diff --git a/.github/workflows/build.yml b/.github/workflows/build.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..cce9a1cee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/build.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+name: Build
+
+on:
+    pull_request:
+
+jobs:
+    build:
+        name: Build
+        strategy:
+            fail-fast: false
+            matrix:
+                os: [ ubuntu-latest, macos-latest, windows-latest ]
+        runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
+
+        steps:
+            - uses: actions/checkout@v2
+
+            - name: Set up Java
+              uses: actions/setup-java@v2
+              with:
+                  java-version: 11
+                  distribution: 'zulu'
+
+            - uses: actions/cache@v2
+              with:
+                  path: ~/.gradle/caches
+                  key: ${{ runner.os }}-gradle-cache-${{ hashFiles('**/*.gradle') }}-${{ hashFiles('**/gradle.properties') }}
+                  restore-keys: |
+                      ${{ runner.os }}-gradle-
+            - uses: actions/cache@v2
+              with:
+                  path: ~/.gradle/wrapper
+                  key: ${{ runner.os }}-gradle-wrapper-${{ hashFiles('**/gradlew') }}
+                  restore-keys: |
+                      ${{ runner.os }}-gradlew-
+            - name: Build
+              run: ./gradlew build -S
+
+            - name: Upload Reports
+              uses: actions/upload-artifact@v1
+              if: failure()
+              with:
+                  name: reports-${{ runner.os }}
+                  path: |
+                      jbake-core/build
+                      jbake-dist/build
diff --git a/.github/workflows/early-access.yml b/.github/workflows/early-access.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9d9aba2b6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/early-access.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,55 @@
+name: EarlyAccess
+
+on:
+    push:
+        branches: [ master ]
+
+jobs:
+    earlyaccess:
+        name: EarlyAccess
+        if: github.repository == 'jbake-org/jbake'
+        runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+
+        steps:
+            - name: Checkout
+              uses: actions/checkout@v2
+              with:
+                  fetch-depth: 0
+
+            - name: Set up Java
+              uses: actions/setup-java@v2
+              with:
+                  java-version: 11
+                  distribution: 'zulu'
+
+            - uses: actions/cache@v2
+              with:
+                  path: ~/.gradle/caches
+                  key: ${{ runner.os }}-gradle-cache-${{ hashFiles('**/*.gradle') }}-${{ hashFiles('**/gradle.properties') }}
+                  restore-keys: |
+                      ${{ runner.os }}-gradle-
+            - uses: actions/cache@v2
+              with:
+                  path: ~/.gradle/wrapper
+                  key: ${{ runner.os }}-gradle-wrapper-${{ hashFiles('**/gradlew') }}
+                  restore-keys: |
+                      ${{ runner.os }}-gradlew-
+            - name: Build
+              run: ./gradlew build -S
+
+            - name: Release
+              run: ./gradlew jreleaserRelease -S
+              env:
+                  JRELEASER_GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
+                  JRELEASER_GPG_PASSPHRASE: ${{ secrets.GPG_PASSPHRASE }}
+                  JRELEASER_GPG_PUBLIC_KEY: ${{ secrets.GPG_PUBLIC_KEY }}
+                  JRELEASER_GPG_SECRET_KEY: ${{ secrets.GPG_SECRET_KEY }}
+
+            - name: JReleaser output
+              if: always()
+              uses: actions/upload-artifact@v2
+              with:
+                  name: jreleaser-logs
+                  path: |
+                      jbake-dist/build/jreleaser/trace.log
+                      jbake-dist/build/jreleaser/output.properties
diff --git a/build.gradle b/build.gradle
index d0bb98f42..9a3787aa2 100644
--- a/build.gradle
+++ b/build.gradle
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ plugins {
     id "io.github.gradle-nexus.publish-plugin"  version "$nexusPublishPluginVersion"
     id 'com.github.ben-manes.versions'          version "$versionsPluginVersion"
     id 'org.ajoberstar.grgit'                   version "$grgitVersion"
+    id 'org.jreleaser'                          version "$jreleaserVersion" apply false
     id "eclipse"
     id "idea"
 }
diff --git a/gradle.properties b/gradle.properties
index 3e1f0d23b..cb81cde7c 100644
--- a/gradle.properties
+++ b/gradle.properties
@@ -45,9 +45,9 @@ jacocoVersion               = 0.8.7
 grgitVersion                = 4.1.1
 nexusPublishPluginVersion   = 1.1.0
 versionsPluginVersion       = 0.40.0
-sdkmanVersion               = 3.0.0
-githubReleaseVersion        = 2.2.12
 optionalBaseVersion         = 7.0.0
+jreleaserVersion            = 0.10.0
+mavenPluginDevVersion       = 0.3.1
 
