standard-version review
A free CLI for Conventional Commit releases, but the project is deprecated.
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
standard-version is a free, open-source command-line utility that automates versioning and CHANGELOG generation from Conventional Commits. It is aimed at projects that want to calculate semantic version bumps, update version files, and record a release in Git without building those steps into a custom script. It runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows, and its deployment model is self-hosted. Its scope is the local release workflow, not publishing the resulting package or release elsewhere.
The workflow combines several release steps: standard-version determines the current version, calculates a bump from commit history, updates configured files, generates a changelog, then creates a release commit and Git tag. It supports prerelease versions and named prereleases, custom changelog configuration, lifecycle scripts, and dry-run previews. These options make it useful for teams with a Conventional Commit history and version files or changelog conventions they want to preserve. According to the project README, it does not automatically push to GitHub or publish to npm; release handling affects the local Git repository.
The main consideration is project status: standard-version is deprecated. Its maintainers recommend release-please for GitHub users or the commit-and-tag-version fork for users who need an alternative. That matters more than the tool's free pricing for anyone choosing a release workflow to maintain going forward. Projects that specifically need local SemVer bumps, changelog generation, commits, and tags may still find its feature set aligned with that task, while teams seeking active development, automatic publishing, or release-host integrations should consider the recommended alternatives instead.
standard-version pros and cons
- Where it wins
- Calculates semantic version bumps from Conventional Commit history
- Generates changelogs and updates configurable version files
- Creates release commits and Git tags, with prerelease and dry-run support
- Where it doesn't
- The project is deprecated; maintainers recommend alternatives
- Does not automatically push to GitHub or publish to npm
- No publishing or release-host integrations are listed
standard-version fact sheet, pricing and score →
Advertiser disclosure: iTechGuides is reader-supported. Vendors can pay for top positions in our rankings and for a place on other products' pages, and we may earn a commission when you click some links. Bought places stand at the number bought; this page and our disclosure say so. Paying vendors may get a fuller, more detailed review from our editors, and that review can change their score. How we rank.
Last updated · How we research and update