diff --git a/backend/internal/bootstrap/router_bootstrap.go b/backend/internal/bootstrap/router_bootstrap.go
index 2e362475..3c1072be 100644
--- a/backend/internal/bootstrap/router_bootstrap.go
+++ b/backend/internal/bootstrap/router_bootstrap.go
@@ -41,11 +41,11 @@ func initRouter(db *gorm.DB, svc *services) utils.Service {
 func initRouterInternal(db *gorm.DB, svc *services) (utils.Service, error) {
 	// Set the appropriate Gin mode based on the environment
 	switch common.EnvConfig.AppEnv {
-	case "production":
+	case common.AppEnvProduction:
 		gin.SetMode(gin.ReleaseMode)
-	case "development":
+	case common.AppEnvDevelopment:
 		gin.SetMode(gin.DebugMode)
-	case "test":
+	case common.AppEnvTest:
 		gin.SetMode(gin.TestMode)
 	}
 
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ func initRouterInternal(db *gorm.DB, svc *services) (utils.Service, error) {
 	controller.NewVersionController(apiGroup, svc.versionService)
 
 	// Add test controller in non-production environments
-	if common.EnvConfig.AppEnv != "production" {
+	if !common.EnvConfig.AppEnv.IsProduction() {
 		for _, f := range registerTestControllers {
 			f(apiGroup, db, svc)
 		}
diff --git a/backend/internal/common/env_config.go b/backend/internal/common/env_config.go
index ea2f2a2b..cec8df15 100644
--- a/backend/internal/common/env_config.go
+++ b/backend/internal/common/env_config.go
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import (
 	_ "github.com/joho/godotenv/autoload"
 )
 
+type AppEnv string
 type DbProvider string
 
 const (
@@ -25,6 +26,9 @@ const (
 )
 
 const (
+	AppEnvProduction        AppEnv     = "production"
+	AppEnvDevelopment       AppEnv     = "development"
+	AppEnvTest              AppEnv     = "test"
 	DbProviderSqlite        DbProvider = "sqlite"
 	DbProviderPostgres      DbProvider = "postgres"
 	MaxMindGeoLiteCityUrl   string     = "https://download.maxmind.com/app/geoip_download?edition_id=GeoLite2-City&license_key=%s&suffix=tar.gz"
@@ -34,7 +38,7 @@ const (
 )
 
 type EnvConfigSchema struct {
-	AppEnv             string     `env:"APP_ENV" options:"toLower"`
+	AppEnv             AppEnv     `env:"APP_ENV" options:"toLower"`
 	LogLevel           string     `env:"LOG_LEVEL" options:"toLower"`
 	AppURL             string     `env:"APP_URL" options:"toLower,trimTrailingSlash"`
 	DbProvider         DbProvider `env:"DB_PROVIDER" options:"toLower"`
@@ -80,7 +84,7 @@ func init() {
 
 func defaultConfig() EnvConfigSchema {
 	return EnvConfigSchema{
-		AppEnv:        "production",
+		AppEnv:        AppEnvProduction,
 		LogLevel:      "info",
 		DbProvider:    "sqlite",
 		FileBackend:   "fs",
@@ -288,3 +292,11 @@ func resolveFileBasedEnvVariable(field reflect.Value, fieldType reflect.StructFi
 
 	return nil
 }
+
+func (a AppEnv) IsProduction() bool {
+	return a == AppEnvProduction
+}
+
+func (a AppEnv) IsTest() bool {
+	return a == AppEnvTest
+}
diff --git a/backend/internal/common/env_config_test.go b/backend/internal/common/env_config_test.go
index 397991f9..8faae952 100644
--- a/backend/internal/common/env_config_test.go
+++ b/backend/internal/common/env_config_test.go
@@ -192,7 +192,7 @@ func TestParseEnvConfig(t *testing.T) {
 		t.Setenv("DB_PROVIDER", "postgres")
 		t.Setenv("DB_CONNECTION_STRING", "postgres://test")
 		t.Setenv("APP_URL", "https://prod.example.com")
-		t.Setenv("APP_ENV", "STAGING")
+		t.Setenv("APP_ENV", "PRODUCTION")
 		t.Setenv("UPLOAD_PATH", "/custom/uploads")
 		t.Setenv("KEYS_PATH", "/custom/keys")
 		t.Setenv("PORT", "8080")
@@ -203,7 +203,7 @@ func TestParseEnvConfig(t *testing.T) {
 
 		err := parseEnvConfig()
 		require.NoError(t, err)
-		assert.Equal(t, "staging", EnvConfig.AppEnv) // lowercased
+		assert.Equal(t, AppEnvProduction, EnvConfig.AppEnv) // lowercased
 		assert.Equal(t, "/custom/uploads", EnvConfig.UploadPath)
 		assert.Equal(t, "8080", EnvConfig.Port)
 		assert.Equal(t, "localhost", EnvConfig.Host) // lowercased
@@ -279,7 +279,7 @@ func TestPrepareEnvConfig_FileBasedAndToLower(t *testing.T) {
 		err := prepareEnvConfig(&config)
 		require.NoError(t, err)
 
-		assert.Equal(t, "staging", config.AppEnv)
+		assert.Equal(t, AppEnv("staging"), config.AppEnv)
 		assert.Equal(t, "localhost", config.Host)
 		assert.Equal(t, []byte(encryptionKeyContent), config.EncryptionKey)
 		assert.Equal(t, dbConnContent, config.DbConnectionString)
diff --git a/backend/internal/job/analytics_job.go b/backend/internal/job/analytics_job.go
index 468d45f0..6cf2b944 100644
--- a/backend/internal/job/analytics_job.go
+++ b/backend/internal/job/analytics_job.go
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ const heartbeatUrl = "https://analytics.pocket-id.org/heartbeat"
 
 func (s *Scheduler) RegisterAnalyticsJob(ctx context.Context, appConfig *service.AppConfigService, httpClient *http.Client) error {
 	// Skip if analytics are disabled or not in production environment
-	if common.EnvConfig.AnalyticsDisabled || common.EnvConfig.AppEnv != "production" {
+	if common.EnvConfig.AnalyticsDisabled || !common.EnvConfig.AppEnv.IsProduction() {
 		return nil
 	}
 
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ type AnalyticsJob struct {
 // sendHeartbeat sends a heartbeat to the analytics service
 func (j *AnalyticsJob) sendHeartbeat(parentCtx context.Context) error {
 	// Skip if analytics are disabled or not in production environment
-	if common.EnvConfig.AnalyticsDisabled || common.EnvConfig.AppEnv != "production" {
+	if common.EnvConfig.AnalyticsDisabled || !common.EnvConfig.AppEnv.IsProduction() {
 		return nil
 	}
 
diff --git a/backend/internal/middleware/rate_limit.go b/backend/internal/middleware/rate_limit.go
index 910b5865..210ea273 100644
--- a/backend/internal/middleware/rate_limit.go
+++ b/backend/internal/middleware/rate_limit.go
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ func (m *RateLimitMiddleware) Add(limit rate.Limit, burst int) gin.HandlerFunc {
 
 		// Skip rate limiting for localhost and test environment
 		// If the client ip is localhost the request comes from the frontend
-		if ip == "" || ip == "127.0.0.1" || ip == "::1" || common.EnvConfig.AppEnv == "test" {
+		if ip == "" || ip == "127.0.0.1" || ip == "::1" || common.EnvConfig.AppEnv.IsTest() {
 			c.Next()
 			return
 		}