diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index d00b6752c1..c3dcd519e2 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -15,75 +15,206 @@ Increment the:
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
-* [EXPORTER] Remove explicit timestamps from metric points exported by Prometheus
-  [#3895](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3895)
+## [1.26.0] 2026-03-19
 
-* [BUILD] Fix benchmark genrule capturing stderr into JSON output
-  [#3925](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3925)
+* [RELEASE] Bump main branch to 1.26.0-dev
+  [#3853](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3853)
+
+* [BUILD] Configure ryml to use exceptions
+  [#3852](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3852)
 
-* [TEST] Add multi-threaded metrics benchmarks for shared vs per-thread counter
-  [#3865](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3865)
+* Bump step-security/harden-runner from 2.14.1 to 2.14.2
+  [#3854](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3854)
+
+* [CONFIGURATION] File configuration - handle invalid YAML
+  [#3858](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3858)
+
+* Bump docker/build-push-action from 6.18.0 to 6.19.1
+  [#3860](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3860)
 
 * [BUILD] Avoid break caused by max() macro on windows
   [#3863](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3863)
 
+* Bump docker/build-push-action from 6.19.1 to 6.19.2
+  [#3864](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3864)
+
+* Bump github/codeql-action from 4.32.2 to 4.32.3
+  [#3868](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3868)
+
+* Bump actions/stale from 10.1.1 to 10.2.0
+  [#3871](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3871)
+
+* [CI] Fix publish-to-bcr workflow
+  [#3869](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3869)
+
+* [CONFIGURATION] Provide bazel updates with dependabot
+  [#3870](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3870)
+
+* Bump prometheus-cpp from 1.3.0 to 1.3.0.bcr.2
+  [#3873](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3873)
+
+* Bump bazel_skylib from 1.7.1 to 1.9.0
+  [#3874](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3874)
+
+* Bump rules_cc from 0.2.9 to 0.2.17
+  [#3875](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3875)
+
+* Bump zlib from 1.3.1.bcr.5 to 1.3.2
+  [#3880](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3880)
+
+* Bump curl from 8.8.0 to 8.11.0.bcr.4
+  [#3879](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3879)
+
+* [CI] Add Doxygen validation workflow
+  [#3882](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3882)
+
 * [SEMANTIC CONVENTIONS] Upgrade to semantic conventions 1.40.0
   [#3881](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3881)
 
+* Bump github/codeql-action from 4.32.3 to 4.32.4
+  [#3884](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3884)
+
+* [API] Environment Variables as Context Propagation Carriers
+  [#3834](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3834)
+
+* [SDK] Trace StartSpan - do not call GetCurrentSpan() unless needed
+  [#3888](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3888)
+
+* Bump step-security/harden-runner from 2.14.2 to 2.15.0
+  [#3889](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3889)
+
+* Bump google_benchmark from 1.8.4 to 1.9.5
+  [#3885](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3885)
+
+* Bump actions/download-artifact from 7.0.0 to 8.0.0
+  [#3892](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3892)
+
 * [BUILD] Revisit EventLogger deprecation
   [#3855](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3855)
 
+* Bump platforms from 0.0.11 to 1.0.0
+  [#3893](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3893)
+
+* Bump benchmark-action/github-action-benchmark from 1.20.7 to 1.21.0
+  [#3896](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3896)
+
+* Bump github/codeql-action from 4.32.4 to 4.32.5
+  [#3897](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3897)
+
+* [TEST] Add multi-threaded metrics benchmarks: shared vs per-thread counter
+  [#3898](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3898)
+
+* [BUILD] Upgrade bazel dependencies
+  [#3891](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3891)
+
 * [CODE HEALTH] Fix clang-tidy warnings, part 2
   [#3872](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3872)
 
 * [CONFIGURATION] File configuration - spec stability
   [#3862](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3862)
 
+* [CI] replace cfssl with openssl for certificate generation
+  [#3902](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3902)
+
+* Bump abseil-cpp from 20240116.1 to 20260107.1
+  [#3877](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3877)
+
+* Bump googletest from 1.14.0.bcr.1 to 1.17.0.bcr.2
+  [#3876](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3876)
+
+* Bump curl from 8.11.0.bcr.4 to 8.12.0
+  [#3904](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3904)
+
 * [BUILD] Upgrade to rapidyaml 0.10.0
   [#3906](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3906)
 
+* Bump github/codeql-action from 4.32.5 to 4.32.6
+  [#3910](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3910)
+
+* Bump nlohmann_json from 3.12.0 to 3.12.0.bcr.1
+  [#3912](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3912)
+
+* Bump docker/setup-qemu-action from 3.7.0 to 4.0.0
+  [#3903](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3903)
+
+* Bump docker/setup-buildx-action from 3.12.0 to 4.0.0
+  [#3907](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3907)
+
 * [EXAMPLES] Deprecated semantic conventions used
   [#3905](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3905)
 
