diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index c28a4337..dd9d072a 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 
 ## [Unreleased]
 
+## [26.3.0] - 2026-03-16
+
 ## [26.3.0-rc1] - 2026-03-16
 
 ### Added
diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 991f0399..da28fcec 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -2863,7 +2863,7 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "stackable-kafka-operator"
-version = "26.3.0-rc1"
+version = "26.3.0"
 dependencies = [
  "anyhow",
  "built",
diff --git a/Cargo.nix b/Cargo.nix
index 6c547151..2a36132c 100644
--- a/Cargo.nix
+++ b/Cargo.nix
@@ -9495,7 +9495,7 @@ rec {
       };
       "stackable-kafka-operator" = rec {
         crateName = "stackable-kafka-operator";
-        version = "26.3.0-rc1";
+        version = "26.3.0";
         edition = "2021";
         crateBin = [
           {
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 77a5fe6a..6bc26ca7 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ members = ["rust/operator-binary"]
 resolver = "2"
 
 [workspace.package]
-version = "26.3.0-rc1"
+version = "26.3.0"
 authors = ["Stackable GmbH <info@stackable.tech>"]
 license = "OSL-3.0"
 edition = "2021"
diff --git a/deploy/helm/kafka-operator/Chart.yaml b/deploy/helm/kafka-operator/Chart.yaml
index b36ac82b..a8fa1236 100644
--- a/deploy/helm/kafka-operator/Chart.yaml
+++ b/deploy/helm/kafka-operator/Chart.yaml
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 ---
 apiVersion: v2
 name: kafka-operator
-version: "26.3.0-rc1"
-appVersion: "26.3.0-rc1"
+version: "26.3.0"
+appVersion: "26.3.0"
 description: The Stackable Operator for Apache Kafka
 home: https://github.com/stackabletech/kafka-operator
 maintainers:
diff --git a/docs/modules/kafka/examples/getting_started/getting_started.sh b/docs/modules/kafka/examples/getting_started/getting_started.sh
index 55b5ae97..765af978 100755
--- a/docs/modules/kafka/examples/getting_started/getting_started.sh
+++ b/docs/modules/kafka/examples/getting_started/getting_started.sh
@@ -29,22 +29,22 @@ case "$1" in
 "helm")
 echo "Installing Operators with Helm"
 # tag::helm-install-operators[]
-helm install --wait commons-operator oci://oci.stackable.tech/sdp-charts/commons-operator --version 26.3.0-rc1
-helm install --wait secret-operator oci://oci.stackable.tech/sdp-charts/secret-operator --version 26.3.0-rc1
-helm install --wait listener-operator oci://oci.stackable.tech/sdp-charts/listener-operator --version 26.3.0-rc1
-helm install --wait zookeeper-operator oci://oci.stackable.tech/sdp-charts/zookeeper-operator --version 26.3.0-rc1
-helm install --wait kafka-operator oci://oci.stackable.tech/sdp-charts/kafka-operator --version 26.3.0-rc1
+helm install --wait commons-operator oci://oci.stackable.tech/sdp-charts/commons-operator --version 26.3.0
+helm install --wait secret-operator oci://oci.stackable.tech/sdp-charts/secret-operator --version 26.3.0
+helm install --wait listener-operator oci://oci.stackable.tech/sdp-charts/listener-operator --version 26.3.0
+helm install --wait zookeeper-operator oci://oci.stackable.tech/sdp-charts/zookeeper-operator --version 26.3.0
+helm install --wait kafka-operator oci://oci.stackable.tech/sdp-charts/kafka-operator --version 26.3.0
 # end::helm-install-operators[]
 ;;
