diff --git a/web/rap_web/security_middleware.py b/web/rap_web/security_middleware.py
index ad63066..e9fd881 100644
--- a/web/rap_web/security_middleware.py
+++ b/web/rap_web/security_middleware.py
@@ -110,6 +110,8 @@ def get_client_ip(self, request):
 class BasicRateLimitMiddleware(MiddlewareMixin):
     """
     Basic rate limiting middleware as fallback when django-ratelimit is not available.
+    Rate limits login attempts per username to avoid locking out all users behind
+    the same proxy/load balancer when using IP-based rate limiting.
     """
 
     def process_request(self, request):
@@ -119,26 +121,45 @@ def process_request(self, request):
         ):
             return None
 
-        client_ip = self.get_client_ip(request)
-
-        # Rate limit login attempts
+        # Rate limit login attempts by username (not IP, to avoid proxy issues)
         if request.path == "/users/login/" and request.method == "POST":
-            cache_key = f"login_attempts_{client_ip}"
-            attempts = cache.get(cache_key, 0)
+            failure_limit = getattr(settings, "AXES_FAILURE_LIMIT", 5)
+            username = request.POST.get("username", "").strip().lower()
+            if username:
+                cache_key = f"login_attempts_user_{username}"
+                attempts = cache.get(cache_key, 0)
 
-            if attempts >= 5:  # Max 5 attempts per 5 minutes
-                logger.warning(
-                    f"Rate limit exceeded for login attempts from IP {client_ip}"
-                )
-                return HttpResponse(
-                    "Te veel inlogpogingen. Probeer het over 5 minuten opnieuw.",
-                    status=429,
-                )
+                if attempts >= failure_limit:
+                    logger.warning(
+                        f"Rate limit exceeded for login attempts for username '{username}'"
+                    )
+                    return HttpResponse(
+                        "Te veel inlogpogingen. Probeer het over 5 minuten opnieuw.",
+                        status=429,
+                    )
+
+                cache.set(cache_key, attempts + 1, 300)  # 5 minutes
+            else:
+                # No username provided — fall back to IP-based limiting to block
+                # empty-username probes from the same source.
+                client_ip = self.get_client_ip(request)
+                cache_key = f"login_attempts_nouser_{client_ip}"
+                attempts = cache.get(cache_key, 0)
+
+                if attempts >= failure_limit:
+                    logger.warning(
+                        f"Rate limit exceeded for username-less login attempts from IP {client_ip}"
+                    )
+                    return HttpResponse(
+                        "Te veel inlogpogingen. Probeer het over 5 minuten opnieuw.",
+                        status=429,
+                    )
 
-            cache.set(cache_key, attempts + 1, 300)  # 5 minutes
+                cache.set(cache_key, attempts + 1, 300)  # 5 minutes
 
-        # Rate limit registration attempts
+        # Rate limit registration attempts by IP (registration has no username yet)
         if request.path == "/users/register/" and request.method == "POST":
+            client_ip = self.get_client_ip(request)
             cache_key = f"register_attempts_{client_ip}"
             attempts = cache.get(cache_key, 0)
 
diff --git a/web/rap_web/settings.py b/web/rap_web/settings.py
index ae09452..6a1b518 100644
--- a/web/rap_web/settings.py
+++ b/web/rap_web/settings.py
@@ -121,6 +121,7 @@ def load_file_secret(file_path: str | None) -> str | None:
     "django.middleware.security.SecurityMiddleware",
     "whitenoise.middleware.WhiteNoiseMiddleware",  # Static files security
     "django.contrib.sessions.middleware.SessionMiddleware",
+    "axes.middleware.AxesMiddleware",  # Account lockout (must be after SessionMiddleware)
     "django.middleware.common.CommonMiddleware",
     "django.middleware.csrf.CsrfViewMiddleware",
     "django.contrib.auth.middleware.AuthenticationMiddleware",  # Must be before custom middleware that uses request.user
@@ -133,8 +134,6 @@ def load_file_secret(file_path: str | None) -> str | None:
     "rap_web.middleware.LoginRequiredMiddleware",
     "django.contrib.messages.middleware.MessageMiddleware",
     "django.middleware.clickjacking.XFrameOptionsMiddleware",
-    # Will be enabled when packages are installed:
-    "axes.middleware.AxesMiddleware",  # Account lockout
     "corsheaders.middleware.CorsMiddleware",  # CORS
     "csp.middleware.CSPMiddleware",  # Content Security Policy
 ]
@@ -405,6 +404,19 @@ def load_file_secret(file_path: str | None) -> str | None:
     "django.contrib.auth.backends.ModelBackend",  # Default Django backend
 ]
 