+* Bump docker/build-push-action from 6.19.2 to 7.0.0
+  [#3909](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3909)
+
+* [CODE HEALTH] Fix clang-tidy warnings: cppcoreguidelines-init-variables
+  [#3919](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3919)
+
+* Bump step-security/harden-runner from 2.15.0 to 2.15.1
+  [#3908](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3908)
+
 * [CODE HEALTH] Fix clang-tidy misc-use-internal-linkage warnings
-  [#3600](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3600)
+  [#3918](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3918)
 
 * [CODE HEALTH] Fix clang-tidy macro to enum warnings
   [#3922](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3922)
 
+* [BUILD] Fix benchmark genrule capturing stderr into JSON output
+  [#3925](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3925)
+
 * [CODE HEALTH] Fix clang-tidy performance enum size warnings
   [#3923](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3923)
 
-* [EXPORTER] Allow custom HttpClient in OTLP HTTP
-  [#3930](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3930)
-
-* [CODE HEALTH] Fix clang-tidy unnecessary value param warnings
-  [#3931](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3931)
-
-* [CODE HEALTH] Fix clang-tidy cppcoreguidelines-init-variables warnings
-  [#3919](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3919)
+* Bump actions/download-artifact from 8.0.0 to 8.0.1
+  [#3928](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3928)
 
 * [CODE HEALTH] Fix clang-tidy warnings in nostd files
   [#3924](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3924)
 
+* [EXPORTER] Allow custom HttpClient in OTLP HTTP
+  [#3930](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3930)
+
 * [CODE HEALTH] Fix clang-tidy performance-for-range-copy warnings
   [#3932](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3932)
 
+* [CODE HEALTH] Fix clang-tidy performance-unnecessary-value-param warnings
+  [#3931](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3931)
+
 * [CODE HEALTH] Fix clang-tidy bugprone warnings
   [#3933](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3933)
 
-* [CODE HEALTH] Fix clang-tidy special-member-functions warnings in trace
+* [CODE HEALTH] Fix clang-tidy special-member-functions warnings in trace API
   [#3934](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3934)
 
-* [TEST] CMake component install test for resource_detectors
+* Bump github/codeql-action from 4.32.6 to 4.33.0
+  [#3936](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3936)
+
+* Bump step-security/harden-runner from 2.15.1 to 2.16.0
+  [#3937](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3937)
+
+* [TEST] CMake component install test for `resource_detectors`
   [#3940](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3940)
 
 * [CODE HEALTH] Fix clang-tidy performance warnings
   [#3941](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3941)
 
+* [EXPORTERS] Remove prometheus timestamps
+  [#3895](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3895)
+
 * [SDK] Swap Tracer/Meter/LoggerConfig disabled for enabled
   [#3942](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3942)
 
+* [CMAKE] Update third party dependencies for cmake builds
+  [#3943](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3943)
+
+* Bump codecov/codecov-action from 5.5.2 to 5.5.3
+  [#3945](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3945)
+
+* Bump actions/cache from 5.0.3 to 5.0.4
+  [#3946](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3946)
+
+* [CONFIGURATION] File configuration - Tracer/Meter/Logger config
+  [#3920](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3920)
+
 Important changes:
 
 * [SDK] Swap Tracer/Meter/LoggerConfig disabled for enabled
@@ -108,7 +239,7 @@ Important changes:
   * As a result, environment variable `OTEL_EXPERIMENTAL_CONFIG_FILE`
     is now renamed to `OTEL_CONFIG_FILE`.
 
-## [1.25 2026-02-07]
+## [1.25.0] 2026-02-07
 
 * [RELEASE] Bump main branch to 1.25.0-dev (#3759)
   [#3759](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3759)
@@ -325,7 +456,7 @@ Breaking changes:
   * As a result, member `collect_thread_instrumentation` in class
     `PeriodicExportingMetricReaderRuntimeOptions` is removed.
 
-## [1.24 2025-11-20]
+## [1.24.0] 2025-11-20
 
 * [RELEASE] Bump main branch to 1.24-dev
   [#3662](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3662)
@@ -517,7 +648,7 @@ New Features:
     file, instead of using environment variables.
   * See [opentelemetry-configuration](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-configuration)
 
-## [1.23 2025-09-25]
+## [1.23.0] 2025-09-25
 
 * [CodeHealth] Fix clang-tidy warnings part 6
   [#3507](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3507)
@@ -741,7 +872,7 @@ Breaking changes:
     and `ViewFactory::Create` methods.
   * Please adjust SDK configuration code accordingly.
 
-## [1.22 2025-07-11]
+## [1.22.0] 2025-07-11
 
 * [DOC] Udpate link to membership document
   [#3452](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3452)
@@ -948,7 +1079,7 @@ Important changes:
     defines `semconv::url::kUrlDomain`,
     which is not marked as stable in semconv v1.27.0
 
-## [1.21 2025-05-28]
+## [1.21.0] 2025-05-28
 
 * [BUILD] Remove WITH_ABSEIL
   [#3318](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3318)
@@ -1159,7 +1290,7 @@ Important changes:
     that occurred in the past when mixing several versions of abseil
     in the build.
 
