diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 9e7b6f9..dbc031b 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -135,6 +135,11 @@ MAINTENANCE_MODE_LOGOUT_AUTHENTICATED_USER = False
 MAINTENANCE_MODE_REDIRECT_URL = None
 ```
 
+```python
+# the type of the response returned during maintenance mode, can be either "html" or "json"
+MAINTENANCE_MODE_RESPONSE_TYPE = "html"
+```
+
 ```python
 # the template that will be shown by the maintenance-mode page
 MAINTENANCE_MODE_TEMPLATE = "503.html"
diff --git a/maintenance_mode/http.py b/maintenance_mode/http.py
index eb2ea2a..e73900c 100644
--- a/maintenance_mode/http.py
+++ b/maintenance_mode/http.py
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 from django.conf import settings
 from django.contrib.auth import logout
 from django.core.exceptions import ImproperlyConfigured
+from django.http import JsonResponse
 from django.shortcuts import redirect, render
 from django.urls import NoReverseMatch, Resolver404, resolve, reverse
 from django.utils.cache import add_never_cache_headers
@@ -13,15 +14,8 @@
 from maintenance_mode.utils import get_client_ip_address
 
 
-def get_maintenance_response(request):
-    """
-    Return a '503 Service Unavailable' maintenance response.
-    """
-    if settings.MAINTENANCE_MODE_REDIRECT_URL:
-        return redirect(settings.MAINTENANCE_MODE_REDIRECT_URL)
-
+def get_maintenance_response_context(request):
     context = {}
-
     if settings.MAINTENANCE_MODE_GET_TEMPLATE_CONTEXT:
         try:
             get_request_context_func = import_string(
@@ -34,19 +28,57 @@ def get_maintenance_response(request):
             ) from error
 
         context = get_request_context_func(request=request)
+    return context
+
+
+def get_maintenance_response(request):
+    """
+    Return a '503 Service Unavailable' HTML or JSON response based on user preference.
+    """
+    if settings.MAINTENANCE_MODE_REDIRECT_URL:
+        return redirect(settings.MAINTENANCE_MODE_REDIRECT_URL)
+
+    response = None
+    response_type = settings.MAINTENANCE_MODE_RESPONSE_TYPE
+    if response_type == "html":
+        response = get_maintenance_html_response(request)
+    elif response_type == "json":
+        response = get_maintenance_json_response(request)
+    else:
+        raise ImproperlyConfigured(
+            "settings.MAINTENANCE_MODE_RESPONSE_TYPE value must be 'html' or 'json'."
+        )
 
-    kwargs = {"context": context}
+    if settings.MAINTENANCE_MODE_RETRY_AFTER:
+        response["Retry-After"] = settings.MAINTENANCE_MODE_RETRY_AFTER
+
+    add_never_cache_headers(response)
+    return response
+
+
+def get_maintenance_html_response(request):
+    """
+    Return an HTML response for maintenance.
+    """
+    context = get_maintenance_response_context(request)
     response = render(
         request,
         settings.MAINTENANCE_MODE_TEMPLATE,
         status=settings.MAINTENANCE_MODE_STATUS_CODE,
-        **kwargs,
+        context=context,
     )
+    return response
 
-    if settings.MAINTENANCE_MODE_RETRY_AFTER:
-        response["Retry-After"] = settings.MAINTENANCE_MODE_RETRY_AFTER
 
-    add_never_cache_headers(response)
+def get_maintenance_json_response(request):
+    """
+    Return a JSON response for maintenance.
+    """
+    context = get_maintenance_response_context(request)
+    response = JsonResponse(
+        context,
+        status=settings.MAINTENANCE_MODE_STATUS_CODE,
+    )
     return response
 
 
diff --git a/maintenance_mode/settings.py b/maintenance_mode/settings.py
index 0e79437..a6d0207 100644
--- a/maintenance_mode/settings.py
+++ b/maintenance_mode/settings.py
@@ -43,6 +43,9 @@
 if not hasattr(settings, "MAINTENANCE_MODE_REDIRECT_URL"):
     settings.MAINTENANCE_MODE_REDIRECT_URL = None
 
+if not hasattr(settings, "MAINTENANCE_MODE_RESPONSE_TYPE"):
+    settings.MAINTENANCE_MODE_RESPONSE_TYPE = "html"
+
 if not hasattr(settings, "MAINTENANCE_MODE_STATE_BACKEND"):
     settings.MAINTENANCE_MODE_STATE_BACKEND = (
         "maintenance_mode.backends.LocalFileBackend"
diff --git a/tests/tests.py b/tests/tests.py
index ecd9010..5bc5cea 100644
--- a/tests/tests.py
+++ b/tests/tests.py
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 from django.core.exceptions import ImproperlyConfigured
 from django.core.management import call_command
 from django.core.management.base import CommandError
+from django.http import HttpResponse, JsonResponse
 from django.test import (
     Client,
     RequestFactory,
@@ -1000,6 +1001,26 @@ def test_middleware_get_template_context(self):
         val = response.context.get("TEST_MAINTENANCE_MODE_GET_TEMPLATE_CONTEXT", False)
         self.assertFalse(val)
 
+    def test_middleware_response_type(self):
+        self.__reset_state()
+
+        settings.MAINTENANCE_MODE = True
+        request = self.__get_anonymous_user_request("/")
+
+        settings.MAINTENANCE_MODE_RESPONSE_TYPE = "none"
+        with self.assertRaises(ImproperlyConfigured):
+            self.middleware.process_request(request)
+
+        settings.MAINTENANCE_MODE_RESPONSE_TYPE = "json"
+        response = self.middleware.process_request(request)
+        self.assertMaintenanceResponse(response)
+        self.assertTrue(isinstance(response, JsonResponse))
+
+        settings.MAINTENANCE_MODE_RESPONSE_TYPE = "html"
+        response = self.middleware.process_request(request)
+        self.assertMaintenanceResponse(response)
+        self.assertTrue(isinstance(response, HttpResponse))
+
 
 class TestOverrideMaintenanceMode(SimpleTestCase):
     """