diff --git a/packages/cli/src/cliEntry.js b/packages/cli/src/cliEntry.js
index c22bc0573..1798f391e 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/cliEntry.js
+++ b/packages/cli/src/cliEntry.js
@@ -19,6 +19,9 @@ import init from './commands/init/initCompat';
 import assertRequiredOptions from './tools/assertRequiredOptions';
 import {logger} from '@react-native-community/cli-tools';
 import {setProjectDir} from './tools/packageManager';
+import resolveNodeModuleDir from './tools/config/resolveNodeModuleDir';
+import getLatestRelease from './tools/releaseChecker/getLatestRelease';
+import printNewRelease from './tools/releaseChecker/printNewRelease';
 import pkgJson from '../package.json';
 import loadConfig from './tools/config';
 
@@ -107,16 +110,18 @@ const addCommand = (command: CommandT, ctx: ConfigT) => {
   const cmd = commander
     .command(command.name)
     .description(command.description)
-    .action(function handleAction(...args) {
+    .action(async function handleAction(...args) {
       const passedOptions = this.opts();
       const argv: Array<string> = Array.from(args).slice(0, -1);
 
-      Promise.resolve()
-        .then(() => {
-          assertRequiredOptions(options, passedOptions);
-          return command.func(argv, ctx, passedOptions);
-        })
-        .catch(handleError);
+      try {
+        assertRequiredOptions(options, passedOptions);
+        await command.func(argv, ctx, passedOptions);
+      } catch (error) {
+        handleError(error);
+      } finally {
+        checkForNewRelease(ctx.root);
+      }
     });
 
   cmd.helpInformation = printHelpInformation.bind(
@@ -186,6 +191,29 @@ async function setupAndRun() {
   logger.setVerbose(commander.verbose);
 }
 