-## [1.20 2025-04-01]
+## [1.20.0] 2025-04-01
 
 * [BUILD] Update opentelemetry-proto version
   [#3254](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3254)
@@ -1303,7 +1434,7 @@ Important changes:
 
   * All the example code has been updated to reflect the new usage.
 
-## [1.19 2025-01-22]
+## [1.19.0] 2025-01-22
 
 * [PROMETHEUS_EXPORTER] Fix default for emitting otel_scope attributes
   [#3171](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3171)
@@ -1497,7 +1628,7 @@ New features:
     protected by a WITH_OTLP_RETRY_PREVIEW
     flag in CMake.
 
-## [1.18 2024-11-25]
+## [1.18.0] 2024-11-25
 
 * [EXPORTER] Fix crash in ElasticsearchLogRecordExporter
   [#3082](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3082)
@@ -1659,7 +1790,7 @@ Deprecations:
 
 * This release contains deprecations, see file DEPRECATED.md for details.
 
-## [1.17 2024-10-07]
+## [1.17.0] 2024-10-07
 
 * [CI] Add a clang-tidy build
   [#3001](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/3001)
@@ -1792,7 +1923,7 @@ Breaking changes:
       longer perform static_cast do convert an API object to an SDK object.
       Please refer to examples for guidance on how to adjust.
 
-## [1.16.1 2024-07-17]
+## [1.16.1] 2024-07-17
 
 * [BUILD] Add bazel missing BUILD file
   [#2720](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp/pull/2720)
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 48046d1b38..645df986d2 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ if(CMAKE_VERSION VERSION_GREATER_EQUAL "3.20.0")
 endif()
 
 set(OPENTELEMETRY_VERSION_NUMBER "1.26.0")
-set(OPENTELEMETRY_VERSION_SUFFIX "-dev")
+set(OPENTELEMETRY_VERSION_SUFFIX "")
 set(OPENTELEMETRY_VERSION
     "${OPENTELEMETRY_VERSION_NUMBER}${OPENTELEMETRY_VERSION_SUFFIX}")
 
diff --git a/MODULE.bazel b/MODULE.bazel
index ad870206f0..dbd99b21b3 100644
--- a/MODULE.bazel
+++ b/MODULE.bazel
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 
 module(
     name = "opentelemetry-cpp",
-    version = "1.26.0-dev",
+    version = "1.26.0",
     compatibility_level = 0,
     repo_name = "io_opentelemetry_cpp",
 )
diff --git a/api/include/opentelemetry/version.h b/api/include/opentelemetry/version.h
index 33decc4d01..a40134b6bd 100644
--- a/api/include/opentelemetry/version.h
+++ b/api/include/opentelemetry/version.h
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 #endif
 
 // NOLINTBEGIN(cppcoreguidelines-macro-to-enum)
-#define OPENTELEMETRY_VERSION "1.26.0-dev"
+#define OPENTELEMETRY_VERSION "1.26.0"
 #define OPENTELEMETRY_VERSION_MAJOR 1
 #define OPENTELEMETRY_VERSION_MINOR 26
 #define OPENTELEMETRY_VERSION_PATCH 0
diff --git a/sdk/include/opentelemetry/sdk/version/version.h b/sdk/include/opentelemetry/sdk/version/version.h
index df9c4d5ff3..eceed4b00e 100644
--- a/sdk/include/opentelemetry/sdk/version/version.h
+++ b/sdk/include/opentelemetry/sdk/version/version.h
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 
 #pragma once
 
-#define OPENTELEMETRY_SDK_VERSION "1.26.0-dev"
+#define OPENTELEMETRY_SDK_VERSION "1.26.0"
 
 #include "opentelemetry/version.h"
 
diff --git a/sdk/src/version/version.cc b/sdk/src/version/version.cc
index d660002482..3f0727242b 100644
--- a/sdk/src/version/version.cc
+++ b/sdk/src/version/version.cc
@@ -14,11 +14,11 @@ namespace version
 const int major_version    = 1;
 const int minor_version    = 26;
 const int patch_version    = 0;
-const char *pre_release    = "dev";
+const char *pre_release    = "";
 const char *build_metadata = "none";
 const char *short_version  = "1.26.0";
-const char *full_version   = "1.26.0-dev";
-const char *build_date     = "MAIN BRANCH";
+const char *full_version   = "1.26.0";
+const char *build_date     = "2026-03-19";
 }  // namespace version
 }  // namespace sdk
 OPENTELEMETRY_END_NAMESPACE
diff --git a/tbump.toml b/tbump.toml
index 9bd83f8192..6a64f97987 100644
--- a/tbump.toml
+++ b/tbump.toml
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
 github_url = "https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-cpp"
 
 [version]
-current = "1.26.0-dev"
+current = "1.26.0"
 
 # Example of a semver regexp.
 # Make sure this matches current_version before