diff --git a/archivebox/config.py b/archivebox/config.py
index 1716036f..9389dbb4 100644
--- a/archivebox/config.py
+++ b/archivebox/config.py
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@ import inspect
 import getpass
 import platform
 import shutil
+import requests
 import django
 from sqlite3 import dbapi2 as sqlite3
 
@@ -376,7 +377,7 @@ ALLOWED_IN_OUTPUT_DIR = {
     'static_index.json',
 }
 
-def get_version(config):
+def get_version(config) -> str:
     try:
         return importlib.metadata.version(__package__ or 'archivebox')
     except importlib.metadata.PackageNotFoundError:
@@ -415,6 +416,55 @@ def get_build_time(config) -> str:
     src_last_modified_unix_timestamp = (config['PACKAGE_DIR'] / 'config.py').stat().st_mtime
     return datetime.fromtimestamp(src_last_modified_unix_timestamp).strftime('%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S %s')
 
+def get_versions_available_on_github(config):
+    """
+    returns a dictionary containing the ArchiveBox GitHub release info for
+    the recommended upgrade version and the currently installed version
+    """
+    
+    # we only want to perform the (relatively expensive) check for new versions
+    # when its most relevant, e.g. when the user runs a long-running command
+    subcommand_run_by_user = sys.argv[3]
+    long_running_commands = ('add', 'schedule', 'update', 'status', 'server')
+    if subcommand_run_by_user not in long_running_commands:
+        return None
+    
+    github_releases_api = "https://api.github.com/repos/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/releases"
+    response = requests.get(github_releases_api)
+    if response.status_code != 200:
+        stderr(f'[!] Warning: GitHub API call to check for new ArchiveBox version failed! (status={response.status_code})', color='lightyellow', config=config)
+        return None
+    all_releases = response.json()
+
+    installed_version = parse_version_string(config['VERSION'])
+
+    # find current version or nearest older version (to link to)
+    current_version = None
+    for idx, release in enumerate(all_releases):
+        release_version = parse_version_string(release["tag_name"])
+        if release_version <= installed_version:
+            current_version = release
+            break
+
+    current_version = current_version or releases[-1]
+    
+    # recommended version is whatever comes after current_version in the release list
+    # (perhaps too conservative to only recommend upgrading one version at a time, but it's safest)
+    try:
+        recommended_version = all_releases[idx+1]
+    except IndexError:
+        recommended_version = None
+
+    return {"recommended_version": recommended_version, "current_version": current_version}
+
+def can_upgrade(config):
+    if config['VERSIONS_AVAILABLE'] and config['VERSIONS_AVAILABLE']['recommended_version']:
+        recommended_version = parse_version_string(config['VERSIONS_AVAILABLE']['recommended_version']['tag_name'])
+        current_version = parse_version_string(config['VERSIONS_AVAILABLE']['current_version']['tag_name'])
+        return recommended_version > current_version
+    return False
+
+
 ############################## Derived Config ##################################
 
 
@@ -441,10 +491,14 @@ DYNAMIC_CONFIG_SCHEMA: ConfigDefaultDict = {
     'DIR_OUTPUT_PERMISSIONS':   {'default': lambda c: c['OUTPUT_PERMISSIONS'].replace('6', '7').replace('4', '5')},
 
     'ARCHIVEBOX_BINARY':        {'default': lambda c: sys.argv[0] or bin_path('archivebox')},
+
     'VERSION':                  {'default': lambda c: get_version(c).split('+', 1)[0]},
     'COMMIT_HASH':              {'default': lambda c: get_commit_hash(c)},
     'BUILD_TIME':               {'default': lambda c: get_build_time(c)},
     
+    'VERSIONS_AVAILABLE':       {'default': lambda c: get_versions_available_on_github(c)},
+    'CAN_UPGRADE':              {'default': lambda c: can_upgrade(c)},
+
     'PYTHON_BINARY':            {'default': lambda c: sys.executable},
     'PYTHON_ENCODING':          {'default': lambda c: sys.stdout.encoding.upper()},
     'PYTHON_VERSION':           {'default': lambda c: '{}.{}.{}'.format(*sys.version_info[:3])},
@@ -454,7 +508,7 @@ DYNAMIC_CONFIG_SCHEMA: ConfigDefaultDict = {
     
