diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 1fe1669..6c2256f 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -1,38 +1,50 @@
 name: Release
 
-# Publishes the package to (Test)PyPI via Trusted Publishing (OIDC) — no API
-# tokens are stored. Run manually and pick the target index: publish to
-# `testpypi` first, verify, then run again with `pypi`.
 on:
+  push:
+    branches:
+      - main
   workflow_dispatch:
-    inputs:
-      target:
-        description: Package index to publish to
-        required: true
-        type: choice
-        default: testpypi
-        options:
-          - testpypi
-          - pypi
+
+concurrency: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
+
+env:
+  PYTHON_VERSION: '3.12'
 
 jobs:
+  release-please:
+    name: Release Please
+    if: github.repository == 'capawesome-team/cloud-python'
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    permissions:
+      contents: write
+      issues: write
+      pull-requests: write
+    outputs:
+      release_created: ${{ steps.release-please.outputs.release_created }}
+    steps:
+      - name: Create release pull request or GitHub release
+        id: release-please
+        uses: googleapis/release-please-action@v4
+
   build:
     name: Build
+    needs: release-please
+    if: ${{ needs.release-please.outputs.release_created }}
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    permissions:
+      contents: read
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@v6
-      - name: Set up Python
+      - name: Set up Python ${{ env.PYTHON_VERSION }}
         uses: actions/setup-python@v6
         with:
-          python-version: '3.12'
+          python-version: ${{ env.PYTHON_VERSION }}
       - name: Build distributions
         run: |
-          python -m pip install --upgrade pip build
+          python -m pip install --upgrade pip build twine
           python -m build
-      - name: Check distributions
-        run: |
-          python -m pip install --upgrade twine
           python -m twine check dist/*
       - name: Upload distributions
         uses: actions/upload-artifact@v7
@@ -40,33 +52,13 @@ jobs:
           name: dist
           path: dist/
 
-  publish-testpypi:
-    name: Publish to TestPyPI
-    if: ${{ inputs.target == 'testpypi' }}
-    needs: build
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    environment: testpypi
-    permissions:
-      id-token: write
-    steps:
-      - name: Download distributions
-        uses: actions/download-artifact@v8
-        with:
-          name: dist
-          path: dist/
-      - name: Publish
-        uses: pypa/gh-action-pypi-publish@release/v1
-        with:
-          repository-url: https://test.pypi.org/legacy/
-
-  publish-pypi:
+  publish:
     name: Publish to PyPI
-    if: ${{ inputs.target == 'pypi' }}
     needs: build
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     environment: pypi
     permissions:
-      id-token: write
+      id-token: write # Required for PyPI trusted publishing
     steps:
       - name: Download distributions
         uses: actions/download-artifact@v8
diff --git a/.release-please-manifest.json b/.release-please-manifest.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..466df71
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.release-please-manifest.json
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+{
+  ".": "0.1.0"
+}
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index adea622..9252fc2 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
+# Changelog
+
 ## 0.1.0 (2026-06-02)
 
-### Feat
+### Features
 
-- add Capawesome Cloud Python SDK (#1)
+- add Capawesome Cloud Python SDK ([#1](https://github.com/capawesome-team/cloud-python/issues/1)) ([80d28ba](https://github.com/capawesome-team/cloud-python/commit/80d28ba519e5fcd98274410c3c76493768a581d3))
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 5213fde..73b310c 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -306,7 +306,7 @@ python -m venv .venv && source .venv/bin/activate
 pip install -e ".[dev]"
 ```
 
-Commit messages follow [Conventional Commits](https://www.conventionalcommits.org), enforced by [Commitizen](https://commitizen-tools.github.io/commitizen/) — run `cz commit` for a guided prompt. Common commands during development:
+Common commands during development:
 
 | Command                                    | Description                            |
 | ------------------------------------------ | -------------------------------------- |
@@ -315,7 +315,6 @@ Commit messages follow [Conventional Commits](https://www.conventionalcommits.or
 | `ruff format src tests examples`           | Auto-format the code.                  |
 | `ruff format --check src tests examples`   | Check formatting without writing.      |
 | `mypy`                                     | Type-check the package.                |
-| `cz commit`                                | Create a Conventional Commit.          |
 
 ### Testing
 
@@ -328,12 +327,9 @@ pytest --cov=capawesome_cloud   # run with a coverage report
 
 ### Publishing
 
-Releases are driven by [Commitizen](https://commitizen-tools.github.io/commitizen/), which derives the next version and changelog entries from [Conventional Commits](https://www.conventionalcommits.org).
+Releases are automated with [Release Please](https://github.com/googleapis/release-please), which derives the next version and changelog entries from [Conventional Commits](https://www.conventionalcommits.org).
 
-1. Make sure `main` is up to date and CI is green.
-2. Run `cz bump`. This bumps the version (in `[tool.commitizen]` and `src/capawesome_cloud/_version.py`), regenerates `CHANGELOG.md`, and creates a release commit plus a matching `vX.Y.Z` tag — all locally, nothing is pushed yet. Pass `--dry-run` first if you want to preview the result.
-3. Review the generated commit and changelog, then push everything: `git push --follow-tags origin main`.
-4. Build the distributions with `python -m build`, then publish to PyPI with `python -m twine upload dist/*` (requires `pip install build twine`).
+On every push to `main`, the [Release workflow](./.github/workflows/release.yml) creates or updates a release pull request that bumps the version and updates `CHANGELOG.md`. Merging that pull request creates the git tag and GitHub release, and publishes the package to PyPI.
 
 ## License
 
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index ee28b0b..0f20759 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -43,7 +43,6 @@ dev = [
     "respx>=0.21",
     "ruff>=0.6",
     "mypy>=1.11",
-    "commitizen>=3.29",
 ]
 
 [tool.hatch.version]
@@ -77,10 +76,3 @@ files = ["src"]
 [tool.pytest.ini_options]
 testpaths = ["tests"]
 addopts = "-ra"
-
-[tool.commitizen]
-version = "0.1.0"
-version_files = ["src/capawesome_cloud/_version.py:__version__"]
-tag_format = "v$version"
-update_changelog_on_bump = true
-major_version_zero = true
diff --git a/release-please-config.json b/release-please-config.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8269847
--- /dev/null
+++ b/release-please-config.json
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+{
+  "$schema": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/googleapis/release-please/main/schemas/config.json",
+  "release-type": "python",
+  "bump-minor-pre-major": true,
+  "bump-patch-for-minor-pre-major": true,
+  "include-component-in-tag": false,
+  "packages": {
+    ".": {
+      "extra-files": ["src/capawesome_cloud/_version.py"]
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/src/capawesome_cloud/_version.py b/src/capawesome_cloud/_version.py
index 3dc1f76..75716eb 100644
--- a/src/capawesome_cloud/_version.py
+++ b/src/capawesome_cloud/_version.py
@@ -1 +1 @@
-__version__ = "0.1.0"
+__version__ = "0.1.0"  # x-release-please-version