diff --git a/Gemfile b/Gemfile
index 116aea08..57151f19 100644
--- a/Gemfile
+++ b/Gemfile
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@ gem 'omniauth-rails_csrf_protection'
 gem 'blazer' # for querying the database
 
 # monitoring & performance
-gem 'delayed_job_active_record'
 gem 'sentry-rails'
 gem 'sentry-ruby'
 gem 'skylight' # performance monitoring: https://www.skylight.io/app/applications/670fP418RH7v/recent/6h/endpoints
@@ -48,6 +47,7 @@ group :development do
   # debugging
   gem 'better_errors'
   gem 'binding_of_caller' # FIX: commands such as continue not work while debugging with binding.pry
+  gem 'letter_opener' # previews outgoing emails in the browser instead of sending them
 
   # performance
   gem 'parity' # CLI commands to simplify integration with Heroku apps (e.g, database sync, deployment, etc)
diff --git a/Gemfile.lock b/Gemfile.lock
index 429c9ca7..395908a0 100644
--- a/Gemfile.lock
+++ b/Gemfile.lock
@@ -106,6 +106,8 @@ GEM
       xpath (~> 3.2)
     cgi (0.5.1)
     chartkick (5.1.0)
+    childprocess (5.1.0)
+      logger (~> 1.5)
     coderay (1.1.3)
     concurrent-ruby (1.3.6)
     connection_pool (2.5.5)
@@ -116,11 +118,6 @@ GEM
       irb (~> 1.10)
       reline (>= 0.3.8)
     debug_inspector (1.2.0)
-    delayed_job (4.1.11)
-      activesupport (>= 3.0, < 8.0)
-    delayed_job_active_record (4.1.8)
-      activerecord (>= 3.0, < 8.0)
-      delayed_job (>= 3.0, < 5)
     drb (2.2.3)
     dry-cli (1.0.0)
     erb (6.0.2)
@@ -169,6 +166,12 @@ GEM
       kaminari-core (= 1.2.2)
     kaminari-core (1.2.2)
     language_server-protocol (3.17.0.3)
+    launchy (3.1.1)
+      addressable (~> 2.8)
+      childprocess (~> 5.0)
+      logger (~> 1.6)
+    letter_opener (1.10.0)
+      launchy (>= 2.2, < 4)
     logger (1.6.1)
     loofah (2.25.1)
       crass (~> 1.0.2)
@@ -407,12 +410,12 @@ DEPENDENCIES
   bootsnap
   capybara
   debug
-  delayed_job_active_record
   factory_bot_rails
   faker
   groupdate
   heroicon
   kaminari
+  letter_opener
   mini_magick
   minitest-spec-rails
   minitest-stub-const
diff --git a/Procfile b/Procfile
index 2aef89a9..08545f28 100644
--- a/Procfile
+++ b/Procfile
@@ -1,3 +1,2 @@
 web: bundle exec puma -C config/puma.rb
 release: rake db:migrate
-worker: rake jobs:work
diff --git a/app/controllers/user/authorization_requests_controller.rb b/app/controllers/user/authorization_requests_controller.rb
index d04b1462..0b6557eb 100644
--- a/app/controllers/user/authorization_requests_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/user/authorization_requests_controller.rb
@@ -18,13 +18,12 @@ def index
   def create
     authorization_request = AuthorizationRequest.find_or_create_by!(organization: organization, user: current_user)
 
-    # TODO: Move this to a background job. Once we have a background job, we can remove the `if` statement.
     if authorization_request.previously_new_record?
       organization.users.each do |user|
         UserMailer
           .with(user: user, authorization_request: authorization_request)
           .new_authorization_request
-          .deliver_later
+          .deliver_now
       end
     end
 
diff --git a/app/controllers/user/authorizations_controller.rb b/app/controllers/user/authorizations_controller.rb
index 92f173d2..2c5b0623 100644
--- a/app/controllers/user/authorizations_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/user/authorizations_controller.rb
@@ -35,11 +35,11 @@ def send_notifications(authorization)
   end
 
   def notify_user(authorization)
-    UserMailer.with(granted_by_user: current_user, authorization: authorization).authorization_granted.deliver_later
+    UserMailer.with(granted_by_user: current_user, authorization: authorization).authorization_granted.deliver_now
   end
 
   def notify_admin(authorization)
-    UserMailer.with(granted_by_user: current_user, authorization: authorization).authorization_alert.deliver_later
+    UserMailer.with(granted_by_user: current_user, authorization: authorization).authorization_alert.deliver_now
   end
 
