diff --git a/plexapi/__init__.py b/plexapi/__init__.py
index f53692cfc..06a1ee63c 100644
--- a/plexapi/__init__.py
+++ b/plexapi/__init__.py
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 from uuid import getnode
 
 from plexapi.config import PlexConfig, reset_base_headers
+import plexapi.const as const
 from plexapi.utils import SecretsFilter
 
 # Load User Defined Config
@@ -15,7 +16,7 @@
 
 # PlexAPI Settings
 PROJECT = 'PlexAPI'
-VERSION = '4.7.0'
+VERSION = __version__ = const.__version__
 TIMEOUT = CONFIG.get('plexapi.timeout', 30, int)
 X_PLEX_CONTAINER_SIZE = CONFIG.get('plexapi.container_size', 100, int)
 X_PLEX_ENABLE_FAST_CONNECT = CONFIG.get('plexapi.enable_fast_connect', False, bool)
diff --git a/plexapi/const.py b/plexapi/const.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..47cf44147
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plexapi/const.py
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+"""Constants used by plexapi."""
+
+# Library version
+MAJOR_VERSION = 4
+MINOR_VERSION = 7
+PATCH_VERSION = 0
+__short_version__ = f"{MAJOR_VERSION}.{MINOR_VERSION}"
+__version__ = f"{__short_version__}.{PATCH_VERSION}"
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 19c40a0e4..3f6029ece 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -9,11 +9,7 @@
 except ImportError:
     from distutils.core import setup
 
-# Get the current version
-with open('plexapi/__init__.py') as handle:
-    for line in handle.readlines():
-        if line.startswith('VERSION'):
-            version = re.findall("'([0-9\.]+?)'", line)[0]
+from plexapi import const
 
 # Get README.rst contents
 readme = open('README.rst', 'r').read()
@@ -28,7 +24,7 @@
 
 setup(
     name='PlexAPI',
-    version=version,
+    version=const.__version__,
     description='Python bindings for the Plex API.',
     author='Michael Shepanski',
     author_email='michael.shepanski@gmail.com',
diff --git a/tools/version_bump.py b/tools/version_bump.py
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..6abee5098
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/version_bump.py
@@ -0,0 +1,106 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+"""Helper script to bump the current version."""
+import argparse
+import re
+import subprocess
+
+from packaging.version import Version
+
+from plexapi import const
+
+SUPPORTED_BUMP_TYPES = ["patch", "minor", "major"]
+
+
+def _bump_release(release, bump_type):
+    """Return a bumped release tuple consisting of 3 numbers."""
+    major, minor, patch = release
+
+    if bump_type == "patch":
+        patch += 1
+    elif bump_type == "minor":
+        minor += 1
+        patch = 0
+    elif bump_type == "major":
+        major += 1
+        minor = 0
+        patch = 0
+
+    return major, minor, patch
+
+
+def bump_version(version, bump_type):
+    """Return a new version given a current version and action."""
+    new_release = _bump_release(version.release, bump_type)
+    temp = Version("0")
+    temp._version = version._version._replace(release=new_release)
+    return Version(str(temp))
+
+
+def write_version(version):
+    """Update plexapi constant file with new version."""
+    with open("plexapi/const.py") as f:
+        content = f.read()
+
+    version_names = ["MAJOR", "MINOR", "PATCH"]
+    version_values = str(version).split(".", 2)
+
+    for n, v in zip(version_names, version_values):
+        version_line = f"{n}_VERSION = "
+        content = re.sub(f"{version_line}.*\n", f"{version_line}{v}\n", content)
+
+    with open("plexapi/const.py", "wt") as f:
+        content = f.write(content)
+
+
+def main():
+    """Execute script."""
+    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description="Bump version of plexapi")
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "bump_type",
+        help="The type of version bump to perform",
+        choices=SUPPORTED_BUMP_TYPES,
+    )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--commit", action="store_true", help="Create a version bump commit"
+    )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--tag", action="store_true", help="Tag the commit with the release version"
+    )
+    arguments = parser.parse_args()
+
+    if arguments.tag and not arguments.commit:
+        parser.error("--tag requires use of --commit")
+
+    if arguments.commit and subprocess.run(["git", "diff", "--quiet"]).returncode == 1:
+        print("Cannot use --commit because git is dirty")
+        return
+
+    current = Version(const.__version__)
+    bumped = bump_version(current, arguments.bump_type)
+    assert bumped > current, "Bumped version is not newer than old version"
+
+    write_version(bumped)
+
+    if not arguments.commit:
+        return
+
+    subprocess.run(["git", "commit", "-nam", f"Release {bumped}"])
+
+    if arguments.tag:
+        subprocess.run(["git", "tag", str(bumped), "-m", f"Release {bumped}"])
+
+def test_bump_version():
+    """Make sure it all works."""
+    import pytest
+
+    assert bump_version(Version("4.7.0"), "patch") == Version("4.7.1")
+    assert bump_version(Version("4.7.0"), "minor") == Version("4.8.0")
+    assert bump_version(Version("4.7.3"), "minor") == Version("4.8.0")
+    assert bump_version(Version("4.7.0"), "major") == Version("5.0.0")
+    assert bump_version(Version("4.7.3"), "major") == Version("5.0.0")
+    assert bump_version(Version("5.0.0"), "major") == Version("6.0.0")
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    main()