changes.

Loom: Loom’s changelog uses video as the primary medium, fittingly for a video product. Each entry links to a 60 to 90 second Loom recording showing the new feature in action. Click-through rates on video thumbnails in changelogs consistently outperform text-only entries. If you want to try the format, here is how video release notes work.

How to Publish and Distribute Release Notes

Writing good release notes is half the job. How you distribute them determines how many users actually see them. Most teams combine several of the channels below.

In-app announcement widget

An in-app changelog widget, like the one in AnnounceKit’s release notes software, sits inside your product with a notification badge. When you publish a release note, a number appears on the badge, and users who are actively using the product see it immediately, mid-session. This is the highest-conversion channel for feature adoption because it reaches users when they are already in a product mindset.

Setup takes minutes: embed a single JavaScript snippet, connect your workspace, and publish from the AnnounceKit editor without touching code. No engineering sprint required. Not sure which widget format fits your announcement? This guide to in-app banners vs. modals vs. tooltips breaks down when to use each.

Email digest

Email reaches users who are not logged in. A monthly or per-release email makes sure inactive users learn about changes that might bring them back. AnnounceKit can automatically generate email digests from your published changelog entries, so there is no need to duplicate content across two channels. For proven subject lines and layouts, see these product update email examples from top SaaS brands.

Public changelog page

A public changelog at yourproduct.com/changelog (or on a subdomain) serves three audiences: existing users who want a complete history, potential customers evaluating your update velocity, and Google. A well-maintained public changelog builds topical authority for your product category over time.

If you want a formal structure, the Keep a Changelog standard defines the six change categories most public changelogs use, and these changelog template examples give you a starting layout. Unsure whether to call the page a changelog or release notes? This changelog vs. release notes comparison settles it.

App Store update description

Your App Store “What’s New” text is read by users deciding whether to update. Write it as a mini-advertisement for the new version, not as an internal ticket summary. Even for minor releases, name at least one user-visible improvement.

Draft with AI, then edit

AI can draft release notes from commit messages, merged pull requests, or ticket summaries. A human editor then reviews tone and accuracy before publishing. Teams that automate the drafting step typically cut release-note writing time from hours to minutes. See the step-by-step guide on how to automate release notes and this overview of AI release notes in practice.