diff --git a/build_release.pl b/build_release.pl
index 6812b6b..d93f764 100755
--- a/build_release.pl
+++ b/build_release.pl
@@ -7,7 +7,8 @@ open my $fh, "<", "main.go" || die $!;
 
 my $version;
 while (<$fh>) {
-  $version = $1 if /^const\s+currentVersion.*?"(v[\d\.]+)"/;
+  # CurrentVersion: "v0.04"
+  $version = $1 if /CurrentVersion:\s*"(v[\d\.]+)"/;
 }
 close $fh;
 
diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 21cef81..61627a6 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -2,4 +2,7 @@ module github.com/tardisx/gropple
 
 go 1.16
 
-require github.com/gorilla/mux v1.8.0
+require (
+	github.com/gorilla/mux v1.8.0
+	golang.org/x/mod v0.5.1
+)
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 5350288..78fad6d 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -1,2 +1,15 @@
 github.com/gorilla/mux v1.8.0 h1:i40aqfkR1h2SlN9hojwV5ZA91wcXFOvkdNIeFDP5koI=
 github.com/gorilla/mux v1.8.0/go.mod h1:DVbg23sWSpFRCP0SfiEN6jmj59UnW/n46BH5rLB71So=
+golang.org/x/crypto v0.0.0-20190308221718-c2843e01d9a2/go.mod h1:djNgcEr1/C05ACkg1iLfiJU5Ep61QUkGW8qpdssI0+w=
+golang.org/x/crypto v0.0.0-20191011191535-87dc89f01550/go.mod h1:yigFU9vqHzYiE8UmvKecakEJjdnWj3jj499lnFckfCI=
+golang.org/x/mod v0.5.1 h1:OJxoQ/rynoF0dcCdI7cLPktw/hR2cueqYfjm43oqK38=
+golang.org/x/mod v0.5.1/go.mod h1:5OXOZSfqPIIbmVBIIKWRFfZjPR0E5r58TLhUjH0a2Ro=
+golang.org/x/net v0.0.0-20190404232315-eb5bcb51f2a3/go.mod h1:t9HGtf8HONx5eT2rtn7q6eTqICYqUVnKs3thJo3Qplg=
+golang.org/x/net v0.0.0-20190620200207-3b0461eec859/go.mod h1:z5CRVTTTmAJ677TzLLGU+0bjPO0LkuOLi4/5GtJWs/s=
+golang.org/x/sync v0.0.0-20190423024810-112230192c58/go.mod h1:RxMgew5VJxzue5/jJTE5uejpjVlOe/izrB70Jof72aM=
+golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20190215142949-d0b11bdaac8a/go.mod h1:STP8DvDyc/dI5b8T5hshtkjS+E42TnysNCUPdjciGhY=
+golang.org/x/sys v0.0.0-20190412213103-97732733099d/go.mod h1:h1NjWce9XRLGQEsW7wpKNCjG9DtNlClVuFLEZdDNbEs=
+golang.org/x/text v0.3.0/go.mod h1:NqM8EUOU14njkJ3fqMW+pc6Ldnwhi/IjpwHt7yyuwOQ=
+golang.org/x/tools v0.0.0-20191119224855-298f0cb1881e/go.mod h1:b+2E5dAYhXwXZwtnZ6UAqBI28+e2cm9otk0dWdXHAEo=
+golang.org/x/xerrors v0.0.0-20190717185122-a985d3407aa7/go.mod h1:I/5z698sn9Ka8TeJc9MKroUUfqBBauWjQqLJ2OPfmY0=
+golang.org/x/xerrors v0.0.0-20191011141410-1b5146add898/go.mod h1:I/5z698sn9Ka8TeJc9MKroUUfqBBauWjQqLJ2OPfmY0=
diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index 471e368..c538e31 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ import (
 	"strconv"
 
 	"github.com/gorilla/mux"
+	"github.com/tardisx/gropple/version"
 )
 
 type download struct {
@@ -50,7 +51,7 @@ var defaultArgs = args{
 	"--newline",
 }
 
