diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 1485c5a..9c63f7c 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -97,6 +97,133 @@ dependencies = [
  "tokio",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "async-executor"
+version = "1.13.3"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "497c00e0fd83a72a79a39fcbd8e3e2f055d6f6c7e025f3b3d91f4f8e76527fb8"
+dependencies = [
+ "async-task",
+ "concurrent-queue",
+ "fastrand",
+ "futures-lite",
+ "pin-project-lite",
+ "slab",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "async-global-executor"
+version = "2.4.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "05b1b633a2115cd122d73b955eadd9916c18c8f510ec9cd1686404c60ad1c29c"
+dependencies = [
+ "async-channel 2.5.0",
+ "async-executor",
+ "async-io",
+ "async-lock",
+ "blocking",
+ "futures-lite",
+ "once_cell",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "async-io"
+version = "2.6.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "456b8a8feb6f42d237746d4b3e9a178494627745c3c56c6ea55d92ba50d026fc"
+dependencies = [
+ "autocfg",
+ "cfg-if",
+ "concurrent-queue",
+ "futures-io",
+ "futures-lite",
+ "parking",
+ "polling",
+ "rustix 1.1.2",
+ "slab",
+ "windows-sys 0.61.2",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "async-lock"
+version = "3.4.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "5fd03604047cee9b6ce9de9f70c6cd540a0520c813cbd49bae61f33ab80ed1dc"
+dependencies = [
+ "event-listener 5.4.1",
+ "event-listener-strategy",
+ "pin-project-lite",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "async-process"
+version = "2.5.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "fc50921ec0055cdd8a16de48773bfeec5c972598674347252c0399676be7da75"
+dependencies = [
+ "async-channel 2.5.0",
+ "async-io",
+ "async-lock",
+ "async-signal",
+ "async-task",
+ "blocking",
+ "cfg-if",
+ "event-listener 5.4.1",
+ "futures-lite",
+ "rustix 1.1.2",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "async-signal"
+version = "0.2.13"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "43c070bbf59cd3570b6b2dd54cd772527c7c3620fce8be898406dd3ed6adc64c"
+dependencies = [
+ "async-io",
+ "async-lock",
+ "atomic-waker",
+ "cfg-if",
+ "futures-core",
+ "futures-io",
+ "rustix 1.1.2",
+ "signal-hook-registry",
+ "slab",
+ "windows-sys 0.61.2",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "async-std"
+version = "1.13.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "2c8e079a4ab67ae52b7403632e4618815d6db36d2a010cfe41b02c1b1578f93b"
+dependencies = [
+ "async-channel 1.9.0",
+ "async-global-executor",
+ "async-io",
+ "async-lock",
+ "async-process",
+ "crossbeam-utils",
+ "futures-channel",
+ "futures-core",
+ "futures-io",
+ "futures-lite",
+ "gloo-timers",
+ "kv-log-macro",
+ "log",
+ "memchr",
+ "once_cell",
+ "pin-project-lite",
+ "pin-utils",
+ "slab",
+ "wasm-bindgen-futures",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "async-task"
+version = "4.7.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "8b75356056920673b02621b35afd0f7dda9306d03c79a30f5c56c44cf256e3de"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "async-trait"
 version = "0.1.89"
@@ -289,6 +416,19 @@ dependencies = [
  "generic-array",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "blocking"
+version = "1.6.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "e83f8d02be6967315521be875afa792a316e28d57b5a2d401897e2a7921b7f21"
+dependencies = [
+ "async-channel 2.5.0",
+ "async-task",
+ "futures-io",
+ "futures-lite",
+ "piper",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "bon"
 version = "3.8.1"
@@ -1007,6 +1147,12 @@ dependencies = [
  "windows-sys 0.48.0",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "event-listener"
+version = "2.5.3"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "0206175f82b8d6bf6652ff7d71a1e27fd2e4efde587fd368662814d6ec1d9ce0"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "event-listener"
 version = "5.4.1"
@@ -1018,6 +1164,16 @@ dependencies = [
  "pin-project-lite",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "event-listener-strategy"
+version = "0.5.4"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "8be9f3dfaaffdae2972880079a491a1a8bb7cbed0b8dd7a347f668b4150a3b93"
+dependencies = [
+ "event-listener 5.4.1",
+ "pin-project-lite",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "fastrand"
 version = "2.3.0"
@@ -1301,6 +1457,18 @@ dependencies = [
  "regex-syntax",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "gloo-timers"
+version = "0.3.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "bbb143cf96099802033e0d4f4963b19fd2e0b728bcf076cd9cf7f6634f092994"
+dependencies = [
+ "futures-channel",
+ "futures-core",
+ "js-sys",
+ "wasm-bindgen",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "governor"
 version = "0.10.4"
@@ -1464,6 +1632,12 @@ version = "0.5.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "2304e00983f87ffb38b55b444b5e3b60a884b5d30c0fca7d82fe33449bbe55ea"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "hermit-abi"
+version = "0.5.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "fc0fef456e4baa96da950455cd02c081ca953b141298e41db3fc7e36b1da849c"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "hex"
 version = "0.4.3"
@@ -2049,6 +2223,15 @@ dependencies = [
  "sha2",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "kv-log-macro"
+version = "1.0.7"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "0de8b303297635ad57c9f5059fd9cee7a47f8e8daa09df0fcd07dd39fb22977f"
+dependencies = [
+ "log",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "langtag"
 version = "0.4.0"
@@ -2075,6 +2258,7 @@ version = "0.11.19"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "9e13e10e8818f8b2a60f52cb127041d388b89f3a96a62be9ceaffa22262fef7f"
 dependencies = [
+ "async-std",
  "async-trait",
  "base64",
  "chumsky",
@@ -2594,6 +2778,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "tower_governor",
  "tracing",
  "tracing-subscriber",
+ "url",
  "urlencoding",
 ]
 
