diff --git a/doc/user/content/releases/_index.md b/doc/user/content/releases/_index.md
index facc616006a91..440e57525b915 100644
--- a/doc/user/content/releases/_index.md
+++ b/doc/user/content/releases/_index.md
@@ -20,6 +20,13 @@ Starting with the v26.1.0 release, Materialize releases on a weekly schedule for
 both Cloud and Self-Managed. See [Release schedule](/releases/schedule) for details.
 {{</ note >}}
 
+## v26.44.1
+*Released to Materialize Cloud: 2026-09-30* <br>
+*Released to Materialize Self-Managed: 2026-10-01* <br>
+
+### Improvements {#v26.44.1-improvements}
+- **Lower balancerd memory use per connection**: `balancerd` now builds the TLS connector for its upstream `environmentd` connections once at startup instead of once per connection, which takes certificate parsing out of connection setup and cuts memory held per proxied TLS connection by roughly a factor of ten in local measurement, leaving more headroom under `balancerd_max_connections` for a given memory limit.
+
 ## v26.43.0
 *Released to Materialize Cloud: 2026-09-23* <br>
 *Released to Materialize Self-Managed: 2026-09-24* <br>
diff --git a/doc/user/data/self_managed/self_managed_operator_compatibility.yml b/doc/user/data/self_managed/self_managed_operator_compatibility.yml
index 558526986305c..0d68486fc9097 100644
--- a/doc/user/data/self_managed/self_managed_operator_compatibility.yml
+++ b/doc/user/data/self_managed/self_managed_operator_compatibility.yml
@@ -5,6 +5,11 @@ columns:
   - column: Release date
   - column: Notes
 rows:
+  - Materialize Operator: v26.44.1
+    orchestratord version: v26.44.1
+    environmentd version: v26.44.1
+    Release date: "2026-10-01"
+    Notes: "See [v26.44.1 release notes](/releases/#v26441)"
   - Materialize Operator: v26.43
     orchestratord version: v26.43
     environmentd version: v26.43