diff --git a/docs/Release-Process.md b/docs/Release-Process.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..90f1b1cde5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/Release-Process.md
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+# Release process for Swarm
+
+This document describes the steps required to perform a new release.
+
+## Pre release
+
+1. Make sure that the most recent builds are green and that smoke tests are passing on the cluster.
+2. Check if protocols should be bumped. (e.g [PR#1465](https://github.com/ethersphere/swarm/pull/1465))
+3. Check if the [CHANGELOG.md](../CHANGELOG.md) is reflecting all the changes.
+
+## Release
+
+1. Create a PR to update `version.go` and `CHANGELOG.md`.  [See example PR](https://github.com/ethersphere/swarm/pull/1469).
+2. Merge the PR after all tests passed.
+3. Tag the merged commit that went into `master`.
+```sh
+git checkout master
+git pull
+git tag v0.4.{x}
+git push origin v0.4.{x}
+```
+4. CI Builds (Travis/Appveyor/DockerHub) will trigger. Wait for them to finish.
+5. Verify that the following places have the new release:
+     1. [ ] [Website download page](https://ethswarm.org/downloads/)
+     2. [ ] [Docker Hub](https://hub.docker.com/r/ethersphere/swarm/tags)
+     3. [ ] [Ubuntu PPA](https://launchpad.net/~ethereum/+archive/ubuntu/ethereum/+packages?field.name_filter=ethereum-swarm&field.status_filter=published&field.series_filter=)
+6. Create a PR to update `version.go` and `CHANGELOG.md`, this time setting it to `unstable` and increasing the version number:  [See example PR](https://github.com/ethersphere/swarm/pull/1470).
+7. Merge the PR after all tests passed.
+8. Close the [milestone](https://github.com/ethersphere/swarm/milestones).
+
+## Post release
+
+1. Update bootnodes and the nodes serving swarm-gateways.net
+2. Announce the release on social media:
+   1. Create post on reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/ethswarm/
+   2. Share post on gitter: [ethersphere/orange-lounge](https://gitter.im/ethersphere/orange-lounge) and [ethereum/swarm](https://gitter.im/ethereum/swarm)