     'SQLITE_BINARY':            {'default': lambda c: inspect.getfile(sqlite3)},
     'SQLITE_VERSION':           {'default': lambda c: sqlite3.version},
-    #'SQLITE_JOURNAL_MODE':      {'default': lambda c: 'wal'},         # set at runtime below, interesting but unused for now
+    #'SQLITE_JOURNAL_MODE':      {'default': lambda c: 'wal'},         # set at runtime below, interesting if changed later but unused for now because its always expected to be wal
     #'SQLITE_OPTIONS':           {'default': lambda c: ['JSON1']},     # set at runtime below
 
     'USE_CURL':                 {'default': lambda c: c['USE_CURL'] and (c['SAVE_FAVICON'] or c['SAVE_TITLE'] or c['SAVE_ARCHIVE_DOT_ORG'])},
@@ -711,9 +765,11 @@ def load_config(defaults: ConfigDefaultDict,
 
     return extended_config
 
-# def write_config(config: ConfigDict):
 
-#     with open(os.path.join(config['OUTPUT_DIR'], CONFIG_FILENAME), 'w+') as f:
+def parse_version_string(version: str) -> Tuple[int, int int]:
+    """parses a version tag string formatted like 'vx.x.x' into (major, minor, patch) ints"""
+    base = v.split('+')[0].split('v')[-1] # remove 'v' prefix and '+editable' suffix
+    return tuple(int(part) for part in base.split('.'))[:3]
 
 
 # Logging Helpers
diff --git a/archivebox/core/urls.py b/archivebox/core/urls.py
index 87261ae2..1f3732d5 100644
--- a/archivebox/core/urls.py
+++ b/archivebox/core/urls.py
@@ -8,9 +8,12 @@ from django.views.generic.base import RedirectView
 
 from core.views import HomepageView, SnapshotView, PublicIndexView, AddView, HealthCheckView
 
+from config import VERSION, VERSIONS_AVAILABLE, CAN_UPGRADE
 
 # print('DEBUG', settings.DEBUG)
 
+GLOBAL_CONTEXT = {'VERSION': VERSION, 'VERSIONS_AVAILABLE': VERSIONS_AVAILABLE, 'CAN_UPGRADE': CAN_UPGRADE}
+
 urlpatterns = [
     path('public/', PublicIndexView.as_view(), name='public-index'),
 
@@ -30,7 +33,7 @@ urlpatterns = [
 
 
     path('accounts/', include('django.contrib.auth.urls')),
-    path('admin/', admin.site.urls),
+    path('admin/', admin.site.urls, {'extra_context': GLOBAL_CONTEXT}),
 
     path('health/', HealthCheckView.as_view(), name='healthcheck'),
     path('error/', lambda _: 1/0),
diff --git a/archivebox/main.py b/archivebox/main.py
index e806ee4d..d80203b2 100755
--- a/archivebox/main.py
+++ b/archivebox/main.py
@@ -99,6 +99,8 @@ from .config import (
     check_data_folder,
     write_config_file,
     VERSION,
+    VERSIONS_AVAILABLE,
+    CAN_UPGRADE,
     COMMIT_HASH,
     BUILD_TIME,
     CODE_LOCATIONS,
@@ -692,6 +694,8 @@ def add(urls: Union[str, List[str]],
             snapshot.save()
         # print(f'    √ Tagged {len(imported_links)} Snapshots with {len(tags)} tags {tags_str}')
 
