diff --git a/apps/api/src/controllers/Contacts.ts b/apps/api/src/controllers/Contacts.ts
index afa9729..2718189 100644
--- a/apps/api/src/controllers/Contacts.ts
+++ b/apps/api/src/controllers/Contacts.ts
@@ -214,11 +214,21 @@ export class Contacts {
     // Fetch project to get language preference
     const project = await ContactService.getProjectByContactId(contactId);
 
+    // Get contact-level locale (overrides project language)
+    const contactLocale =
+      contact.data &&
+      typeof contact.data === 'object' &&
+      !Array.isArray(contact.data) &&
+      'locale' in contact.data &&
+      typeof contact.data.locale === 'string'
+        ? contact.data.locale
+        : null;
+
     return res.status(200).json({
       id: contact.id,
       email: contact.email,
       subscribed: contact.subscribed,
-      language: project?.language || 'en',
+      language: contactLocale || project?.language || 'en',
     });
   }
 
diff --git a/apps/api/src/services/ContactService.ts b/apps/api/src/services/ContactService.ts
index e821fd5..35ae603 100644
--- a/apps/api/src/services/ContactService.ts
+++ b/apps/api/src/services/ContactService.ts
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import {type Contact, Prisma} from '@plunk/db';
+import {isValidLanguageCode} from '@plunk/shared';
 import type {FilterCondition, FilterGroup} from '@plunk/types';
 
 import {prisma} from '../database/prisma.js';
@@ -229,6 +230,20 @@ export class ContactService {
           continue;
         }
 
+        // Validate locale field
+        if (key === 'locale') {
+          if (typeof value === 'string') {
+            if (!isValidLanguageCode(value)) {
+              throw new HttpException(
+                400,
+                `Invalid locale code: ${value}. Must be one of: en, nl, fr, hi, de`,
+              );
+            }
+          } else if (value !== null && value !== undefined) {
+            throw new HttpException(400, 'Locale must be a string');
+          }
+        }
+
         // Handle non-persistent data format: { value: "...", persistent: false }
         if (
           typeof value === 'object' &&
@@ -297,6 +312,12 @@ export class ContactService {
       Object.assign(mergedData, contact.data);
     }
 
+    // Explicitly expose locale as a predefined field (available in templates)
+    // This ensures locale is always accessible even if not in contact.data
+    if (mergedData.locale === undefined) {
+      mergedData.locale = null;
+    }
+
     // Add temporary (non-persistent) data
     if (temporaryData) {
       for (const [key, value] of Object.entries(temporaryData)) {
diff --git a/apps/api/src/services/EmailService.ts b/apps/api/src/services/EmailService.ts
index 771b55b..2f82a54 100644
--- a/apps/api/src/services/EmailService.ts
+++ b/apps/api/src/services/EmailService.ts
@@ -604,8 +604,18 @@ export class EmailService {
 
     const unsubscribeHtml = includeUnsubscribe
       ? (() => {
-          // Get translator for project's language
-          const translator = createTranslatorSync(project.language || 'en');
+          // Get contact-level locale (overrides project language)
+          const contactLocale =
+            contact.data &&
+            typeof contact.data === 'object' &&
+            !Array.isArray(contact.data) &&
+            'locale' in contact.data &&
+            typeof contact.data.locale === 'string'
+              ? contact.data.locale
+              : null;
+
+          // Get translator for contact's locale or project's language
+          const translator = createTranslatorSync(contactLocale || project.language || 'en');
           const unsubscribeText = translator.t('email.footer.unsubscribeText', {
             projectName: project.name,
           });
diff --git a/apps/web/src/components/EmailEditor/VariableMention.ts b/apps/web/src/components/EmailEditor/VariableMention.ts
index 0a005c3..d64e523 100644
--- a/apps/web/src/components/EmailEditor/VariableMention.ts
+++ b/apps/web/src/components/EmailEditor/VariableMention.ts
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ export const VariableMention = Mention.configure({
 
     items: ({query}) => {
       const safeVariables = Array.isArray(availableVariables) ? availableVariables : [];
-      const allVariables = ['email', 'unsubscribeUrl', 'subscribeUrl', 'manageUrl', ...safeVariables];
+      const allVariables = ['email', 'unsubscribeUrl', 'subscribeUrl', 'manageUrl', 'locale', ...safeVariables];
       const uniqueVariables = Array.from(new Set(allVariables)).filter(v => typeof v === 'string');
 
       if (!query) {