We always recommend to make use of the special tags `STABLE` and `BETA` when configuring your encoding workflows, as this allows you to automatically make use of the latest improvements in performance and stability and benefit from the latest bug fixes.

• For your production workflow, we recommend using `STABLE`.

• For your development and staging workflows, it is good practice to run encodes using `BETA` to ensure that brand new versions still perform your encodings as expected, before that version becomes the next `STABLE`.

To check what versions are currently tagged as `STABLE` or `BETA`, and what features and fixes they contain, please go to <https://bitmovin.com/docs/encoding/releases/encoder>.

For more details about the encoder lifecycle, check <https://bitmovin.com/docs/encoding/articles/bitmovin-encoder-lifecycle>.