# release-please vs semantic-release

**Leader by vioscaleAI score:** semantic-release

| Attribute | release-please | semantic-release |
|---|---|---|
| **vioscaleAI score** | 51.8 (60% (medium)) | 59 (60% (medium)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 5 | 4 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 65 | 135,472 |
| adoption.github_stars | 7,629 | 24,103 |
| content.faq | `[{"answer":"A tool that automates release management by parsing git commit history, generating changelogs, creating release pull requests, and publishing GitHub releases based on semantic versioning conventions. It is indexed under Changelog Tools.","source":"https://github.com/pricing","question":"What is release-please?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"release-please supports a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://github.com/pricing","question":"What platforms does release-please support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have only confirmed a cloud / SaaS deployment for release-please, so it appears to be vendor-hosted. If a self-hosted option exists we have not found it documented publicly.","source":"https://github.com/pricing","question":"Can release-please be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. release-please is published under the Apache-2.0 licence, a permissive licence that generally allows commercial use and modification. Licence terms can change between releases, so verify against the repository for the version you intend to use.","source":"https://github.com/googleapis/release-please","question":"Is release-please open source?","confidence":0.95}]` | `[{"answer":"An open-source tool that automatically determines version numbers, generates release notes, and publishes packages by analyzing commit messages according to semantic versioning. It integrates with CI/CD systems to eliminate manual release processes. It is indexed under Changelog Tools.","source":"https://semantic-release.gitbook.io/semantic-release/","question":"What is semantic-release?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"semantic-release is open source, so it can be self-hosted and used at no licence cost. It is released under the MIT licence. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://semantic-release.gitbook.io/semantic-release/","question":"Is semantic-release free to use?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"semantic-release supports a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://semantic-release.gitbook.io/semantic-release/","question":"What platforms does semantic-release support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. semantic-release can be deployed self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://semantic-release.gitbook.io/semantic-release/","question":"Can semantic-release be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 4 integrations for semantic-release, including npm, GitHub Actions, commitizen and commitlint. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://semantic-release.gitbook.io/semantic-release/","question":"What does semantic-release integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. semantic-release is published under the MIT licence, a permissive licence that generally allows commercial use and modification. Licence terms can change between releases, so verify against the repository for the version you intend to use.","source":"https://github.com/semantic-release/semantic-release","question":"Is semantic-release open source?","confidence":0.95}]` |
| deployment.options | `{"self_hosted":true}` | `{"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | A tool that automates release management by parsing git commit history, generating changelogs, creating release pull requests, and publishing GitHub releases based on semantic versioning conventions. | A tool that analyzes commit history to automatically determine the next semantic version, generate release notes, and publish packages to package managers, supporting any language or package manager. |
| features.capabilities | `{"monorepo_support":true,"ci_cd_integration":true,"semver_automation":true,"open_source_self_host":true,"conventional_commits_support":true}` | `{"ci_cd_integration":true,"semver_automation":true,"open_source_self_host":true,"conventional_commits_support":true}` |
| integrations.count | 2 | 4 |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"GitHub"},{"name":"GitHub Actions","native":true,"category":"ci_cd","direction":"bidirectional"}]` | `[{"name":"npm"},{"name":"GitHub Actions"},{"name":"commitizen"},{"name":"commitlint"}]` |
| language.primary | TypeScript | JavaScript |
| license.spdx | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| market.availability | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | - |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true}` | `{"cli":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"open_source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://github.com/pricing","retrievedAt":"2026-10-14T21:34:58.140Z"}` | `{"type":"open_source","sourceUrl":"https://semantic-release.gitbook.io/semantic-release/","retrievedAt":"2026-09-13T19:28:29.424Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | open_source | open_source |
| pricing.price_level | free | free |
| pricing.transparent | yes | - |
| release.cadence_days | 5 | 2 |
| release.history | `[{"url":"https://github.com/googleapis/release-please/releases/tag/v17.11.2","date":"2026-08-24T21:20:30Z","type":"stable","version":"v17.11.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/googleapis/release-please/releases/tag/v17.11.1","date":"2026-07-31T14:26:02Z","type":"stable","version":"v17.11.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/googleapis/release-please/releases/tag/v17.11.0","date":"2026-07-30T01:51:56Z","type":"stable","version":"v17.11.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/googleapis/release-please/releases/tag/v17.10.4","date":"2026-07-21T18:18:54Z","type":"stable","version":"v17.10.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/googleapis/release-please/releases/tag/v17.10.3","date":"2026-07-09T16:02:10Z","type":"stable","version":"v17.10.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/googleapis/release-please/releases/tag/v17.10.2","date":"2026-07-07T15:51:34Z","type":"stable","version":"v17.10.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/googleapis/release-please/releases/tag/v17.10.1","date":"2026-06-29T15:45:52Z","type":"stable","version":"v17.10.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/googleapis/release-please/releases/tag/v17.10.0","date":"2026-06-22T17:05:53Z","type":"stable","version":"v17.10.