diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 294111ef25..9feebfa2b6 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -22,4 +22,7 @@
 *.generated.yaml
 
 .synclet-dev-image-tag
-.#*
\ No newline at end of file
+.#*
+
+# goreleaser binaries
+dist
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.goreleaser.yml b/.goreleaser.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4a6d54fe29
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.goreleaser.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+builds:
+- env:
+  - CGO_ENABLED=0
+  main: ./cmd/tilt/main.go
+  goos:
+  - linux
+archive:
+  name_template: "{{ .ProjectName }}.{{ .Version }}.{{ .Os }}.{{ .Arch }}"
+  replacements:
+    darwin: mac
+    linux: linux
+    386: i386
+    amd64: x86_64
+checksum:
+  name_template: 'checksums.txt'
+snapshot:
+  name_template: "{{ .Tag }}-next"
+changelog:
+  sort: asc
+  filters:
+    exclude:
+    - '^docs:'
+    - '^test:'
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 910a8eab2c..31f4c1af92 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -95,3 +95,6 @@ synclet-release:
 	docker build -t $(SYNCLET_IMAGE):$(TAG) -f synclet/Dockerfile .
 	docker push $(SYNCLET_IMAGE):$(TAG)
 	sed -i 's/var SyncletTag = ".*"/var SyncletTag = "$(TAG)"/' internal/synclet/sidecar/sidecar.go
+
+release:
+	goreleaser --rm-dist
diff --git a/cmd/tilt/main.go b/cmd/tilt/main.go
index 9f8292ab7e..b6c1b7e15f 100644
--- a/cmd/tilt/main.go
+++ b/cmd/tilt/main.go
@@ -4,6 +4,15 @@ import (
 	"github.com/windmilleng/tilt/internal/cli"
 )
 
+// Magic variables set by goreleaser
+var version string
+var commit string
+var date string
+
 func main() {
+	cli.SetBuildInfo(cli.BuildInfo{
+		Version: version,
+		Date:    date,
+	})
 	cli.Execute()
 }
diff --git a/internal/cli/build.go b/internal/cli/build.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8d19eef84f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/cli/build.go
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+package cli
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"strings"
+)
+
+type BuildInfo struct {
+	Version string
+	Date    string
+}
+
+func (e BuildInfo) empty() bool {
+	return e == BuildInfo{}
+}
+
+var globalBuildInfo BuildInfo
+
+func SetBuildInfo(info BuildInfo) {
+	globalBuildInfo = info
+}
+
+func buildStamp() string {
+	info := globalBuildInfo
+	if info.empty() {
+		info = defaultBuildInfo()
+	}
+	version := info.Version
+	date := info.Date
+	timeIndex := strings.Index(date, "T")
+	if timeIndex != -1 {
+		date = date[0:timeIndex]
+	}
+	return fmt.Sprintf("v%s, built %s", version, date)
+}
+
+// Returns a build datestamp in the format 2018-08-30
+func defaultBuildDate() string {
+	// TODO(nick): Add a mechanism to encode the datestamp in the binary with
+	// ldflags. This currently only works if you are building your own
+	// binaries. It won't work once we're distributing pre-built binaries.
+	path, err := os.Executable()
+	if err != nil {
+		return "[unknown]"
+	}
+
+	info, err := os.Stat(path)
+	if err != nil {
+		return "[unknown]"
+	}
+
+	modTime := info.ModTime()
+	return modTime.Format("2006-01-02")
+}
+
+// Returns a build datestamp in the format 2018-08-30
+func defaultBuildInfo() BuildInfo {
+	return BuildInfo{
+		Date:    defaultBuildDate(),
+		Version: "0.0.0-dev",
+	}
+}
diff --git a/internal/cli/cli.go b/internal/cli/cli.go
index 8dbfdf57b9..0f2a13be3e 100644
--- a/internal/cli/cli.go
+++ b/internal/cli/cli.go
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ func Execute() {
 	addCommand(rootCmd, &downCmd{})
 	addCommand(rootCmd, &demoCmd{})
 	addCommand(rootCmd, &hudCmd{})
+	addCommand(rootCmd, &versionCmd{})
 	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVarP(&debug, "debug", "d", false, "Enable debug logging")
 	rootCmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVarP(&verbose, "verbose", "v", false, "Enable verbose logging")
 
@@ -123,22 +124,3 @@ func addCommand(parent *cobra.Command, child tiltCmd) {
 
 	parent.AddCommand(cobraChild)
 }
-
-// Returns a build datestamp in the format 2018-08-30
-func buildDateStamp() string {
-	// TODO(nick): Add a mechanism to encode the datestamp in the binary with
-	// ldflags. This currently only works if you are building your own
-	// binaries. It won't work once we're distributing pre-built binaries.
-	path, err := os.Executable()
-	if err != nil {
-		return "[unknown]"
-	}
-
-	info, err := os.Stat(path)
-	if err != nil {
-		return "[unknown]"
-	}
-
-	modTime := info.ModTime()
-	return modTime.Format("2006-01-02")
-}
diff --git a/internal/cli/hud.go b/internal/cli/hud.go
index e5fc380ba7..ccd7e52fb2 100644
--- a/internal/cli/hud.go
+++ b/internal/cli/hud.go
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ func (c *hudCmd) run(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 		span.SetTag(k, v)
 	}
 
-	logOutput(fmt.Sprintf("Starting the HUD (built %s)…\n", buildDateStamp()))
+	logOutput(fmt.Sprintf("Starting the HUD (%s)…\n", buildStamp()))
 
 	err := client.ConnectHud(ctx)
 	if err == context.Canceled {
diff --git a/internal/cli/up.go b/internal/cli/up.go
index 0310895a88..7054c58cfd 100644
--- a/internal/cli/up.go
+++ b/internal/cli/up.go
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ func (c *upCmd) run(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 		span.SetTag(k, v)
 	}
 
-	logOutput(fmt.Sprintf("Starting Tilt (built %s)…\n", buildDateStamp()))
+	logOutput(fmt.Sprintf("Starting Tilt (%s)…\n", buildStamp()))
 
 	if trace {
 		traceID, err := tracer.TraceID(ctx)
diff --git a/internal/cli/version.go b/internal/cli/version.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..731fbcaf4c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/cli/version.go
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+package cli
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"fmt"
+
+	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
+)
+
+type versionCmd struct {
+}
+
+func (c *versionCmd) register() *cobra.Command {
+	cmd := &cobra.Command{
+		Use:   "version",
+		Short: "current Tilt version",
+	}
+	return cmd
+}
+
+func (c *versionCmd) run(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
+	fmt.Println(buildStamp())
+	return nil
+}