diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 2b4a3d9d..597231f7 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -30,6 +30,12 @@ Specify an output file with `-o` or `--output`.
 auto-changelog --output HISTORY.md # Writes log to HISTORY.md
 ```
 
+Specify a theme with `-t` or `--template`.
+
+```bash
+auto-changelog --template compact # Writes log using compact template
+```
+
 #### What you might do if you’re clever
 
 - `npm install auto-changelog --save-dev`
diff --git a/src/index.js b/src/index.js
index f90fa1eb..42022975 100755
--- a/src/index.js
+++ b/src/index.js
@@ -7,17 +7,25 @@ import { version } from '../package.json'
 import { cmd } from './utils'
 import { parseCommits, LOG_FORMAT } from './commits'
 import { parseReleases } from './releases'
-import Template from './templates/Base'
+import templates from './templates'
 
 const DEFAULT_OUTPUT = 'CHANGELOG.md'
+const DEFAULT_TEMPLATE = 'default'
 const NPM_VERSION_TAG_PREFIX = 'v'
 
 commander
-  .option('-o, --output [file]', `output file (default: ${DEFAULT_OUTPUT})`, DEFAULT_OUTPUT)
+  .option('-o, --output [file]', `output file, default: ${DEFAULT_OUTPUT}`, DEFAULT_OUTPUT)
   .option('-p, --package', 'use version from package.json as latest release')
+  .option('-t, --template [template]', `specify template to use for output, templates: ${Object.keys(templates).join(', ')}`, DEFAULT_TEMPLATE)
   .version(version)
   .parse(process.argv)
 
+const Template = templates[commander.template]
+
+if (!Template) {
+  throw new Error(`Template '${commander.template}' was not found`)
+}
+
 function getCommits () {
   return cmd('git', ['log', '--shortstat', '--pretty=format:' + LOG_FORMAT]).then(parseCommits)
 }
diff --git a/src/templates.js b/src/templates.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..77bf3aab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/templates.js
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+import Default from './templates/Default'
+import Compact from './templates/Compact'
+
+export default {
+  default: Default,
+  compact: Compact
+}
diff --git a/src/templates/Compact.js b/src/templates/Compact.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4ecac638
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/templates/Compact.js
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+// Simple, slimline template based on https://github.com/rackt/react-router/blob/master/CHANGES.md
+
+import Default from './Default'
+
+export default class Compact extends Default {
+  mergesTitle = null
+  fixesTitle = null
+  commitsTitle = null
+
+  fixPrefix = 'Fixed '
+  mergePrefix = 'Merged '
+
+  listSpacing = '\n'
+
+  renderReleaseHeading = (release, previousRelease) => {
+    const title = this.renderReleaseTitle(release, previousRelease)
+    const date = release.tag ? `\n> ${formatDate(release.date)}` : ''
+    return `### ${title}${date}\n`
+  }
+}
+
+function formatDate (string) {
+  const date = new Date(string)
+  const day = date.getDate()
+  const month = date.toLocaleString('en', { month: 'long' })
+  const year = date.getFullYear()
+  return `${day} ${month} ${year}`
+}
diff --git a/src/templates/Base.js b/src/templates/Default.js
similarity index 85%
rename from src/templates/Base.js
rename to src/templates/Default.js
index a7f4df38..e00a7f2e 100644
--- a/src/templates/Base.js
+++ b/src/templates/Default.js
@@ -1,4 +1,7 @@
-export default class Base {
+// The default template attempts to follow the schema from
+// https://github.com/olivierlacan/keep-a-changelog
+
+export default class Default {
   logHeader = '# Change Log\nAll notable changes to this project will be documented in this file. This project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](http://semver.org/).\n\nGenerated by [auto-changelog](https://github.com/CookPete/auto-changelog)'
 
   unreleasedTitle = 'Unreleased'
@@ -6,9 +9,15 @@ export default class Base {
   fixesTitle = 'Fixed'