+async function checkForNewRelease(root: string) {
+  try {
+    const {version: currentVersion} = require(path.join(
+      resolveNodeModuleDir(root, 'react-native'),
+      'package.json',
+    ));
+    const {name} = require(path.join(root, 'package.json'));
+    const latestRelease = await getLatestRelease(name, currentVersion);
+
+    if (latestRelease) {
+      printNewRelease(name, latestRelease, currentVersion);
+    }
+  } catch (e) {
+    // We let the flow continue as this component is not vital for the rest of
+    // the CLI.
+    logger.debug(
+      'Cannot detect current version of React Native, ' +
+        'skipping check for a newer release',
+    );
+    logger.debug(e);
+  }
+}
+
 export default {
   run,
   init,
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/tools/releaseChecker/getLatestRelease.js b/packages/cli/src/tools/releaseChecker/getLatestRelease.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..debf37f0e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/cli/src/tools/releaseChecker/getLatestRelease.js
@@ -0,0 +1,140 @@
+/**
+ * @flow
+ */
+import https from 'https';
+import semver from 'semver';
+import logger from '../logger';
+import cacheManager from './releaseCacheManager';
+
+export type Release = {
+  version: string,
+  changelogUrl: string,
+};
+
+/**
+ * Checks via GitHub API if there is a newer stable React Native release and,
+ * if it exists, returns the release data.
+ *
+ * If the latest release is not newer or if it's a prerelease, the function
+ * will return undefined.
+ */
+export default async function getLatestRelease(
+  name: string,
+  currentVersion: string,
+) {
+  logger.debug('Checking for a newer version of React Native');
+  try {
+    logger.debug(`Current version: ${currentVersion}`);
+
+    const cachedLatest = cacheManager.get(name, 'latestVersion');
+
+    if (cachedLatest) {
+      logger.debug(`Cached release version: ${cachedLatest}`);
+    }
+
+    const aWeek = 7 * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000;
+    const lastChecked = cacheManager.get(name, 'lastChecked');
+    const now = new Date();
+    if (lastChecked && now - new Date(lastChecked) < aWeek) {
+      logger.debug('Cached release is still recent, skipping remote check');
+      return;
+    }
+
+    logger.debug('Checking for newer releases on GitHub');
+    const eTag = cacheManager.get(name, 'eTag');
+    const latestVersion = await getLatestRnDiffPurgeVersion(name, eTag);
+    logger.debug(`Latest release: ${latestVersion}`);
+
+    if (
+      semver.compare(latestVersion, currentVersion) === 1 &&
+      !semver.prerelease(latestVersion)
+    ) {
+      return {
+        version: latestVersion,
+        changelogUrl: buildChangelogUrl(latestVersion),
+      };
+    }
+  } catch (e) {
+    logger.debug(
+      'Something went wrong with remote version checking, moving on',
+    );
+    logger.debug(e);
+  }
+}
+
+function buildChangelogUrl(version: string) {
+  return `https://github.com/facebook/react-native/releases/tag/v${version}`;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Returns the most recent React Native version available to upgrade to.
+ */
+async function getLatestRnDiffPurgeVersion(name: string, eTag: ?string) {
+  const options = {
+    hostname: 'api.github.com',
+    path: '/repos/react-native-community/rn-diff-purge/tags',
+    // https://developer.github.com/v3/#user-agent-required
+    headers: ({'User-Agent': 'React-Native-CLI'}: Headers),
+  };
+
+  if (eTag) {
+    options.headers['If-None-Match'] = eTag;
+  }
+
+  const response = await httpsGet(options);
+
+  // Remote is newer.
+  if (response.statusCode === 200) {
+    const latestVersion = JSON.parse(response.body)[0].name.substring(8);
+
+    // Update cache only if newer release is stable.
+    if (!semver.prerelease(latestVersion)) {
+      logger.debug(`Saving ${response.eTag} to cache`);
+      cacheManager.set(name, 'eTag', response.eTag);
+      cacheManager.set(name, 'latestVersion', latestVersion);
+    }
+
+    return latestVersion;
+  }
+
+  // Cache is still valid.
+  if (response.statusCode === 304) {
+    const latestVersion = cacheManager.get(name, 'latestVersion');
+    if (latestVersion) {
+      return latestVersion;
+    }
+  }
+
+  // Should be returned only if something went wrong.
+  return '0.0.0';
+}
+
+type Headers = {
+  'User-Agent': string,
+  [header: string]: string,
+};
+
+function httpsGet(options: any) {
+  return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
+    https
+      .get(options, result => {
+        let body = '';
+
+        result.setEncoding('utf8');
+        result.on('data', data => {
+          body += data;
+        });
+
+        result.on('end', () => {
+          resolve({
+            body,
+            eTag: result.headers.etag,
+            statusCode: result.statusCode,
+          });
+        });
+
+        result.on('error', error => reject(error));
+      })
+      .on('error', error => reject(error));
+  });
+}
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/tools/releaseChecker/printNewRelease.js b/packages/cli/src/tools/releaseChecker/printNewRelease.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..cfababab7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/cli/src/tools/releaseChecker/printNewRelease.js
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+/**
+ * @flow
+ */
+import chalk from 'chalk';
+import logger from '../logger';
+import type {Release} from './getLatestRelease';
+import cacheManager from './releaseCacheManager';
+
+/**
+ * Notifies the user that a newer version of React Native is available.
+ */
+export default function printNewRelease(
+  name: string,
+  latestRelease: Release,
+  currentVersion: string,
+) {
+  logger.info(
+    `React Native v${
+      latestRelease.version
+    } is now available (your project is running on v${currentVersion}).`,
+  );
+  logger.info(`Changelog: ${chalk.dim.underline(latestRelease.changelogUrl)}.`);
+  logger.info(`To upgrade, run "${chalk.bold('react-native upgrade')}".`);
+
+  cacheManager.set(name, 'lastChecked', new Date().toISOString());
+}
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/tools/releaseChecker/releaseCacheManager.js b/packages/cli/src/tools/releaseChecker/releaseCacheManager.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..193af6c33
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/cli/src/tools/releaseChecker/releaseCacheManager.js
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+/**
+ * @flow
+ */
+import path from 'path';
+import fs from 'fs';
+import os from 'os';
+import mkdirp from 'mkdirp';
+import logger from '../logger';
+
+type ReleaseCacheKey = 'eTag' | 'lastChecked' | 'latestVersion';
+type Cache = {[key: ReleaseCacheKey]: string};
+
+function loadCache(name: string): ?Cache {
+  try {
+    const cacheRaw = fs.readFileSync(
+      path.resolve(getCacheRootPath(), name),
+      'utf8',
+    );
+    const cache = JSON.parse(cacheRaw);
+    return cache;
+  } catch (e) {
+    if (e.code === 'ENOENT') {
+      // Create cache file since it doesn't exist.
+      saveCache(name, {});
+    }
+    logger.debug('No release cache found');
+  }
+}
+
+function saveCache(name: string, cache: Cache) {
+  fs.writeFileSync(
+    path.resolve(getCacheRootPath(), name),
+    JSON.stringify(cache, null, 2),
+  );
+}
+
+/**
+ * Returns the path string of `$HOME/.react-native-cli`.
+ *
+ * In case it doesn't exist, it will be created.
+ */
+function getCacheRootPath() {
+  const cachePath = path.resolve(os.homedir(), '.react-native-cli', 'cache');
+  if (!fs.existsSync(cachePath)) {
+    mkdirp(cachePath);
+  }
+
+  return cachePath;
+}
+
+function get(name: string, key: ReleaseCacheKey): ?string {
+  const cache = loadCache(name);
+  if (cache) {
+    return cache[key];
+  }
+}
+
+function set(name: string, key: ReleaseCacheKey, value: string) {
+  const cache = loadCache(name);
+  if (cache) {
+    cache[key] = value;
+    saveCache(name, cache);
+  }
+}
+
+export default {
+  get,
+  set,
+};
diff --git a/packages/cli/src/tools/walk.js b/packages/cli/src/tools/walk.js
index 5fdc88848..fb0a81eba 100644
--- a/packages/cli/src/tools/walk.js
+++ b/packages/cli/src/tools/walk.js
@@ -4,13 +4,13 @@
  * This source code is licensed under the MIT license found in the
  * LICENSE file in the root directory of this source tree.
  *
- * @format
+ * @flow
  */
 
 import fs from 'fs';
 import path from 'path';
 
-function walk(current) {
+function walk(current: string) {
   if (!fs.lstatSync(current).isDirectory()) {
     return [current];
   }