@@ -2687,6 +2872,17 @@ version = "0.1.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "8b870d8c151b6f2fb93e84a13146138f05d02ed11c7e7c54f8826aaaf7c9f184"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "piper"
+version = "0.2.4"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "96c8c490f422ef9a4efd2cb5b42b76c8613d7e7dfc1caf667b8a3350a5acc066"
+dependencies = [
+ "atomic-waker",
+ "fastrand",
+ "futures-io",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "pkcs1"
 version = "0.7.5"
@@ -2714,6 +2910,20 @@ version = "0.3.32"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "7edddbd0b52d732b21ad9a5fab5c704c14cd949e5e9a1ec5929a24fded1b904c"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "polling"
+version = "3.11.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "5d0e4f59085d47d8241c88ead0f274e8a0cb551f3625263c05eb8dd897c34218"
+dependencies = [
+ "cfg-if",
+ "concurrent-queue",
+ "hermit-abi",
+ "pin-project-lite",
+ "rustix 1.1.2",
+ "windows-sys 0.61.2",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "portable-atomic"
 version = "1.13.0"
@@ -3205,6 +3415,19 @@ dependencies = [
  "semver",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "rustix"
+version = "1.1.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "cd15f8a2c5551a84d56efdc1cd049089e409ac19a3072d5037a17fd70719ff3e"
+dependencies = [
+ "bitflags",
+ "errno",
+ "libc",
+ "linux-raw-sys 0.11.0",
+ "windows-sys 0.59.0",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "rustls"
 version = "0.23.35"
@@ -3666,7 +3889,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "crc",
  "crossbeam-queue",
  "either",
- "event-listener",
+ "event-listener 5.4.1",
  "futures-core",
  "futures-intrusive",
  "futures-io",
@@ -4423,6 +4646,12 @@ version = "0.1.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "ba73ea9cf16a25df0c8caa16c51acb937d5712a8429db78a3ee29d5dcacd3a65"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "value-bag"
+version = "1.12.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "7ba6f5989077681266825251a52748b8c1d8a4ad098cc37e440103d0ea717fc0"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "vcpkg"
 version = "0.2.15"
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index e811f1b..f791277 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ jacquard-identity = "0.9.5"
 multibase = "0.9.2"
 reqwest = { version = "0.12", default-features = false, features = ["json", "rustls-tls"] }
 urlencoding = "2.1"
+url = "2.5.7"
 html-escape = "0.2.13"
 josekit = "0.10.3"
 dashmap = "6.1"
diff --git a/src/helpers.rs b/src/helpers.rs
index 1b54c2e..200014f 100644
--- a/src/helpers.rs
+++ b/src/helpers.rs
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ use jacquard_common::{
 use jacquard_identity::{PublicResolver, resolver::IdentityResolver};
 use josekit::jwe::alg::direct::DirectJweAlgorithm;
 use lettre::{
-    AsyncTransport, Message,
+    Message,
     message::{MultiPart, SinglePart, header},
 };
 use rand::Rng;
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index 674ec1e..72eac77 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ use crate::oauth_provider::sign_in;
 use crate::xrpc::com_atproto_server::{
     create_account, create_session, describe_server, get_session, update_email,
 };
+use anyhow::{Result, Context};
 use axum::{
     Router,
     body::Body,
@@ -18,7 +19,7 @@ use handlebars::Handlebars;
 use hyper_util::{client::legacy::connect::HttpConnector, rt::TokioExecutor};
 use jacquard_common::types::did::Did;
 use jacquard_identity::{PublicResolver, resolver::PlcSource};
-use lettre::{AsyncSmtpTransport, Tokio1Executor};
+use lettre::{AsyncTransport, AsyncSmtpTransport, AsyncSendmailTransport, Message, Tokio1Executor};
 use rand::Rng;
 use rust_embed::RustEmbed;
 use sqlx::sqlite::{SqliteConnectOptions, SqliteJournalMode};
@@ -36,6 +37,7 @@ use tower_http::{
 };
 use tracing::log;
 use tracing_subscriber::{EnvFilter, fmt, prelude::*};
+use url::Url;
 
