diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index 5696262..9038670 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ type FileConfig struct {
 	DataDir    string              `yaml:"data_dir"`
 	TLS        TLSConfig           `yaml:"tls"`
 	Users      map[string]string   `yaml:"users"`
+	AuthMethod string              `yaml:"auth_method"` // "cleartext" (default) or "md5"
 	RateLimit  RateLimitFileConfig `yaml:"rate_limit"`
 	Extensions []string            `yaml:"extensions"`
 	DuckLake   DuckLakeFileConfig  `yaml:"ducklake"`
@@ -109,12 +110,13 @@ func main() {
 		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "Options:\n")
 		flag.PrintDefaults()
 		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "\nEnvironment variables:\n")
-		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "  DUCKGRES_CONFIG    Path to YAML config file\n")
-		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "  DUCKGRES_HOST      Host to bind to (default: 0.0.0.0)\n")
-		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "  DUCKGRES_PORT      Port to listen on (default: 5432)\n")
-		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "  DUCKGRES_DATA_DIR  Directory for DuckDB files (default: ./data)\n")
-		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "  DUCKGRES_CERT      TLS certificate file (default: ./certs/server.crt)\n")
-		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "  DUCKGRES_KEY       TLS private key file (default: ./certs/server.key)\n")
+		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "  DUCKGRES_CONFIG       Path to YAML config file\n")
+		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "  DUCKGRES_HOST         Host to bind to (default: 0.0.0.0)\n")
+		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "  DUCKGRES_PORT         Port to listen on (default: 5432)\n")
+		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "  DUCKGRES_DATA_DIR     Directory for DuckDB files (default: ./data)\n")
+		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "  DUCKGRES_CERT         TLS certificate file (default: ./certs/server.crt)\n")
+		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "  DUCKGRES_KEY          TLS private key file (default: ./certs/server.key)\n")
+		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "  DUCKGRES_AUTH_METHOD  Auth method: cleartext (default) or md5\n")
 		fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "\nPrecedence: CLI flags > environment variables > config file > defaults\n")
 	}
 
@@ -166,6 +168,9 @@ func main() {
 		if len(fileCfg.Users) > 0 {
 			cfg.Users = fileCfg.Users
 		}
+		if fileCfg.AuthMethod != "" {
+			cfg.AuthMethod = server.AuthMethod(fileCfg.AuthMethod)
+		}
 
 		// Apply rate limit config
 		if fileCfg.RateLimit.MaxFailedAttempts > 0 {
@@ -249,6 +254,9 @@ func main() {
 	if v := os.Getenv("DUCKGRES_KEY"); v != "" {
 		cfg.TLSKeyFile = v
 	}
+	if v := os.Getenv("DUCKGRES_AUTH_METHOD"); v != "" {
+		cfg.AuthMethod = server.AuthMethod(v)
+	}
 	if v := os.Getenv("DUCKGRES_DUCKLAKE_METADATA_STORE"); v != "" {
 		cfg.DuckLake.MetadataStore = v
 	}
diff --git a/server/conn.go b/server/conn.go
index 32f3b2d..47bc9d4 100644
--- a/server/conn.go
+++ b/server/conn.go
@@ -3,10 +3,13 @@ package server
 import (
 	"bufio"
 	"bytes"
+	"crypto/md5"
+	"crypto/rand"
 	"crypto/tls"
 	"database/sql"
 	"encoding/binary"
 	"encoding/csv"
+	"encoding/hex"
 	"fmt"
 	"io"
 	"log/slog"
@@ -482,9 +485,29 @@ func (c *clientConn) handleStartup() error {
 		break
 	}
 
-	// Request password
-	if err := writeAuthCleartextPassword(c.writer); err != nil {
-		return err
+	// Get the expected password for this user
+	expectedPassword, userExists := c.server.cfg.Users[c.username]
+
+	// Determine auth method (default to cleartext for backwards compatibility)
+	authMethod := c.server.cfg.AuthMethod
+	if authMethod == "" {
+		authMethod = AuthCleartext
+	}
+
+	var salt [4]byte
+	if authMethod == AuthMD5 {
+		// Generate random salt for MD5 auth
+		if _, err := rand.Read(salt[:]); err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("failed to generate salt: %w", err)
+		}
+		if err := writeAuthMD5Password(c.writer, salt); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+	} else {
+		// Request cleartext password
+		if err := writeAuthCleartextPassword(c.writer); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
 	}
 	if err := c.writer.Flush(); err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("failed to flush writer: %w", err)
@@ -504,9 +527,17 @@ func (c *clientConn) handleStartup() error {
 	// Password is null-terminated
 	password := string(bytes.TrimRight(body, "\x00"))
 
