diff --git a/.env.self-host.example b/.env.self-host.example
index 78f6537..32d5ab2 100644
--- a/.env.self-host.example
+++ b/.env.self-host.example
@@ -60,15 +60,6 @@ GITHUB_OAUTH_SECRET=
 GOOGLE_OAUTH_CLIENT=
 GOOGLE_OAUTH_SECRET=
 
-# ========================================
-# OPTIONAL: Stripe Billing
-# ========================================
-STRIPE_SK=
-STRIPE_WEBHOOK_SECRET=
-STRIPE_PRICE_ONBOARDING=
-STRIPE_PRICE_EMAIL_USAGE=
-STRIPE_METER_EVENT_NAME=emails
-
 # ========================================
 # OPTIONAL: File Storage (Minio)
 # ========================================
@@ -154,11 +145,16 @@ SMTP_DOMAIN=smtp.example.com
 # Default: false
 # DISABLE_SIGNUPS=false
 
-# Controls whether email validation checks are performed on signup
-# When enabled (true), validates emails for disposable domains, plus-addressing, domain existence, and MX records
-# When disabled (false), skips these validation checks and allows any email format
-# Default: false
-# VERIFY_EMAIL_ON_SIGNUP=false
+# ========================================
+# OPTIONAL: SES Sending Rate
+# ========================================
+# Caps the email-worker's send rate (messages per second) for the SES sandbox or
+# manually-throttled accounts. When unset, the worker probes the AWS account at
+# startup via ses:GetSendQuota; if that call is denied or transiently fails,
+# the worker silently falls back to 14/sec which may exceed sandbox limits and
+# trigger SES throttling errors. Set this explicitly to avoid the silent fallback.
+# Default: unset (auto-detect, falls back to 14)
+# EMAIL_RATE_LIMIT_PER_SECOND=1
 
 # ========================================
 # ADVANCED (rarely needed)
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 36fc6f8..66f5da8 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -190,6 +190,14 @@ services:
       # Security
       AUTO_PROJECT_DISABLE: ${AUTO_PROJECT_DISABLE:-false}
 
+      # Self-hosting user management (documented in .env.self-host.example
+      # and read by apps/api/src/app/constants.ts at import time)
+      DISABLE_SIGNUPS: ${DISABLE_SIGNUPS:-false}
+
+      # Explicit SES sending rate (avoid silent fallback to 14/sec when
+      # ses:GetSendQuota is denied or transiently fails at worker startup)
+      EMAIL_RATE_LIMIT_PER_SECOND: ${EMAIL_RATE_LIMIT_PER_SECOND:-}
+
     volumes:
       # Persistent storage for application data
       - plunk_data:/app/data