5 Best Changelog Tools in 2023

In this article, we will explore five changelog/release notes tools, that not only enhance the effectiveness of the process but also increase engagement rates and foster long-term customer relationships.

By keeping users informed about new features, businesses build trust and loyalty among their customer base. Additionally, when users perceive ongoing value from these updates, they are less likely to seek alternative solutions.

Today, we will discuss five excellent examples of release note solutions: Released, ReleaseNotes, Beamer, AnnounceKit, and Headway. These solutions can be integrated within your application or embedded directly into your website. By the end of this article, you will have a better understanding of which solution is the most suitable for your specific needs.

Why you should use a changelog tool

Many companies create dedicated landing pages or even entire websites solely for changelogs and company news. These pages require manual content creation and posting, similar to other types of content. However, the changelog process itself is already complex.

Here's how changelog tools can help: You can easily create, edit, and add visual elements to product launches and update announcements. These announcements are then displayed in a visually appealing widget that can be embedded within your website or application. This widget helps draw attention to your hard work and showcases your latest updates.

Those are the basics. The differences between changelog apps lie in their additional features, such as ease of use, integration with work management solutions, content generation, or support for multiple languages.

5 Best changelog tools

Let's take a closer look at the top 5 changelog apps in the market.

Released

Released is a revolutionary entry in the changelog tools market, offering a unique approach to managing release notes. Released reduces the time and effort to craft release notes by taking Jira tickets and generating release notes by leveraging AI. Its seamless integration with Jira makes it the fastest and easiest tool on this list.

Unlike other contenders, it functions as an add-on for Atlassian's Jira, providing tight integration and several benefits. While it simplifies the process and enhances usability, the main drawback is its dependency on Jira.

Pros:

• Takes minutes to set up and is extremely easy to use.

• Deep integration with Jira shows all product changes for easy access.

• AI copywriter automatically generates release notes from Jira tickets.

• Beautifully designed announcement pages and widgets.

• Providing SSO and Enterprise Security even for small teams through Jira.

Cons:

• Requires Jira.

• No feedback collection.

Released has a generous free tier for up to 10 users. Pricing starts at $0.90 / user /month with progressive discounts as the number of users grows.

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Headway

Headway, one of the early entrants in the changelog tools market, offers a straightforward updates page and a single widget. It provides essential features like custom branding, scheduled posting, integrations, and team management.

Designed for small startups and tech companies looking for simple user communication. However, Headway's limitations include minimal control over the updates page's appearance, lack of advanced features like segmentation and feedback, and support for only a limited number of languages.

Pros:

• One of the first Changelog tools in the market.

• Provides the basics like custom branding, scheduled posting, integrations, team management, and private feeds.

• Simple Pricing

Cons:

• The last major update was released in 2021.

• Limited control over the updates page's appearance.

• A less technical audience might find the markdown editing experience daunting.

• No integration with work management solutions.

Headway has a free plan and a Pro plan priced at $29 / month.

ReleaseNotes

ReleaseNotes is a good tool for those seeking a traditional release notes solution. It is particularly beneficial for more technical users as the theming options are powerful, but do require coding experience.

One notable feature of ReleaseNotes is the Global bucket, where you can store drafts and notes. This is useful for developers who may forget about the bugs they have fixed throughout the month, facilitating better communication within developer teams.

One downside to ReleaseNotes.io is their editing experience. Image handling is awkward, text boxes are small and non-resizable, and the overall UI has plenty of room for improvement.

Pros:

• Powerful theming options for technical users.

• Notes bucket Convenient for storing drafts and tracking changes (although it's now deprecated).

Cons:

• The #1 complaint from users is about the poor editing experience.

• Lack of control over how images are handled in content.

• Integrations, Reactions, or CSS customization is only available in the highest tier plan.

• Limited integration with work management solutions.

The pricing for ReleaseNotes is a mix of base fees and subscribers. Starting at $29.00 / month + $10 / month per 1,000 subscribers for the Standard tier. A free option is available with a maximum of 5 releases.

Beamer

Beamer is one of the more comprehensive changelog software solutions available. It offers a range of features, including push notifications, and advanced analytics.

However, Beamer is also one of the most expensive solutions. For example, even Feedback & Emoji Reactions fall into a Business plan ($99/mo). Moreover, if you need to Segmentation it costs $249/mo. It can feel like every other feature you are trying to use presents you with an upsell screen.

Comprehensive Features: Beamer provides a wide array of features, such as push notifications and advanced analytics, making it a robust changelog software solution.

Pros:

• A wide array of features, such as push notifications and advanced analytics.

• Feedback & Emoji Reactions.

• A paid NPS module can be added to collect additional customer feedback.

Cons:

• Outdated editing experience.

• Expensive with features like appearance settings only available in paid plans.

• The app can be slow to load.

• Limited integration with work management solutions.

Pricing starts at $49 / month for the "Starter" tier and the "Custom" enterprise tier starts from $499.

AnnounceKit

AnnounceKit is a reliable and user-friendly changelog service that offers a range of useful features for product communication. One of the standout advantages of AnnounceKit is its ease of setup. The in-product widgets provided by AnnounceKit have plenty of customization options and also support multiple languages. AnnounceKit recently added basic AI features to their editor.

Regrettably, much like Beamer, users on lower-tier pricing plans may discover that specific advanced features and integrations are exclusively available in higher-priced plans, which can be restrictive for those with budget constraints.

Pros:

• Reliable and user-friendly changelog service.

• Easy setup process.

• Customizable in-product widgets with plenty of options.

• Supports multiple languages.

• The recent addition of basic AI features to the editor.

Cons:

• Advanced features and integrations are limited to higher-priced plans, potentially restricting users to lower-tier pricing plans with budget constraints.

• AI integration feels like an afterthought.

• Limited integration with work management solutions.

Pricing starts at $79 / month for the Essential plan and Enterprise starts at $599.