diff --git a/release.sh b/release.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..53bbd406
--- /dev/null
+++ b/release.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+#!bin/bash
+
+# get current branch
+branch=$(git symbolic-ref HEAD | sed -e 's,.*/\(.*\),\1,')
+
+# push any local changes
+git push
+
+# checkout stable branch (this will catch uncommitted changes)
+git checkout stable || exit 1
+
+# branch validation
+if [ $branch = "dev" ]; then
+	echo "Enter the release version (eg. v1.0.0):"
+	read version
+
+	echo "Started releasing $version for Congo..."
+
+	# pull latest from stable
+	git pull
+
+	# merge in changes from dev branch
+	git merge --no-ff dev -m "🔖 Release $version"
+
+	# create tag
+	git tag $version
+
+	# push commit and tag to remote
+	git push
+	git push --tags
+
+	echo "$version successfully released!"
+	echo "Returning to dev branch..."
+
+	git checkout dev
+
+else 
+	echo "Releases can only be published from the dev branch!"
+fi