Changelog management tool with an AI generator built in
Shipstar is a changelog management tool that handles the writing too. Connect a GitHub repository and its AI changelog generator turns your commits and merged pull requests into clear, user-facing entries — you review, approve, and publish to your changelog page, email subscribers, Slack, and X in one step. Below: how it works, how it compares to GitHub Releases, Beamer, Olvy and other changelog tools, and what the free plan includes.
From commits to published changelog
Most changelog tools manage the publishing and leave the writing to you. Shipstar starts one step earlier: connect a GitHub repository, and its AI changelog generator reads your commits and merged pull requests, works out what actually changed for users, and drafts the entry. Fixes are grouped with fixes, features with features, and internal refactors are filtered out. Nothing publishes on its own — every draft waits in a review queue where you edit, set the tone, and approve.
Approval is where management kicks in. One approved entry goes to your hosted changelog page, the embeddable widget on your own site, RSS, email subscribers, Slack, and X — the full pipeline described on our automated changelogs page. Run it on demand after a release or on a schedule, and the changelog keeps itself current.
$ shipstar generate changelog --repo acme/app · example draft
Faster imports, saved filters
+ CSV imports up to 50MB now process in the background — no more browser timeouts on large files
+ Save any filtered order view and reopen it from the sidebar
~ Fixed webhook retries occasionally delivering duplicate events
drafted from 23 commits · 4 merged PRs → review queue
Best changelog tools compared
The market splits into three camps. Communication suites like Beamer, AnnounceKit, and Olvy have polished widgets and segmentation, but a person still writes every update (their AI assists from a typed brief, not from your repo). Git-generation pipelines — Shipstar, Herald, ChangelogAI — draft entries from your actual development activity. And GitHub Releases is the free baseline: solid for developer audiences, but it’s a PR-title roll-up with no hosted page, email list, or embed.
Every tool below links to a detailed side-by-side. Facts come from each vendor’s public site and pricing page.
| Tool | AI from Git | Hosted page | Embed | Price | Free tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shipstar | Free · Solo from $20/mo | Yes — 1 project, 1,000 credits/mo | |||
| GitHub Releases | Free | Entirely free, all plans | |||
| Beamer | $49/mo (annual, 5,000 MAU) | Yes — 1,000 MAU, watermarked | |||
| Olvy | $60/mo | Yes — 1 builder, 25 feedback items/mo | |||
| AnnounceKit | $79/mo (annual) | None — 15-day trial | |||
| Herald | $16/mo (annual) | None — 14-day trial | |||
| ChangelogAI | Free · Pro $19/mo | Yes — 1 repo, 15 AI changelogs/mo |
“AI from Git” means the tool drafts from your commits and pull requests — not from a brief you type. See all comparisons for full feature tables, or the deep dive on GitHub Releases vs. a changelog tool.
Works with your stack
GitHub is the supported source today: connect with OAuth, pick repositories to track (public or private), and generation covers all of them — monorepos and multi-repo setups included. No CI config, no commit-message conventions, no YAML. GitLab and Bitbucket are coming soon; Azure DevOps isn’t supported yet. If your repos live outside GitHub today, Shipstar isn’t your tool yet — we’d rather say that than let you find out after signing up.
On the output side, published entries reach Slack, email subscribers, RSS, X, and webhooks. Looking for per-release notes rather than a running changelog — a release notes generator for GitHub, GitLab, or Azure DevOps pipelines? That’s covered by our automated release notes tool and the broader release notes software page.
Free changelog tool?
Yes — an actual free plan, not a trial. No credit card required, and it doesn’t expire. It’s enough to connect a repo, generate entries, and run a real public changelog; free-plan changelogs carry a small “Powered by Shipstar” badge.
- Free: 1 project, 1,000 credits per month, changelog generation, Slack publishing
- Solo: $25/month ($20/month billed annually) — 50,000 credits, 3 projects, unlimited repositories, no badge
- Team: $29/month per seat ($24 annually, 2-seat minimum) — pooled credits, unlimited projects, team review
- Credits meter generation only (a changelog entry costs 25–100) — reviewing, editing, publishing, and API access are free
Paid plans include a 14-day free trial. Full details on the pricing page, or create a free account and see the first generated entry before deciding anything.
Changelog vs release notes vs change log
A changelog is the running, chronological record of every user-facing change — small fixes included — usually one public page users can scan or subscribe to. Release notes are the narrative for a specific release: what version 2.4 means for you, why the changes matter, and what to do about breaking changes. A changelog accumulates; release notes announce. If it’s the per-release format you’re after, start with automated release notes or compare dedicated release notes software.
And “change log” vs “changelog”? Same thing. “Change log” is the older two-word spelling; the software industry has standardized on the single word — it’s what keepachangelog.com uses and what developers search for. Shipstar generates both formats from the same Git activity, so you don’t have to pick a lane: the changelog stays current automatically, and release notes go out when you ship something worth announcing.
Frequently asked questions
How does an AI changelog generator work?
Shipstar connects to your GitHub repository and reads recent commits and merged pull requests. An AI model analyzes the changes, identifies what is user-facing, and writes a structured changelog entry in plain language. The draft goes to a review queue where you can edit and approve it before it publishes to your changelog page and other channels.
What's the difference between a changelog and a change log?
Nothing — they're two spellings of the same thing. "Change log" is the older two-word form; modern software teams and references like keepachangelog.com use the single word "changelog". Release notes are the related but distinct per-release format: a changelog accumulates every change over time, while release notes announce and explain one specific release.
Is there an open-source changelog tool?
Yes — tools like git-cliff, conventional-changelog, and Release Please generate a CHANGELOG.md file from commit conventions, and they're good at exactly that. What they don't cover is management and distribution: a hosted changelog page, an embeddable widget, subscriber emails, or entries written for users rather than parsed from commit prefixes. Shipstar's free plan covers that layer without a license fee, though it's a hosted service rather than open source.
Can I embed the changelog in my own site or app?
Yes. Shipstar provides an embeddable changelog widget you add with a single script tag, alongside the hosted changelog page and an RSS feed. Entries can also reach email subscribers, Slack, X, and webhooks for custom destinations.
Will AI-generated changelog entries publish without my approval?
Only if you want them to. By default, every generated entry waits in a review queue for approval. You can also schedule content and let Shipstar auto-publish approved entries when their publish date arrives — you control how much automation you're comfortable with.
Do I need to follow conventional commits for the generator to work?
No. Shipstar's AI reads ordinary commit messages and pull request descriptions and infers what changed. Conventional commits help, but messy, real-world commit history works fine — the model summarizes what shipped rather than parsing commit prefixes.
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