diff --git a/plume-models/src/config.rs b/plume-models/src/config.rs
index cb316d5b..ba705d42 100644
--- a/plume-models/src/config.rs
+++ b/plume-models/src/config.rs
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 use crate::search::TokenizerKind as SearchTokenizer;
+use crate::signups::Strategy as SignupStrategy;
 use crate::smtp::{SMTP_PORT, SUBMISSIONS_PORT, SUBMISSION_PORT};
 use rocket::config::Limits;
 use rocket::Config as RocketConfig;
@@ -16,6 +17,7 @@ pub struct Config {
     pub db_name: &'static str,
     pub db_max_size: Option<u32>,
     pub db_min_idle: Option<u32>,
+    pub signup: SignupStrategy,
     pub search_index: String,
     pub search_tokenizers: SearchTokenizerConfig,
     pub rocket: Result<RocketConfig, InvalidRocketConfig>,
@@ -362,6 +364,7 @@ lazy_static! {
             s.parse::<u32>()
                 .expect("Couldn't parse DB_MIN_IDLE into u32")
         )),
+        signup: var("SIGNUP").map_or(SignupStrategy::default(), |s| s.parse().unwrap()),
         #[cfg(feature = "postgres")]
         database_url: var("DATABASE_URL")
             .unwrap_or_else(|_| format!("postgres://plume:plume@localhost/{}", DB_NAME)),
diff --git a/plume-models/src/lib.rs b/plume-models/src/lib.rs
index 1115f83b..3913e63e 100644
--- a/plume-models/src/lib.rs
+++ b/plume-models/src/lib.rs
@@ -396,6 +396,7 @@ pub mod safe_string;
 #[allow(unused_imports)]
 pub mod schema;
 pub mod search;
+pub mod signups;
 pub mod tags;
 pub mod timeline;
 pub mod users;
diff --git a/plume-models/src/signups.rs b/plume-models/src/signups.rs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..07bdff15
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plume-models/src/signups.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+use std::fmt;
+use std::str::FromStr;
+
+pub enum Strategy {
+    Password,
+    Email,
+}
+
+impl Default for Strategy {
+    fn default() -> Self {
+        Self::Password
+    }
+}
+
+impl FromStr for Strategy {
+    type Err = StrategyError;
+
+    fn from_str(s: &str) -> Result<Self, Self::Err> {
+        use self::Strategy::*;
+
+        match s {
+            "password" => Ok(Password),
+            "email" => Ok(Email),
+            s => Err(StrategyError::Unsupported(s.to_string())),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+#[derive(Debug)]
+pub enum StrategyError {
+    Unsupported(String),
+}
+
+impl fmt::Display for StrategyError {
+    fn fmt(&self, f: &mut fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> fmt::Result {
+        use self::StrategyError::*;
+
+        match self {
+            // FIXME: Calc option strings from enum
+            Unsupported(s) => write!(f, "Unsupported strategy: {}. Choose password or email", s),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl std::error::Error for StrategyError {}