Don't become a zombie product—keep a changelog.

Imagine you’re picking a software. You have two choices. One product posts weekly updates. The other has not posted anything in over a year. Which do you trust?

The answer is simple. The active product lives. It grows, fixes bugs, and adds new features. It shows that someone is working on it, that people are listening, and that the product is moving forward. The silent product, on the other hand, seems dead—a zombie. It offers little promise. You wonder if it is still being cared for or if it has been left to die.

Maybe the silent product is busy behind closed doors. They might be working on fixes and new features, but if you never see them, you never know. Without a changelog, all that work remains hidden. A changelog is like a window into the product’s soul. It tells you what is happening and shows you the path forward.

A public changelog is more than a list of changes. It is a sign that the team is alive and kicking. It says, “We are building. We are solving problems. We are listening to our users.” It builds trust. It tells customers that you are not content to let your product stagnate. You are committed to progress.

For those who pay for a product, this is important. You want to know that your money is going to a team that cares. You want to see that new ideas are taking shape and that your problems will be fixed. A changelog is the proof you need.

And if you find nothing worth writing, ask yourself: are you building the right thing?