 "stackablectl")
 echo "installing Operators with stackablectl"
 # tag::stackablectl-install-operators[]
 stackablectl operator install \
-  commons=26.3.0-rc1 \
-  secret=26.3.0-rc1 \
-  listener=26.3.0-rc1 \
-  zookeeper=26.3.0-rc1 \
-  kafka=26.3.0-rc1
+  commons=26.3.0 \
+  secret=26.3.0 \
+  listener=26.3.0 \
+  zookeeper=26.3.0 \
+  kafka=26.3.0
 # end::stackablectl-install-operators[]
 ;;
 *)
diff --git a/docs/modules/kafka/examples/getting_started/install_output.txt b/docs/modules/kafka/examples/getting_started/install_output.txt
index 36022aa9..20e61b93 100644
--- a/docs/modules/kafka/examples/getting_started/install_output.txt
+++ b/docs/modules/kafka/examples/getting_started/install_output.txt
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-Installed commons=26.3.0-rc1 operator
-Installed secret=26.3.0-rc1 operator
-Installed listener=26.3.0-rc1 operator
-Installed zookeeper=26.3.0-rc1 operator
-Installed kafka=26.3.0-rc1 operator
+Installed commons=26.3.0 operator
+Installed secret=26.3.0 operator
+Installed listener=26.3.0 operator
+Installed zookeeper=26.3.0 operator
+Installed kafka=26.3.0 operator
diff --git a/docs/templating_vars.yaml b/docs/templating_vars.yaml
index 8cb98546..39addc00 100644
--- a/docs/templating_vars.yaml
+++ b/docs/templating_vars.yaml
@@ -3,8 +3,8 @@ helm:
   repo_name: sdp-charts
   repo_url: oci.stackable.tech
 versions:
-  commons: 26.3.0-rc1
-  secret: 26.3.0-rc1
-  listener: 26.3.0-rc1
-  zookeeper: 26.3.0-rc1
-  kafka: 26.3.0-rc1
+  commons: 26.3.0
+  secret: 26.3.0
+  listener: 26.3.0
+  zookeeper: 26.3.0
+  kafka: 26.3.0
diff --git a/tests/release.yaml b/tests/release.yaml
index df2b2d48..5de893c4 100644
--- a/tests/release.yaml
+++ b/tests/release.yaml
@@ -7,14 +7,14 @@ releases:
     description: Integration test
     products:
       commons:
-        operatorVersion: 26.3.0-rc1
+        operatorVersion: 26.3.0
       secret:
-        operatorVersion: 26.3.0-rc1
+        operatorVersion: 26.3.0
       listener:
-        operatorVersion: 26.3.0-rc1
+        operatorVersion: 26.3.0
       zookeeper:
-        operatorVersion: 26.3.0-rc1
+        operatorVersion: 26.3.0
       kafka:
-        operatorVersion: 26.3.0-rc1
+        operatorVersion: 26.3.0
       opa:
-        operatorVersion: 26.3.0-rc1
+        operatorVersion: 26.3.0
diff --git a/tests/templates/kuttl/upgrade/04-assert.yaml.j2 b/tests/templates/kuttl/upgrade/04-assert.yaml.j2
index d6baa8df..5f8042ea 100644
--- a/tests/templates/kuttl/upgrade/04-assert.yaml.j2
+++ b/tests/templates/kuttl/upgrade/04-assert.yaml.j2
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ kind: StatefulSet
 metadata:
   name: test-kafka-broker-default
   labels:
-    app.kubernetes.io/version: "{{ test_scenario['values']['upgrade_new'] }}-stackable26.3.0-rc1"
+    app.kubernetes.io/version: "{{ test_scenario['values']['upgrade_new'] }}-stackable26.3.0"
 status:
   readyReplicas: 1
   replicas: 1
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ kind: StatefulSet
 metadata:
   name: test-kafka-controller-default
   labels:
-    app.kubernetes.io/version: "{{ test_scenario['values']['upgrade_new'] }}-stackable26.3.0-rc1"
+    app.kubernetes.io/version: "{{ test_scenario['values']['upgrade_new'] }}-stackable26.3.0"
 status:
   readyReplicas: 1
   replicas: 1