 # jbake-maven-plugin dependencies
 mavenVersion                = 3.8.4
diff --git a/gradle/github-releases.gradle b/gradle/github-releases.gradle
deleted file mode 100644
index 116c8ac07..000000000
--- a/gradle/github-releases.gradle
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,35 +0,0 @@
-rootProject.ext {
-    githubToken = project.hasProperty("github.token") ? project.getProperty("github.token") : System.getenv("GITHUBTOKEN")
-    githubReleaseOwner = project.hasProperty("github.release.owner") ? getProperty("github.release.owner") : System.getenv("GITHUB_RELEASE_OWNER")
-    githubReleaseRepo = project.hasProperty("github.release.repo") ? getProperty("github.release.repo") : System.getenv("GITHUB_RELEASE_REPO")
-    githubReleaseDryRun = System.getenv("GITHUB_RELEASE_DRY_RUN") ?: false
-}
-
-afterEvaluate {
-    def name = project(':jbake-dist').tasks.getByName("distZip").archiveFileName.getOrNull()
-    def files = project(':jbake-dist').tasks.getByName("distZip").outputs.files.files
-    if (!project.hasProperty('skipSigning')) {
-        def signatureFile = project(':jbake-dist').tasks.getByName("signArchives").outputs.files.files.find { it.name.contains(name) }
-        files << signatureFile
-    }
-
-    // add checksum files
-    project(':jbake-dist').tasks.getByName("distZip").outputs.files.files.each {
-        files << new File(it.toString() + ".sha256")
-    }
-
-    githubRelease {
-        token "$rootProject.githubToken" // This is your personal access token with Repo permissions
-        // You get this from your user settings > developer settings > Personal Access Tokens
-        owner "$rootProject.githubReleaseOwner"
-        // default is the last part of your group. Eg group: "com.github.breadmoirai" => owner: "breadmoirai"
-        repo "$rootProject.githubReleaseRepo" // by default this is set to your project name
-        targetCommitish "master" // by default this is set to "master"
-        draft false // by default this is false
-        releaseAssets files
-        // this points to which files you want to upload as assets with your release
-        dryRun rootProject.githubReleaseDryRun as boolean
-        // by default false; you can use this to see what actions would be taken without making a release
-    }
-}
-
diff --git a/gradle/release.gradle b/gradle/release.gradle
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e51348c42
--- /dev/null
+++ b/gradle/release.gradle
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+apply plugin: 'org.jreleaser'
+
+// cannot reference project. properties inside jreleaser config block
+// as that collides with the "project" DSL element of the config extension
+ext.releaseIsDryrun = (project.rootProject.findProperty('dryrun') ?: false).toBoolean()
+ext.projectWebsite = project.website
+
+jreleaser {
+    dryrun = releaseIsDryrun
+    gitRootSearch = true
+
+    project {
+        website = projectWebsite
+        authors = ['Jonathan Bullock']
+        license = 'MIT'
+        extraProperties.put('inceptionYear', '2012')
+    }
+
+    release {
+        github {
+            overwrite = true
+            branch = 'master'
+            changelog {
+                formatted = 'always'
+                format = '- {{commitShortHash}} {{commitTitle}}'
+                contributors {
+                    format = '- {{contributorName}}{{#contributorUsernameAsLink}} ({{.}}){{/contributorUsernameAsLink}}'
+                }
+                hide {
+                    contributors = ['GitHub']
+                }
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    signing {
+        active = 'always'
+        armored = true
+    }
+
+    checksum {
+        individual = true
+    }
+
+    distributions {
+        jbake {
+            sdkman {
+                active = 'release'
+            }
+            artifact {
+                path = 'build/distributions/{{distributionName}}-{{projectVersion}}-bin.zip'
+            }
+            artifact {
+                path = 'build/distributions/{{distributionName}}-{{projectVersion}}.tar'
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/gradle/sdkman.gradle b/gradle/sdkman.gradle
deleted file mode 100644
index 3e907362c..000000000
--- a/gradle/sdkman.gradle
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,32 +0,0 @@
-ext.sdkman_consumer_key = project.hasProperty('sdkman_consumer_key')?sdkman_consumer_key:''
-ext.sdkman_consumer_token = project.hasProperty('sdkman_consumer_token')?sdkman_consumer_token:''
-
-sdkman {
-    consumerKey = project.sdkman_consumer_key
-    consumerToken = project.sdkman_consumer_token
-    candidate = "jbake"
-    version = rootProject.version
-    hashtag = "#JBake"
-    url = "https://github.com/jbake-org/jbake/releases/download/v${project.version}/${distZip.archiveFileName.get()}"
-}
-
-task distributionAvailable() {
-    group = "Verification"
-    description = "Check if distribution is available on bintray"
-
-    doLast {
-        String errorMsg = "Distribution is not available at $sdkman.url"
-
-        HttpURLConnection connection = sdkman.url.toURL().openConnection()
-        connection.setRequestMethod("HEAD")
-        connection.connect()
-
-        if ( connection.responseCode != 200 ){
-            throw new GradleException(errorMsg)
-        }
-    }
-}
-
-tasks.findAll{ it.name ==~ /sdk.*(Release|Version)/ }.each {
-    it.dependsOn distributionAvailable
-}
diff --git a/gradle/signing.gradle b/gradle/signing.gradle
deleted file mode 100644
index 72cc887bb..000000000
--- a/gradle/signing.gradle
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,20 +0,0 @@
-if ( !project.hasProperty('skipSigning') ) {
-    apply plugin: 'signing'
-
-    if (!signing.signatory) {
-        logger.warn "No Signatory configured for project $project.name. Skip signing! See https://docs.gradle.org/current/userguide/signing_plugin.html"
-        ext.skipSigning = true
-    }
-    else {
-        if ( project.name != "jbake-dist" ) {
-            signing {
-                sign publishing.publications.mavenJava
-            }
-        }
-        else {
-            signing {
-                sign configurations.archives
-            }
-        }
-    }
-}
diff --git a/jbake-core/build.gradle b/jbake-core/build.gradle
index 476112c38..a64a6f07c 100644
--- a/jbake-core/build.gradle
+++ b/jbake-core/build.gradle
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@ plugins {
 }
 