-const currentVersion = "v0.04"
+var versionInfo = version.Info{CurrentVersion: "v0.4.0"}
 
 //go:embed web
 var webFS embed.FS
@@ -83,6 +84,7 @@ func main() {
 	r.HandleFunc("/fetch", FetchHandler)
 	r.HandleFunc("/fetch/info", FetchInfoHandler)
 	r.HandleFunc("/fetch/info/{id}", FetchInfoOneHandler)
+	r.HandleFunc("/version", VersionHandler)
 
 	http.Handle("/", r)
 
@@ -94,10 +96,26 @@ func main() {
 		ReadTimeout:  5 * time.Second,
 	}
 
-	log.Printf("starting gropple %s - https://github.com/tardisx/gropple", currentVersion)
+	// check for a new version every 4 hours
+	go func() {
+		for {
+			versionInfo.UpdateGitHubVersion()
+			time.Sleep(time.Hour * 4)
+		}
+	}()
+
+	log.Printf("starting gropple %s - https://github.com/tardisx/gropple", versionInfo.CurrentVersion)
 	log.Printf("go to %s for details on installing the bookmarklet and to check status", address)
 	log.Fatal(srv.ListenAndServe())
+}
 
+func VersionHandler(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+	if versionInfo.GithubVersionFetched {
+		b, _ := json.Marshal(versionInfo)
+		w.Write(b)
+	} else {
+		w.WriteHeader(400)
+	}
 }
 
 func HomeHandler(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
diff --git a/web/index.html b/web/index.html
index 33c6a15..2aa693f 100644
--- a/web/index.html
+++ b/web/index.html
@@ -1,12 +1,24 @@
 {{ define "content" }}
-<div>
-<p>
-    Drag this bookmarklet: <a href="{{ .BookmarkletURL }}">Gropple</a> to your bookmark bar, and click it
-    on any page you want to grab the video from.
-</p>
-</div>
 
-<div x-data="index()" x-init="fetch_data()">
+
+<div x-data="index()" x-init="fetch_data(); fetch_version()">
+
+    <h2>gropple</h2>
+
+    <p x-show="version && version.upgrade_available">
+        <a href="https://github.com/tardisx/gropple/releases">Upgrade is available</a> - 
+        you have 
+        <span x-text="version.current_version"></span> and 
+        <span x-text="version.github_version"></span>
+    is available.</p>
+
+    <div>
+        <p>
+            Drag this bookmarklet: <a href="{{ .BookmarkletURL }}">Gropple</a> to your bookmark bar, and click it
+            on any page you want to grab the video from.
+        </p>
+    </div>
+
     <table class="pure-table">
         <thead>
             <tr>
@@ -39,7 +51,19 @@
 <script>
     function index() {
         return { 
-            items: [],
+            items: [], version: {},
+            fetch_version() {
+                fetch('/version')
+                .then(response => response.json())
+                .then(info => {
+                    this.version = info;
+                    setTimeout(() => { this.fetch_version() }, 1000 * 60 );
+                })
+                .catch(error => {
+                    console.log('failed to fetch version info - will retry');
+                    setTimeout(() => { this.fetch_version() }, 1000 );
+                });
+            },
             fetch_data() {
                 fetch('/fetch/info')
                 .then(response => response.json())
diff --git a/web/layout.tmpl b/web/layout.tmpl
index 7262813..b3a6678 100644
--- a/web/layout.tmpl
+++ b/web/layout.tmpl
@@ -13,10 +13,17 @@
           height: 100px;
           overflow:auto;
         }
+        footer {
+            padding-top: 50px;
+            font-size: 30%;
+        }
     </style>
 </head>
 <body style="margin:4; padding:4">
     {{ template "content" . }}
+    <footer>
+    Homepage: <a href="https://github.com/tardisx/gropple">https://github.com/tardisx/gropple</a>
+    </footer>
 </body>
     {{ template "js" . }}
 </html>