diff --git a/.github/release-please/manifest.json b/.github/release-please/manifest.json
index 8d590b79e9..037142997a 100644
--- a/.github/release-please/manifest.json
+++ b/.github/release-please/manifest.json
@@ -1 +1 @@
-{ ".": "11.7.4" }
+{".":"12.0.0"}
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 09e0320e73..b65c638aea 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,25 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## [12.0.0](https://github.com/mochajs/mocha/compare/v11.7.4...v12.0.0) (2025-10-27)
+
+
+### ⚠ BREAKING CHANGES
+
+* bump minimum Node.js version from 18.18.0 to 20.19.0 ([#5477](https://github.com/mochajs/mocha/issues/5477))
+
+### 🌟 Features
+
+* bump minimum Node.js version from 18.18.0 to 20.19.0 ([#5477](https://github.com/mochajs/mocha/issues/5477)) ([1c34eef](https://github.com/mochajs/mocha/commit/1c34eef426f29e5e46ec348272ccaa869ae43922))
+
+
+### 🧹 Chores
+
+* applied formatting to all files ([#5493](https://github.com/mochajs/mocha/issues/5493)) ([76d7194](https://github.com/mochajs/mocha/commit/76d719495d09dc4afb37d1179ede8911c52a011e))
+* fix broken link in .github/CONTRIBUTING.md ([681e843](https://github.com/mochajs/mocha/commit/681e843800051a9d3ab66c1bfb7ad71428e34315))
+* remove Node.js 18 from test-smoke in CI too ([d643105](https://github.com/mochajs/mocha/commit/d643105aa6f3fbac9d13e8a44f4c4c7302512193))
+* switch from Coveralls to Codecov ([#5447](https://github.com/mochajs/mocha/issues/5447)) ([f4e7e54](https://github.com/mochajs/mocha/commit/f4e7e54eb285765d7c50bce9c501db2e1b1e22be))
+* use `ps-list` instead of `pidtree` to remove wmic ([#5479](https://github.com/mochajs/mocha/issues/5479)) ([b2985b3](https://github.com/mochajs/mocha/commit/b2985b3428b4b88ca220a14a26e9eb7139e8d445))
+
 ## [11.7.4](https://github.com/mochajs/mocha/compare/v11.7.3...v11.7.4) (2025-10-01)
 
 
diff --git a/package-lock.json b/package-lock.json
index 69f2e75a6c..ec2debc604 100644
--- a/package-lock.json
+++ b/package-lock.json
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 {
   "name": "mocha",
-  "version": "11.7.4",
+  "version": "12.0.0",
   "lockfileVersion": 2,
   "requires": true,
   "packages": {
     "": {
       "name": "mocha",
-      "version": "11.7.4",
+      "version": "12.0.0",
       "license": "MIT",
       "dependencies": {
         "browser-stdout": "^1.3.1",
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 2ca471c06f..9787c91d3b 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "mocha",
-  "version": "11.7.4",
+  "version": "12.0.0",
   "type": "commonjs",
   "description": "simple, flexible, fun test framework",
   "keywords": [