or-release

At a glance

• Editor score
  6.6 / 10
• Pricing
  Free plan
• Best for
  Small GitHub projects seeking simple releases
• Free plan
  Yes
• Paid from
  Free
• Semantic versioning
  Yes
• Facts checked
  5 Oct 2026

• Where it wins

  • Calculates version bumps from commit conventions and changes since the prior version
  • Creates GitHub tags and releases, with a changelog-style release body
  • Dry runs and supports configurable conventions, including gitmoji

• Where it doesn't

  • GitHub is the documented release platform; GitLab releases are planned
  • Does not list package publishing as a feature
  • Requires commit conventions to determine version bumps

Our verdict on or-release

For small projects using GitHub, or-release is a free, open-source command-line tool that calculates semantic version bumps from commit conventions and changes since the previous version. It can publish a GitHub tag and associated release through the GitHub API, with a changelog-style list of changes in the release body. It runs on Linux, Windows, and macOS, and can be run locally or in a GitHub Actions workflow. Its focus is convention-based release creation rather than a broader release-management system.

The main fit question is how your project handles commits and release targets. or-release supports configurable commit conventions, including gitmoji, and accepts configuration through JSON, YAML, or TOML files, as well as environment variables and command-line options. A dry-run option lets maintainers check the prospective version without publishing. These features suit teams that want version calculation tied to their commit history and a predictable GitHub release step. Projects that do not follow a compatible convention may find this workflow less useful.

Its platform scope is deliberately narrow: GitHub is the supported release destination, while GitLab releases and direct git tagging are described as planned. Package publishing is not part of the listed capabilities, so teams seeking one tool to publish packages to registries should look elsewhere. Choose or-release when the need is calculating a version, creating GitHub tags and releases, and producing release-body changes; choose a broader release tool if your workflow depends on additional hosting platforms or package distribution.

Your product? Our editors can test or-release in depth and publish a review, labelled as paid · from $149/mo →

or-release pricing

or-release fact sheet

or-release integrations

or-release lists 2 integrations on its own site.

• GitHub Actions
• GitHub

Alternatives to or-release

• semantic-releaseAn open-source CI release tool that turns commit history into versions, notes, and published releases.9.1
• LernaLerna combines monorepo task orchestration with npm package versioning and publishing.8.1
• RIrelease-itA flexible release CLI that handles Git workflows, release notes and npm publishing.7.9

See all or-release alternatives →

Featured on iTechGuides

or-release is listed in our Release Automation Tools directory. Add the badge to your site — it links back to this page.

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Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026

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Last updated 20 Oct 2026 · How we research and update