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/googleapis/release-please/releases/tag/v17.9.0","date":"2026-06-09T21:42:22Z","type":"stable","version":"v17.9.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/googleapis/release-please/releases/tag/v17.8.0","date":"2026-06-08T14:10:18Z","type":"stable","version":"v17.8.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/googleapis/release-please/releases/tag/v17.7.0","date":"2026-06-01T13:09:58Z","type":"stable","version":"v17.7.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/googleapis/release-please/releases/tag/v17.6.1","date":"2026-05-26T19:20:10Z","type":"stable","version":"v17.6.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/googleapis/release-please/releases/tag/v17.6.0","date":"2026-04-13T20:59:26Z","type":"stable","version":"v17.6.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/googleapis/release-please/releases/tag/v17.5.2","date":"2026-04-10T20:16:15Z","type":"stable","version":"v17.5.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/googleapis/release-please/releases/tag/v17.5.1","date":"2026-04-09T17:49:22Z","type":"stable","version":"v17.5.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/googleapis/release-please/releases/tag/v17.5.0","date":"2026-04-09T16:58:02Z","type":"stable","version":"v17.5.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/googleapis/release-please/releases/tag/v17.4.1","date":"2026-04-08T22:38:58Z","type":"stable","version":"v17.4.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/googleapis/release-please/releases/tag/v17.4.0","date":"2026-04-06T21:29:23Z","type":"stable","version":"v17.4.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/googleapis/release-please/releases/tag/v17.3.0","date":"2026-02-18T19:59:32Z","type":"stable","version":"v17.3.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/googleapis/release-please/releases/tag/v17.2.1","date":"2026-02-13T17:35:50Z","type":"stable","version":"v17.2.1"}]` | `[{"url":"https://github.com/semantic-release/semantic-release/releases/tag/v25.1.0-alpha.1","date":"2026-10-06T05:43:53Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v25.1.0-alpha.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/semantic-release/semantic-release/releases/tag/v26.0.0-beta.2","date":"2026-09-25T18:24:06Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v26.0.0-beta.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/semantic-release/semantic-release/releases/tag/v26.0.0-beta.1","date":"2026-08-07T17:13:59Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v26.0.0-beta.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/semantic-release/semantic-release/releases/tag/v25.0.9","date":"2026-08-05T04:42:47Z","type":"stable","version":"v25.0.9"},{"url":"https://github.com/semantic-release/semantic-release/releases/tag/v25.0.8","date":"2026-07-18T00:24:33Z","type":"stable","version":"v25.0.8"},{"url":"https://github.com/semantic-release/semantic-release/releases/tag/v25.0.7","date":"2026-07-13T05:23:58Z","type":"stable","version":"v25.0.7"},{"url":"https://github.com/semantic-release/semantic-release/releases/tag/v25.0.6","date":"2026-07-10T22:09:52Z","type":"stable","version":"v25.0.6"},{"url":"https://github.com/semantic-release/semantic-release/releases/tag/v25.0.5","date":"2026-06-09T23:09:48Z","type":"stable","version":"v25.0.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/semantic-release/semantic-release/releases/tag/v25.0.4","date":"2026-06-09T18:00:56Z","type":"stable","version":"v25.0.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/semantic-release/semantic-release/releases/tag/v25.0.3","date":"2026-01-30T21:12:55Z","type":"stable","version":"v25.0.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/semantic-release/semantic-release/releases/tag/v25.0.2","date":"2025-11-07T20:22:16Z","type":"stable","version":"v25.0.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/semantic-release/semantic-release/releases/tag/v25.0.1","date":"2025-10-19T21:23:10Z","type":"stable","version":"v25.0.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/semantic-release/semantic-release/releases/tag/v25.0.1-beta.3","date":"2025-10-19T18:29:49Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v25.0.1-beta.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/semantic-release/semantic-release/releases/tag/v25.0.1-beta.2","date":"2025-10-19T16:33:30Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v25.0.1-beta.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/semantic-release/semantic-release/releases/tag/v25.0.1-beta.1","date":"2025-10-16T03:46:12Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v25.0.1-beta.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/semantic-release/semantic-release/releases/tag/v25.0.1-alpha.4","date":"2025-10-16T03:32:45Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v25.0.1-alpha.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/semantic-release/semantic-release/releases/tag/v25.0.1-alpha.3","date":"2025-10-15T19:40:44Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v25.0.1-alpha.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/semantic-release/semantic-release/releases/tag/v25.0.1-alpha.2","date":"2025-10-15T16:41:32Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v25.0.1-alpha.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/semantic-release/semantic-release/releases/tag/v25.0.1-alpha.1","date":"2025-10-15T16:39:50Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v25.0.1-alpha.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/semantic-release/semantic-release/releases/tag/v25.0.0","date":"2025-10-15T15:58:56Z","type":"stable","version":"v25.0.0"}]` |
| security.disclosure_policy | yes | - |
| security.gdpr | yes | - |
| security.scorecard | 8 | 7.8 |
| security.trust_center | https://github.com/security | - |
| security.vulnerabilities | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=npm&package_name=release-please&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` | `{"count":2,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=npm&package_name=semantic-release&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":"HIGH"}` |

## Capabilities (Changelog Tools)

| Capability | release-please | semantic-release |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Capabilities** |  |  |
| Conventional commits support | ✓ | ✓ |
| Semver automation | ✓ | ✓ |
| Public hosted page | - | - |
| Embeddable widget | - | - |
| Custom domain whitelabel | - | - |
| Audience segmentation | - | - |
| Monorepo support | ✓ | - |
| Ci cd integration | ✓ | ✓ |
| AI assisted drafting | - | - |
| View analytics | - | - |
| Open source self host | ✓ | ✓ |

*Source: vioscaleAI. Generated 2026-10-16T19:01:57.967Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*