diff --git a/Lib/fontTools/__init__.py b/Lib/fontTools/__init__.py
index 27a8e0ecc..9a59504e4 100644
--- a/Lib/fontTools/__init__.py
+++ b/Lib/fontTools/__init__.py
@@ -3,6 +3,6 @@ from fontTools.misc.loggingTools import configLogger
 
 log = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
-version = __version__ = "4.43.2.dev0"
+version = __version__ = "4.44.0"
 
 __all__ = ["version", "log", "configLogger"]
diff --git a/NEWS.rst b/NEWS.rst
index 8be2b670a..cddd851ff 100644
--- a/NEWS.rst
+++ b/NEWS.rst
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+4.44.0 (released 2023-11-03)
+----------------------------
+
 - [instancer] Recalc OS/2 AvgCharWidth after instancing if default changes (#3317).
 - [otlLib] Make ClassDefBuilder class order match varLib.merger's, i.e. large
   classes first, then glyph lexicographic order (#3321, #3324).
diff --git a/setup.cfg b/setup.cfg
index 6c1fa46b3..3c41de2fa 100644
--- a/setup.cfg
+++ b/setup.cfg
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 [bumpversion]
-current_version = 4.43.2.dev0
+current_version = 4.44.0
 commit = True
 tag = False
 tag_name = {new_version}
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 619bb0409..da6169035 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -467,7 +467,7 @@ if ext_modules:
 
 setup_params = dict(
     name="fonttools",
-    version="4.43.2.dev0",
+    version="4.44.0",
     description="Tools to manipulate font files",
     author="Just van Rossum",
     author_email="just@letterror.com",