   def clear_related_authorization_requests
diff --git a/app/jobs/application_job.rb b/app/jobs/application_job.rb
deleted file mode 100644
index bef39599..00000000
--- a/app/jobs/application_job.rb
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,9 +0,0 @@
-# frozen_string_literal: true
-
-class ApplicationJob < ActiveJob::Base
-  # Automatically retry jobs that encountered a deadlock
-  # retry_on ActiveRecord::Deadlocked
-
-  # Most jobs are safe to ignore if the underlying records are no longer available
-  # discard_on ActiveJob::DeserializationError
-end
diff --git a/app/models/user.rb b/app/models/user.rb
index 3ae15b66..a2abe570 100644
--- a/app/models/user.rb
+++ b/app/models/user.rb
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ def find_or_create_with_omniauth(auth)
       user.update_dynamic_attributes(auth)
       report_sign_in(user)
       user.save!
-      UserMailer.with(user: user).welcome.deliver_later if user.new_record? && user.valid? # TODO: why check valid here?
+      UserMailer.with(user: user).welcome.deliver_now if user.new_record? && user.valid? # TODO: why check valid here?
       user
     end
 
diff --git a/bin/delayed_job b/bin/delayed_job
deleted file mode 100755
index 4f1b0b2b..00000000
--- a/bin/delayed_job
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,6 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env ruby
-# frozen_string_literal: true
-
-require File.expand_path(File.join(File.dirname(__FILE__), '..', 'config', 'environment'))
-require 'delayed/command'
-Delayed::Command.new(ARGV).daemonize
diff --git a/config/environments/development.rb b/config/environments/development.rb
index 66b0766d..e14a718d 100644
--- a/config/environments/development.rb
+++ b/config/environments/development.rb
@@ -75,8 +75,8 @@
   logger.formatter = config.log_formatter
   config.logger = ActiveSupport::TaggedLogging.new(logger)
 
-  # Do not send emails in development
-  config.action_mailer.perform_deliveries = false
+  # Preview outgoing emails in the browser via letter_opener (no real SMTP)
+  config.action_mailer.delivery_method = :letter_opener
 
   # Sets default host for email path and urls
   routes.default_url_options[:host] = 'http://localhost:3001'
diff --git a/config/environments/production.rb b/config/environments/production.rb
index 04308986..971c0461 100644
--- a/config/environments/production.rb
+++ b/config/environments/production.rb
@@ -51,10 +51,6 @@
   # Prepend all log lines with the following tags.
   config.log_tags = [:request_id]
 
-  # Use a real queuing backend for Active Job (and separate queues per environment).
-  config.active_job.queue_adapter = :delayed_job
-  # config.active_job.queue_name_prefix = "cherry_production"
-
   config.action_mailer.perform_caching = false
 
   # Ignore bad email addresses and do not raise email delivery errors.
diff --git a/config/environments/test.rb b/config/environments/test.rb
index cdb8476f..149c4596 100644
--- a/config/environments/test.rb
+++ b/config/environments/test.rb
@@ -42,7 +42,6 @@
   # The :test delivery method accumulates sent emails in the
   # ActionMailer::Base.deliveries array.
   config.action_mailer.delivery_method = :test
-  config.action_mailer.perform_deliveries = false
 
   # Print deprecation notices to the stderr.
   config.active_support.deprecation = :stderr
diff --git a/db/migrate/20260420142918_drop_delayed_jobs.rb b/db/migrate/20260420142918_drop_delayed_jobs.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..44107d7c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/db/migrate/20260420142918_drop_delayed_jobs.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+class DropDelayedJobs < ActiveRecord::Migration[7.0]
+  def up
+    drop_table :delayed_jobs
+  end
+
+  def down
+    create_table :delayed_jobs do |table|
+      table.integer :priority, default: 0, null: false
+      table.integer :attempts, default: 0, null: false
+      table.text :handler, null: false
+      table.text :last_error
+      table.datetime :run_at
+      table.datetime :locked_at
+      table.datetime :failed_at
+      table.string :locked_by
+      table.string :queue
+      table.timestamps null: true
+    end
+
+    add_index :delayed_jobs, %i[priority run_at], name: 'delayed_jobs_priority'
+  end
+end
diff --git a/db/schema.rb b/db/schema.rb
index 9e18b8ba..93a1c630 100644
--- a/db/schema.rb
+++ b/db/schema.rb
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 #
 # It's strongly recommended that you check this file into your version control system.
 