 apply from: "$rootDir/gradle/maven-publishing.gradle"
-apply from: "$rootDir/gradle/signing.gradle"
 
 description = "The core library of JBake"
 
diff --git a/jbake-dist/build.gradle b/jbake-dist/build.gradle
index bbf846f0d..110718421 100644
--- a/jbake-dist/build.gradle
+++ b/jbake-dist/build.gradle
@@ -1,15 +1,10 @@
 plugins {
-    id "io.sdkman.vendors"  version "$sdkmanVersion"
-    id "com.github.breadmoirai.github-release" version "$githubReleaseVersion"
     id "org.jbake.convention.java-common"
     id 'application'
 }
 
 apply from: "$rootDir/gradle/application.gradle"
-apply from: "$rootDir/gradle/sdkman.gradle"
-apply from: "$rootDir/gradle/signing.gradle"
-apply from: "$rootDir/gradle/github-releases.gradle"
-
+apply from: "$rootDir/gradle/release.gradle"
 description = "The binary distribution package that bundles JBake cli"
 
 sourceSets {
@@ -58,17 +53,6 @@ smokeTest {
     }
 }
 
-task buildChecksum(dependsOn: distZip, group: "distribution") {
-    description "creates a sha256 checksum file for the distribution"
-    doLast {
-        distZip.outputs.files.files.each {
-            ant.checksum(file: it, fileext: ".sha256", algorithm: "SHA-256", pattern: "{0} {1}")
-        }
-    }
-}
-
 check.dependsOn smokeTest
 
-distZip.finalizedBy buildChecksum
-
 jar.enabled=false
diff --git a/jbake-maven-plugin/build.gradle b/jbake-maven-plugin/build.gradle
index eb119626c..fabf47e20 100644
--- a/jbake-maven-plugin/build.gradle
+++ b/jbake-maven-plugin/build.gradle
@@ -1,12 +1,15 @@
 plugins {
-    id 'de.benediktritter.maven-plugin-development' version '0.3.1'
+    id 'de.benediktritter.maven-plugin-development' version "$mavenPluginDevVersion"
     id "org.jbake.convention.java-common"
 }
 
 group = "org.jbake"
 
+mavenPlugin {
+    helpMojoPackage = 'org.jbake.maven'
+}
+
 apply from: "$rootDir/gradle/maven-publishing.gradle"
-apply from: "$rootDir/gradle/signing.gradle"
 
 publishing {
     publications {