 mod auth;
 mod gate;
@@ -151,13 +153,52 @@ pub struct AppState {
     account_pool: SqlitePool,
     pds_gatekeeper_pool: SqlitePool,
     reverse_proxy_client: HyperUtilClient,
-    mailer: AsyncSmtpTransport<Tokio1Executor>,
+    mailer: Arc<Mailer>,
     template_engine: Engine<Handlebars<'static>>,
     resolver: Arc<PublicResolver>,
     handle_cache: auth::HandleCache,
     app_config: AppConfig,
 }
 
+pub enum Mailer {
+    Smtp(AsyncSmtpTransport<Tokio1Executor>),
+    Sendmail(AsyncSendmailTransport<Tokio1Executor>),
+}
+
+impl Mailer {
+    pub async fn send(&self, msg: Message) -> Result<()> {
+        match self {
+            Mailer::Smtp(m) => {
+                m.send(msg).await.context("SMTP send failed")?;
+                Ok(())
+            }
+            Mailer::Sendmail(m) => {
+                m.send(msg).await.context("sendmail send failed")?;
+                Ok(())
+            }
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+fn build_mailer_from_env() -> Result<Mailer> {
+    let raw = env::var("PDS_EMAIL_SMTP_URL")
+        .context("PDS_EMAIL_SMTP_URL is not set in your pds.env file")?;
+
+    let url = Url::parse(&raw).context("PDS_EMAIL_SMTP_URL is not a valid URL")?;
+
+    let use_sendmail = url.scheme() == "sendmail"
+        || url.query_pairs().any(|(k, v)| k == "sendmail" && v == "true");
+
+    if use_sendmail {
+        Ok(Mailer::Sendmail(AsyncSendmailTransport::<Tokio1Executor>::new()))
+    } else {
+        Ok(Mailer::Smtp(
+            AsyncSmtpTransport::<Tokio1Executor>::from_url(raw.as_str())?
+                .build(),
+        ))
+    }
+}
+
 async fn root_handler() -> impl axum::response::IntoResponse {
     let body = r"
 
@@ -244,11 +285,8 @@ async fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
             .build(HttpConnector::new());
 
     //Emailer set up
-    let smtp_url =
-        env::var("PDS_EMAIL_SMTP_URL").expect("PDS_EMAIL_SMTP_URL is not set in your pds.env file");
+    let mailer = Arc::new(build_mailer_from_env()?);
 
-    let mailer: AsyncSmtpTransport<Tokio1Executor> =
-        AsyncSmtpTransport::<Tokio1Executor>::from_url(smtp_url.as_str())?.build();
     //Email templates setup
     let mut hbs = Handlebars::new();