diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index a0a4db1..2fb458b 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ The client here will eventually be released as "spython" (and eventually to
 singularity on pypi), and the versions here will coincide with these releases.
 
 ## [master](https://github.com/singularityhub/singularity-cli/tree/master)
+ - add more verbosity to instance start/stop (0.0.12)
  - adding more verbosity to running commands (0.1.11)
  - log error paths are optional (0.1.1)
  - instance list doesn't always include container_image (0.1.0)
diff --git a/spython/instance/__init__.py b/spython/instance/__init__.py
index b7b2d7d..3e67f75 100644
--- a/spython/instance/__init__.py
+++ b/spython/instance/__init__.py
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 
 
 class Instance(ImageBase):
-    def __init__(self, image, start=True, name=None, **kwargs):
+    def __init__(self, image, start=True, name=None, quiet=True, **kwargs):
         """An instance is an image running as an instance with services.
         This class has functions appended under cmd/__init__ and is
         instantiated when the user calls Client.
@@ -30,10 +30,11 @@ def __init__(self, image, start=True, name=None, **kwargs):
         self._update_metadata(kwargs)
         self.options = []
         self.cmd = []
+        self.quiet = quiet
 
         # Start the instance
         if start:
-            self.start(**kwargs)
+            self.start(quiet=quiet, **kwargs)
 
     # Unique resource identifier
 
diff --git a/spython/instance/cmd/start.py b/spython/instance/cmd/start.py
index 77fc94b..096319e 100644
--- a/spython/instance/cmd/start.py
+++ b/spython/instance/cmd/start.py
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ def start(
     capture=False,
     singularity_options=None,
     environ=None,
+    quiet=True,
 ):
     """start an instance. This is done by default when an instance is created.
 
@@ -30,6 +31,7 @@ def start(
     capture: capture output, default is False. With True likely to hang.
     args: arguments to provide to the instance (supported Singularity 3.1+)
     singularity_options: a list of options to provide to the singularity client
+    quiet: Do not print verbose output.
     options: a list of tuples, each an option to give to the start command
              [("--bind", "/tmp"),...]
 
@@ -74,6 +76,10 @@ def start(
             args = [args]
         cmd = cmd + args
 
+    # Print verbose output
+    if not (quiet or self.quiet):
+        bot.info(" ".join(cmd))
+
     # Save the options and cmd, if the user wants to see them later
     self.options = options
     self.args = args
diff --git a/spython/instance/cmd/stop.py b/spython/instance/cmd/stop.py
index 9638b0f..5bc6091 100644
--- a/spython/instance/cmd/stop.py
+++ b/spython/instance/cmd/stop.py
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ def stop(
     sudo_options=None,
     timeout=None,
     singularity_options=None,
+    quiet=True,
 ):
     """stop an instance. This is done by default when an instance is created.
 
@@ -23,6 +24,7 @@ def stop(
     name: a name for the instance
     sudo: if the user wants to run the command with sudo
     singularity_options: a list of options to provide to the singularity client
+    quiet: Do not print verbose output.
     timeout: forcebly kill non-stopped instance after the
              timeout specified in seconds
 
@@ -49,6 +51,10 @@ def stop(
         instance_name = name
     cmd = cmd + [instance_name]
 
+    # Print verbose output
+    if not (quiet or self.quiet):
+        bot.info(" ".join(cmd))
+
     output = run_command(cmd, sudo=sudo, sudo_options=sudo_options, quiet=True)
 
     if output["return_code"] != 0:
diff --git a/spython/version.py b/spython/version.py
index c0c3583..892de27 100644
--- a/spython/version.py
+++ b/spython/version.py
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 # with this file, You can obtain one at http://mozilla.org/MPL/2.0/.
 
 
-__version__ = "0.1.11"
+__version__ = "0.1.12"
 AUTHOR = "Vanessa Sochat"
 AUTHOR_EMAIL = "vsochat@stanford.edu"
 NAME = "spython"