+    if CAN_UPGRADE:
+        hint(f"There's a new version of ArchiveBox available! Your current version is {VERSION}. You can upgrade to {VERSIONS_AVAILABLE['recommended_version']['tag_name']} ({VERSIONS_AVAILABLE['recommended_version']['html_url']}). For more on how to upgrade: https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/wiki/Upgrading-or-Merging-Archives\n")
 
     return all_links
 
@@ -1281,6 +1285,9 @@ def schedule(add: bool=False,
                 print('\n{green}[√] Stopped.{reset}'.format(**ANSI))
                 raise SystemExit(1)
 
+    if CAN_UPGRADE:
+        hint(f"There's a new version of ArchiveBox available! Your current version is {VERSION}. You can upgrade to {VERSIONS_AVAILABLE['recommended_version']['tag_name']} ({VERSIONS_AVAILABLE['recommended_version']['html_url']}). For more on how to upgrade: https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/wiki/Upgrading-or-Merging-Archives\n")
+
     
 @enforce_types
 def server(runserver_args: Optional[List[str]]=None,
diff --git a/archivebox/templates/admin/base.html b/archivebox/templates/admin/base.html
index 0592fa0a..c905884c 100644
--- a/archivebox/templates/admin/base.html
+++ b/archivebox/templates/admin/base.html
@@ -12,7 +12,26 @@
         {% endblock %}
         
         <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="{% block stylesheet %}{% static "admin/css/base.css" %}{% endblock %}">
-        {% block extrastyle %}{% endblock %}
+        {% block extrastyle %}
+        <style>
+            #upgrade-banner {
+                position: fixed;
+                right: 20px;
+                bottom: 20px;
+                background-color: #f8f8f8;
+                color: #333333;
+                border: 2px solid #772948;
+                padding: 10px 20px;
+                z-index: 1000;
+                text-align: center;
+            }
+            #dismiss-btn {
+                background: #aa1e55;
+                color: white;
+                cursor: pointer;
+            }
+        </style>
+        {% endblock %}
         
         {% if LANGUAGE_BIDI %}
             <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="{% block stylesheet_rtl %}{% static "admin/css/rtl.css" %}{% endblock %}">
@@ -123,6 +142,41 @@
         </div>
 
         <script>
+            {% if user.is_authenticated and user.is_superuser and CAN_UPGRADE %}
+            if (!localStorage.getItem("bannerDismissed")) {
+                const upgradeVersionTag = "{{VERSIONS_AVAILABLE.recommended_version.tag_name}}"
+                const upgradeVersionURL = "{{VERSIONS_AVAILABLE.recommended_version.html_url}}"
+                const currentVersionTag = "{{VERSION}}"
+                const currentVersionURL = "{{VERSIONS_AVAILABLE.recommended_version.html_url}}"
+
+                createBanner(currentVersionTag, currentVersionURL, upgradeVersionTag, upgradeVersionURL)
+            }
+
+            function createBanner(currentVersionTag, currentVersionURL, upgradeVersionTag, upgradeVersionURL) {
+                const banner = document.createElement('div')
+                banner.setAttribute('id', 'upgrade-banner');
+                banner.innerHTML = `
+                    <p>There's a new version of ArchiveBox available!</p>
+                    Your version: <a href=${currentVersionURL}>${currentVersionTag}</a> | New version: <a href=${upgradeVersionURL}>${upgradeVersionTag}</a>
+                    <p>
+                    <a href=https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/wiki/Upgrading-or-Merging-Archives>Upgrade Instructions</a> | <a href=https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/releases>Changelog</a> | <a href=https://github.com/ArchiveBox/ArchiveBox/wiki/Roadmap>Roadmap</a> 
+                    </p>
+                    <button id="dismiss-btn">Dismiss</button>
+                `
+                document.body.appendChild(banner);
+                const dismissButton = document.querySelector("#dismiss-btn")
+                if (dismissButton) {
+                    dismissButton.addEventListener("click", dismissBanner)
+                }
+            }
+
+            function dismissBanner() {
+                const banner = document.getElementById("upgrade-banner")
+                banner.style.display = "none"
+                localStorage.setItem("bannerDismissed", "true")
+            }
+            {% endif %}
+
             $ = django.jQuery;
             $.fn.reverse = [].reverse;