diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 26db776ee0..fefdb2d3aa 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -101,6 +101,9 @@ kube.workspace = true
 trust-dns-resolver = { version = "0.23.0", features = ["tokio", "tokio-rustls", "dns-over-https-rustls"] }
 async-trait = "0.1.73"
 nom = "7.1.3"
+atty = "0.2.14"
+strum = "0.25.0"
+strum_macros = "0.25"
 
 [target.'cfg(target_os = "linux")'.dependencies]
 sys-info = "0.9.1"
diff --git a/src/cli.rs b/src/cli.rs
index 1ac73b0fe7..556f06f103 100644
--- a/src/cli.rs
+++ b/src/cli.rs
@@ -19,10 +19,12 @@ use std::{
     sync::Arc,
 };
 
+use clap::builder::TypedValueParser;
 use clap::crate_version;
 use tokio::{signal, sync::watch};
 
 use crate::{admin::Mode, Config};
+use strum_macros::{Display, EnumString};
 
 pub use self::{
     agent::Agent, generate_config_schema::GenerateConfigSchema, manage::Manage, proxy::Proxy,
@@ -68,6 +70,27 @@ pub struct Cli {
     pub quiet: bool,
     #[clap(subcommand)]
     pub command: Commands,
+    #[clap(
+    long,
+    default_value_t = LogFormats::Auto,
+    value_parser = clap::builder::PossibleValuesParser::new(["auto", "json", "plain", "pretty"])
+    .map(|s| s.parse::<LogFormats>().unwrap()),
+    )]
+    pub log_format: LogFormats,
+}
+
+/// The various log format options
+#[derive(Copy, Clone, PartialEq, Eq, Debug, EnumString, Display, Default)]
+pub enum LogFormats {
+    #[strum(serialize = "auto")]
+    #[default]
+    Auto,
+    #[strum(serialize = "json")]
+    Json,
+    #[strum(serialize = "plain")]
+    Plain,
+    #[strum(serialize = "pretty")]
+    Pretty,
 }
 
 /// The various Quilkin commands.
@@ -101,11 +124,22 @@ impl Cli {
             let env_filter = tracing_subscriber::EnvFilter::builder()
                 .with_default_directive(tracing_subscriber::filter::LevelFilter::INFO.into())
                 .from_env_lossy();
-            tracing_subscriber::fmt()
-                .json()
+            let subscriber = tracing_subscriber::fmt()
                 .with_file(true)
-                .with_env_filter(env_filter)
-                .init();
+                .with_env_filter(env_filter);
+
+            match self.log_format {
+                LogFormats::Auto => {
+                    if atty::isnt(atty::Stream::Stdout) {
+                        subscriber.json().init();
+                    } else {
+                        subscriber.init();
+                    }
+                }
+                LogFormats::Json => subscriber.json().init(),
+                LogFormats::Plain => subscriber.init(),
+                LogFormats::Pretty => subscriber.pretty().init(),
+            }
         }
 
         tracing::info!(
@@ -307,6 +341,7 @@ mod tests {
                 }),
                 ..<_>::default()
             }),
+            log_format: LogFormats::default(),
         };
 
         let control_plane_admin_port = crate::test_utils::available_addr().await.port();
@@ -325,6 +360,7 @@ mod tests {
                     path: endpoints_file.path().to_path_buf(),
                 },
             }),
+            log_format: LogFormats::default(),
         };
 
         let proxy_admin_port = crate::test_utils::available_addr().await.port();
@@ -337,6 +373,7 @@ mod tests {
                 management_server: vec!["http://localhost:7800".parse().unwrap()],
                 ..<_>::default()
             }),
+            log_format: LogFormats::default(),
         };
 
         tokio::spawn(relay.drive());