-	// Validate password
-	expectedPassword, ok := c.server.cfg.Users[c.username]
-	if !ok || expectedPassword != password {
+	// Validate password based on auth method
+	var authValid bool
+	if !userExists {
+		authValid = false
+	} else if authMethod == AuthMD5 {
+		authValid = verifyMD5Password(password, expectedPassword, c.username, salt)
+	} else {
+		authValid = password == expectedPassword
+	}
+
+	if !authValid {
 		// Record failed authentication attempt
 		banned := c.server.rateLimiter.RecordFailedAuth(c.conn.RemoteAddr())
 		if banned {
@@ -528,6 +559,26 @@ func (c *clientConn) handleStartup() error {
 	return nil
 }
 
+// verifyMD5Password verifies an MD5-hashed password response.
+// The client computes: "md5" + md5(md5(password + username) + salt)
+// where salt is the 4-byte random salt sent by the server.
+func verifyMD5Password(clientResponse, password, username string, salt [4]byte) bool {
+	// Client response should start with "md5" followed by 32 hex chars
+	if len(clientResponse) != 35 || clientResponse[:3] != "md5" {
+		return false
+	}
+
+	// Compute expected hash: md5(md5(password + username) + salt)
+	inner := md5.Sum([]byte(password + username))
+	innerHex := hex.EncodeToString(inner[:])
+
+	outer := md5.Sum(append([]byte(innerHex), salt[:]...))
+	outerHex := hex.EncodeToString(outer[:])
+
+	expected := "md5" + outerHex
+	return clientResponse == expected
+}
+
 func (c *clientConn) sendInitialParams() {
 	params := map[string]string{
 		"server_version":          "15.0 (Duckgres)",
diff --git a/server/protocol.go b/server/protocol.go
index 618b522..dc7cc2e 100644
--- a/server/protocol.go
+++ b/server/protocol.go
@@ -176,6 +176,14 @@ func writeAuthCleartextPassword(w io.Writer) error {
 	return writeMessage(w, msgAuth, data)
 }
 
+// writeAuthMD5Password requests MD5-hashed password with a 4-byte salt
+func writeAuthMD5Password(w io.Writer, salt [4]byte) error {
+	data := make([]byte, 8)
+	binary.BigEndian.PutUint32(data, authMD5Pwd)
+	copy(data[4:], salt[:])
+	return writeMessage(w, msgAuth, data)
+}
+
 // writeParameterStatus sends a parameter status message
 func writeParameterStatus(w io.Writer, name, value string) error {
 	data := []byte(name)
diff --git a/server/server.go b/server/server.go
index acda3f8..0bd01c7 100644
--- a/server/server.go
+++ b/server/server.go
@@ -55,12 +55,26 @@ func redactConnectionString(connStr string) string {
 	return passwordPattern.ReplaceAllString(connStr, "${1}[REDACTED]")
 }
 
+// AuthMethod represents the authentication method to use
+type AuthMethod string
+
+const (
+	// AuthCleartext uses cleartext password (default, protected by TLS)
+	AuthCleartext AuthMethod = "cleartext"
+	// AuthMD5 uses MD5 hashed password (PostgreSQL standard)
+	AuthMD5 AuthMethod = "md5"
+)
+
 type Config struct {
 	Host    string
 	Port    int
 	DataDir string
 	Users   map[string]string // username -> password
 
+	// AuthMethod specifies the authentication method.
+	// Supported values: "cleartext" (default), "md5".
+	AuthMethod AuthMethod
+
 	// TLS configuration (required)
 	TLSCertFile string // Path to TLS certificate file
 	TLSKeyFile  string // Path to TLS private key file