-ActiveRecord::Schema[7.2].define(version: 2026_04_17_172507) do
+ActiveRecord::Schema[7.2].define(version: 2026_04_20_142918) do
   # These are extensions that must be enabled in order to support this database
   enable_extension "pg_stat_statements"
   enable_extension "plpgsql"
@@ -126,21 +126,6 @@
     t.index ["project_id"], name: "index_dashboards_on_project_id"
   end
 
-  create_table "delayed_jobs", force: :cascade do |t|
-    t.integer "priority", default: 0, null: false
-    t.integer "attempts", default: 0, null: false
-    t.text "handler", null: false
-    t.text "last_error"
-    t.datetime "run_at"
-    t.datetime "locked_at"
-    t.datetime "failed_at"
-    t.string "locked_by"
-    t.string "queue"
-    t.datetime "created_at"
-    t.datetime "updated_at"
-    t.index ["priority", "run_at"], name: "delayed_jobs_priority"
-  end
-
   create_table "metrics", force: :cascade do |t|
     t.string "name"
     t.bigint "project_id", null: false
diff --git a/test/controllers/user/authorizations_controller_test.rb b/test/controllers/user/authorizations_controller_test.rb
index a23c4800..508a3aca 100644
--- a/test/controllers/user/authorizations_controller_test.rb
+++ b/test/controllers/user/authorizations_controller_test.rb
@@ -19,17 +19,14 @@ class User::AuthorizationsControllerTest < ApplicationIntegrationTest
     it 'sends email to the user to whom the authorization has been granted' do
       Organization.any_instance.stubs(:can_create_new_authorizations?).returns(true)
       sign_in(user, controller_test: true)
-      post(user_authorizations_path(email: 'hello@example.com', organization_id: organization.id), as: :json)
+      assert_emails(1) do
+        post(user_authorizations_path(email: 'hello@example.com', organization_id: organization.id), as: :json)
+      end
       assert_response :success
 
-      assert_enqueued_email_with(
-        UserMailer,
-        :authorization_granted,
-        params: {
-          granted_by_user: user,
-          authorization: Authorization.last
-        }
-      )
+      email = ActionMailer::Base.deliveries.last
+      assert_equal ['hello@example.com'], email.to
+      assert_equal 'Cherry - Authorization Granted', email.subject
     end
 
     it 'notifies admin about new authorizations' do
@@ -37,34 +34,25 @@ class User::AuthorizationsControllerTest < ApplicationIntegrationTest
       authorized_user = create :user
       Authorization.create!(email: authorized_user.email, organization: organization)
       sign_in(authorized_user, controller_test: true)
-      post(user_authorizations_path(email: 'hello@example.com', organization_id: organization.id), as: :json)
+      assert_emails(2) do
+        post(user_authorizations_path(email: 'hello@example.com', organization_id: organization.id), as: :json)
+      end
       assert_response :success
 
-      assert_enqueued_email_with(
-        UserMailer,
-        :authorization_alert,
-        params: {
-          granted_by_user: authorized_user,
-          authorization: Authorization.last
-        }
-      )
+      alert = ActionMailer::Base.deliveries.find { |e| e.subject == 'Cherry - New Authorization' }
+      assert_equal [user.email], alert.to
     end
 
     it 'does not notify admin when the admin is the creator of the authorization' do
       Organization.any_instance.stubs(:can_create_new_authorizations?).returns(true)
       sign_in(user, controller_test: true)
-      post(user_authorizations_path(email: 'hello@example.com', organization_id: organization.id), as: :json)
+      assert_emails(1) do
+        post(user_authorizations_path(email: 'hello@example.com', organization_id: organization.id), as: :json)
+      end
       assert_response :success
 
-      assert_equal 1, ActiveJob::Base.queue_adapter.enqueued_jobs.count
-      assert_enqueued_email_with(
-        UserMailer,
-        :authorization_granted,
-        params: {
-          granted_by_user: user,
-          authorization: Authorization.last
-        }
-      )
+      email = ActionMailer::Base.deliveries.last
+      assert_equal 'Cherry - Authorization Granted', email.subject
     end
   end
 
diff --git a/test/screenshots/dashboard-with-chart.png b/test/screenshots/dashboard-with-chart.png
index e29a3def..53d73728 100644
Binary files a/test/screenshots/dashboard-with-chart.png and b/test/screenshots/dashboard-with-chart.png differ
diff --git a/test/screenshots/metric-contributions.png b/test/screenshots/metric-contributions.png
index d0c07808..2e0deee2 100644
Binary files a/test/screenshots/metric-contributions.png and b/test/screenshots/metric-contributions.png differ
diff --git a/test/tasks/database_cleanup_test.rb b/test/tasks/database_cleanup_test.rb
index 047f0131..56fe1c93 100644
--- a/test/tasks/database_cleanup_test.rb
+++ b/test/tasks/database_cleanup_test.rb
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@ class DatabaseCleanupTest < ActionMailer::TestCase
     it 'deletes older project occurrences' do
       assert_equal 4, Occurrence.count
       Rake::Task['database:cleanup'].execute
-      assert_equal 0, Delayed::Job.count
       assert_equal 2, Occurrence.count
     end
   end