+# =============================================================================
+# ACCOUNT LOCKOUT CONFIGURATION (django-axes)
+# =============================================================================
+# Lock accounts by username only — NOT by IP address.
+# Locking by IP causes all users behind the same proxy/load balancer to be
+# locked out simultaneously when any one user exceeds the failure limit.
+AXES_ENABLED = True
+AXES_LOCKOUT_PARAMETERS = ["username"]  # Username-only lockout (not IP-based)
+AXES_FAILURE_LIMIT = 5  # Lock after 5 failed attempts
+AXES_COOLOFF_TIME = 1  # Lockout duration in hours
+AXES_RESET_ON_SUCCESS = True  # Clear failed attempts on successful login
+AXES_HANDLER = "axes.handlers.database.AxesDatabaseHandler"
+
 # =============================================================================
 # CELERY CONFIGURATION
 # =============================================================================
diff --git a/web/users/tests.py b/web/users/tests.py
index f8d1a3f..8c53b8c 100644
--- a/web/users/tests.py
+++ b/web/users/tests.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-from django.test import TestCase, Client
+from django.test import TestCase, Client, override_settings
 from django.urls import reverse
 from django.contrib.auth import get_user_model
 from django.core.files.uploadedfile import SimpleUploadedFile
@@ -304,3 +304,104 @@ def test_regular_player_cannot_access_invaller_matches(self):
         # Should be redirected when trying to access invaller matches
         response = self.client.get(reverse('events:invaller_matches'))
         self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 302)  # Redirect
+
+
+# Settings overrides to enable django-axes for lockout tests
+_AXES_TEST_MIDDLEWARE = [
+    'django.middleware.security.SecurityMiddleware',
+    'whitenoise.middleware.WhiteNoiseMiddleware',
+    'django.contrib.sessions.middleware.SessionMiddleware',
+    'axes.middleware.AxesMiddleware',
+    'django.middleware.common.CommonMiddleware',
+    'django.middleware.csrf.CsrfViewMiddleware',
+    'django.contrib.auth.middleware.AuthenticationMiddleware',
+    'django.contrib.messages.middleware.MessageMiddleware',
+    'django.middleware.clickjacking.XFrameOptionsMiddleware',
+]
+_AXES_TEST_AUTH_BACKENDS = [
+    'axes.backends.AxesStandaloneBackend',
+    'django.contrib.auth.backends.ModelBackend',
+]
+
+
+@override_settings(
+    MIDDLEWARE=_AXES_TEST_MIDDLEWARE,
+    AUTHENTICATION_BACKENDS=_AXES_TEST_AUTH_BACKENDS,
+    AXES_ENABLED=True,
+    AXES_LOCKOUT_PARAMETERS=["username"],
+    AXES_FAILURE_LIMIT=3,
+    AXES_COOLOFF_TIME=1,
+    AXES_RESET_ON_SUCCESS=True,
+    AXES_HANDLER="axes.handlers.database.AxesDatabaseHandler",
+)
+class AccountLockoutTestCase(TestCase):
+    """
+    Tests to verify account lockout is per-username and that one user's
+    failed login attempts do not lock out other users (proxy/IP isolation).
+    """
+
+    def setUp(self):
+        from django.core.cache import cache as _cache
+        _cache.clear()
+        self.client = Client()
+        self.user1 = User.objects.create_user(
+            username='lockout_user1',
+            email='user1@example.com',
+            password='correctpass123!',
+            is_active=True,
+        )
+        self.user2 = User.objects.create_user(
+            username='lockout_user2',
+            email='user2@example.com',
+            password='correctpass456!',
+            is_active=True,
+        )
+
+    def _post_login(self, username, password, ip='127.0.0.1'):
+        return self.client.post(
+            reverse('users:login'),
+            {'username': username, 'password': password},
+            REMOTE_ADDR=ip,
+        )
+
+    def test_failed_logins_lock_only_the_targeted_user(self):
+        """
+        Failing to log in for user1 should not lock out user2,
+        even when requests come from the same IP address.
+        """
+        shared_ip = '10.0.0.1'
+
+        # Exhaust the failure limit for user1 from shared IP
+        for _ in range(3):
+            self._post_login('lockout_user1', 'wrongpassword', ip=shared_ip)
+
+        # user1 should now be locked out (axes returns 429 Too Many Requests)
+        response = self._post_login('lockout_user1', 'correctpass123!', ip=shared_ip)
+        self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 429,
+                         "user1 should be locked out after exceeding failure limit")
+
+        # user2 should still be able to log in from the same IP
+        response = self._post_login('lockout_user2', 'correctpass456!', ip=shared_ip)
+        self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 302,
+                         "user2 should NOT be locked out by user1's failed attempts")
+
+    def test_lockout_is_per_user_not_per_ip(self):
+        """Each user has an independent lockout counter."""
+        # Fail login 2 times for user1 (below limit)
+        for _ in range(2):
+            self._post_login('lockout_user1', 'wrong', ip='192.168.1.1')
+
+        # user2 should still be able to log in
+        response = self._post_login('lockout_user2', 'correctpass456!', ip='192.168.1.1')
+        self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 302,
+                         "user2 should be unaffected by user1's partial failure count")
+
+    def test_user_locked_after_failure_limit(self):
+        """A user is locked after exceeding AXES_FAILURE_LIMIT failed attempts."""
+        for _ in range(3):
+            self._post_login('lockout_user1', 'badpassword')
+
+        # Correct password but account is locked (axes returns 429 Too Many Requests)
+        response = self._post_login('lockout_user1', 'correctpass123!')
+        self.assertEqual(response.status_code, 429,
+                         "User should be locked after exceeding failure limit")
diff --git a/web/users/views.py b/web/users/views.py
index 82a8cbf..e48c1b5 100644
--- a/web/users/views.py
+++ b/web/users/views.py
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ def register(request: HttpRequest):
     return render(request, "users/register.html", {"form": form})
 
 
-@ratelimit(key="ip", rate="10/m", method="POST", block=True)
+@ratelimit(key="post:username", rate="6/m", method="POST", block=True)
 @require_http_methods(["GET", "POST"])
 @csrf_protect
 @never_cache