   commitsTitle = 'Commits'
 
+  fixPrefix = ''
+  mergePrefix = ''
+
   commitListLimit = 3
   commitHashLength = 7
 
+  sectionSpacing = '\n\n\n'
+  listSpacing = '\n\n'
+
   constructor (origin) {
     this.origin = origin
   }
@@ -20,8 +29,8 @@ export default class Base {
   render = (releases) => {
     return [
       this.logHeader,
-      releases.map(this.renderRelease).join('\n\n\n')
-    ].join('\n\n\n') + '\n'
+      releases.map(this.renderRelease).join(this.sectionSpacing)
+    ].join(this.sectionSpacing) + '\n'
   }
 
   renderRelease = (release, index, releases) => {
@@ -33,7 +42,7 @@ export default class Base {
     if (merges.length + fixes.length === 0) {
       log = log.concat(this.renderCommits(release.commits))
     }
-    return log.join('\n\n')
+    return log.join(this.listSpacing)
   }
 
   renderReleaseHeading = (release, previousRelease) => {
@@ -63,7 +72,7 @@ export default class Base {
 
   renderMerge = ({ pr, message }) => {
     const href = pr.replace('#', this.origin + '/pull/')
-    return `* [${pr}](${href}): ${message}`
+    return `* ${this.mergePrefix}[${pr}](${href}): ${message}`
   }
 
   renderFixes = (fixes) => {
@@ -74,7 +83,7 @@ export default class Base {
 
   renderFix = ({ fixes, commit }) => {
     const numbers = fixes.map(this.renderFixNumber).join(', ')
-    return `* ${numbers}: ${commit.subject}`
+    return `* ${this.fixPrefix}${numbers}: ${commit.subject}`
   }
 
   renderFixNumber = (string) => {
diff --git a/test/data/changelog-compact.js b/test/data/changelog-compact.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..bbc89d31
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/data/changelog-compact.js
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+export default `# Change Log
+All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file. This project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](http://semver.org/).
+
+Generated by [auto-changelog](https://github.com/CookPete/auto-changelog)
+
+
+### [Unreleased](https://github.com/user/repo/compare/v0.0.2...HEAD)
+
+* Fixed [#6](https://github.com/user/repo/issues/6): Unreleased commit
+
+
+### [v0.0.2](https://github.com/user/repo/compare/v0.0.1...v0.0.2)
+> 28 December 2015
+
+* Merged [#5](https://github.com/user/repo/pull/5): Should not parse #4 in PR title
+* Fixed [#4](https://github.com/user/repo/issues/4): Commit 4 fixes #4 in the subject
+
+
+### v0.0.1
+> 15 December 2015
+
+* Merged [#3](https://github.com/user/repo/pull/3): Pull request title
+* Fixed [#1](https://github.com/user/repo/issues/1), [#2](https://github.com/user/repo/issues/2): Second commit
+`
diff --git a/test/data/changelog.js b/test/data/changelog-default.js
similarity index 100%
rename from test/data/changelog.js
rename to test/data/changelog-default.js
diff --git a/test/render.js b/test/render.js
index 92e5f4dc..d272732a 100644
--- a/test/render.js
+++ b/test/render.js
@@ -2,12 +2,22 @@ import { describe, it } from 'mocha'
 import { expect } from 'chai'
 
 import releases from './data/releases'
-import changelog from './data/changelog'
-import Template from '../src/templates/Base'
+import changelogDefault from './data/changelog-default'
+import changelogCompact from './data/changelog-compact'
+import templates from '../src/templates'
+
+const origin = 'https://github.com/user/repo'
 
 describe('Template', () => {
-  it('renders a log', () => {
-    const result = new Template('https://github.com/user/repo').render(releases)
-    expect(result).to.equal(changelog)
+  it('renders using default template', () => {
+    const Template = templates.default
+    const result = new Template(origin).render(releases)
+    expect(result).to.equal(changelogDefault)
+  })
+
+  it('renders using compact template', () => {
+    const Template = templates.compact
+    const result = new Template(origin).render(releases)
+    expect(result).to.equal(changelogCompact)
   })
 })