diff --git a/src/govoplan_mail/backend/sending/rate_limit.py b/src/govoplan_mail/backend/sending/rate_limit.py
index 2cd34c7..8e05ff2 100644
--- a/src/govoplan_mail/backend/sending/rate_limit.py
+++ b/src/govoplan_mail/backend/sending/rate_limit.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 import time
+import threading
 from dataclasses import dataclass
 
 from redis import Redis
@@ -17,6 +18,10 @@ class RateLimitDecision:
     waited_seconds: float
 
 
+_local_rate_limit_lock = threading.Lock()
+_local_next_allowed: dict[str, float] = {}
+
+
 def _redis_client() -> Redis:
     return Redis.from_url(settings.redis_url, decode_responses=True)
 
@@ -30,15 +35,18 @@ def wait_for_rate_limit(*, key: str, messages_per_minute: int, enabled: bool = T
 
     The implementation stores the next allowed send timestamp per key. A Redis
     lock keeps multiple Celery processes from reading/updating the timestamp at
-    the same time. Direct local development runs do not have a broker, so Redis
-    is only used when Celery/worker mode is explicitly enabled. If Redis is
-    unavailable, it falls back to no distributed wait.
+    the same time. Direct local development runs do not have a broker, so they
+    use a process-local limiter. If Redis is unavailable in worker mode, the
+    process-local fallback still protects single-process sends.
     """
 
     messages_per_minute = max(1, int(messages_per_minute or 1))
     gap = 60.0 / messages_per_minute
-    if not enabled or not _distributed_rate_limit_enabled():
+    if not enabled:
         return RateLimitDecision(key=key, messages_per_minute=messages_per_minute, gap_seconds=gap, waited_seconds=0.0)
+    if not _distributed_rate_limit_enabled():
+        waited = _wait_for_local_rate_limit(key, gap)
+        return RateLimitDecision(key=key, messages_per_minute=messages_per_minute, gap_seconds=gap, waited_seconds=waited)
 
     redis_key = f"govoplan:ratelimit:{key}:next_allowed"
     lock_key = f"govoplan:ratelimit:{key}:lock"
@@ -56,7 +64,17 @@ def wait_for_rate_limit(*, key: str, messages_per_minute: int, enabled: bool = T
                 now = time.time()
             client.set(redis_key, now + gap, ex=max(60, int(gap * 10)))
     except (RedisError, TimeoutError, ValueError):
-        # Development fallback: do not fail sending because Redis is absent.
-        waited = 0.0
+        waited = _wait_for_local_rate_limit(key, gap)
 
     return RateLimitDecision(key=key, messages_per_minute=messages_per_minute, gap_seconds=gap, waited_seconds=waited)
+
+
+def _wait_for_local_rate_limit(key: str, gap: float) -> float:
+    with _local_rate_limit_lock:
+        now = time.time()
+        next_allowed = _local_next_allowed.get(key, now)
+        waited = max(0.0, next_allowed - now)
+        _local_next_allowed[key] = max(now, next_allowed) + gap
+    if waited > 0:
+        time.sleep(waited)
+    return waited
diff --git a/tests/test_rate_limit.py b/tests/test_rate_limit.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..64a8902
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_rate_limit.py
@@ -0,0 +1,80 @@
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import unittest
+from unittest.mock import patch
+
+from redis.exceptions import RedisError
+
+from govoplan_mail.backend.sending import rate_limit
+
+
+class RateLimitTests(unittest.TestCase):
+    def setUp(self) -> None:
+        rate_limit._local_next_allowed.clear()
+
+    def test_local_fallback_waits_between_sends(self) -> None:
+        now = [100.0]
+        sleeps: list[float] = []
+
+        def fake_time() -> float:
+            return now[0]
+
+        def fake_sleep(seconds: float) -> None:
+            sleeps.append(seconds)
+            now[0] += seconds
+
+        with (
+            patch.object(rate_limit, "_distributed_rate_limit_enabled", return_value=False),
+            patch.object(rate_limit.time, "time", fake_time),
+            patch.object(rate_limit.time, "sleep", fake_sleep),
+        ):
+            first = rate_limit.wait_for_rate_limit(key="tenant:t:campaign:c", messages_per_minute=4)
+            second = rate_limit.wait_for_rate_limit(key="tenant:t:campaign:c", messages_per_minute=4)
+
+        self.assertEqual(first.waited_seconds, 0.0)
+        self.assertEqual(second.waited_seconds, 15.0)
+        self.assertEqual(sleeps, [15.0])
+
+    def test_disabled_rate_limit_does_not_reserve_local_slot(self) -> None:
+        now = [100.0]
+        sleeps: list[float] = []
+
+        with (
+            patch.object(rate_limit, "_distributed_rate_limit_enabled", return_value=False),
+            patch.object(rate_limit.time, "time", lambda: now[0]),
+            patch.object(rate_limit.time, "sleep", lambda seconds: sleeps.append(seconds)),
+        ):
+            disabled = rate_limit.wait_for_rate_limit(key="k", messages_per_minute=4, enabled=False)
+            enabled = rate_limit.wait_for_rate_limit(key="k", messages_per_minute=4)
+
+        self.assertEqual(disabled.waited_seconds, 0.0)
+        self.assertEqual(enabled.waited_seconds, 0.0)
+        self.assertEqual(sleeps, [])
+
+    def test_redis_failure_falls_back_to_local_wait(self) -> None:
+        now = [100.0]
+        sleeps: list[float] = []
+
+        def fail_redis_client():
+            raise RedisError("redis unavailable")
+
+        def fake_sleep(seconds: float) -> None:
+            sleeps.append(seconds)
+            now[0] += seconds
+
+        with (
+            patch.object(rate_limit, "_distributed_rate_limit_enabled", return_value=True),
+            patch.object(rate_limit, "_redis_client", fail_redis_client),
+            patch.object(rate_limit.time, "time", lambda: now[0]),
+            patch.object(rate_limit.time, "sleep", fake_sleep),
+        ):
+            first = rate_limit.wait_for_rate_limit(key="k", messages_per_minute=60)
+            second = rate_limit.wait_for_rate_limit(key="k", messages_per_minute=60)
+
+        self.assertEqual(first.waited_seconds, 0.0)
+        self.assertEqual(second.waited_seconds, 1.0)
+        self.assertEqual(sleeps, [1.0])
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    unittest.main()