diff --git a/.github/workflows/bumpversion.yml b/.github/workflows/bumpversion.yml
index ed0c8cffc..ba48d677e 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/bumpversion.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/bumpversion.yml
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ jobs:
     name: "Bump version and create changelog with commitizen"
     steps:
       - name: Check out
-        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        uses: actions/checkout@v5
         with:
           fetch-depth: 0
           token: "${{ secrets.PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN }}"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/docspublish.yml b/.github/workflows/docspublish.yml
index 6418a20fa..7a2109266 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/docspublish.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/docspublish.yml
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ jobs:
   update-cli-screenshots:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v5
         with:
           token: ${{ secrets.PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN }}
           fetch-depth: 0
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     needs: update-cli-screenshots
     steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v5
         with:
           token: "${{ secrets.PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN }}"
           fetch-depth: 0
diff --git a/.github/workflows/homebrewpublish.yml b/.github/workflows/homebrewpublish.yml
index f5d8004e7..c9a1b3508 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/homebrewpublish.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/homebrewpublish.yml
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ jobs:
     if: ${{ github.event.workflow_run.conclusion == 'success' }}
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
-        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+        uses: actions/checkout@v5
       - name: Set up Python
         uses: actions/setup-python@v5
         with:
diff --git a/.github/workflows/label_pr.yml b/.github/workflows/label_pr.yml
index 176d7cc79..a74a507bb 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/label_pr.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/label_pr.yml
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ jobs:
       pull-requests: write
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
-    - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+    - uses: actions/checkout@v5
       with:
         sparse-checkout: |
           .github/labeler.yml
diff --git a/.github/workflows/pythonpackage.yml b/.github/workflows/pythonpackage.yml
index b50b02a68..00794babb 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/pythonpackage.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pythonpackage.yml
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ jobs:
         platform: [ubuntu-22.04, macos-latest, windows-latest]
     runs-on: ${{ matrix.platform }}
     steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v5
         with:
           fetch-depth: 0
       - name: Set up Python ${{ matrix.python-version }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/pythonpublish.yml b/.github/workflows/pythonpublish.yml
index dc522bc0f..3976d309d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/pythonpublish.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/pythonpublish.yml
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ jobs:
   deploy:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
     steps:
-      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v5
         with:
           token: "${{ secrets.PERSONAL_ACCESS_TOKEN }}"
           fetch-depth: 0
diff --git a/commitizen/cz/conventional_commits/conventional_commits.py b/commitizen/cz/conventional_commits/conventional_commits.py
index 689342347..6de0baf1f 100644
--- a/commitizen/cz/conventional_commits/conventional_commits.py
+++ b/commitizen/cz/conventional_commits/conventional_commits.py
@@ -154,11 +154,21 @@ def message(self, answers: ConventionalCommitsAnswers) -> str:  # type: ignore[o
         footer = answers["footer"]
         is_breaking_change = answers["is_breaking_change"]
 
+        # Check if breaking change exclamation in title is enabled
+        breaking_change_exclamation_in_title = self.config.settings.get(
+            "breaking_change_exclamation_in_title", False
+        )
+
         if scope:
             scope = f"({scope})"
         if body:
             body = f"\n\n{body}"
         if is_breaking_change:
+            if breaking_change_exclamation_in_title:
+                if scope:
+                    scope = f"{scope}!"
+                else:
+                    prefix = f"{prefix}!"
             footer = f"BREAKING CHANGE: {footer}"
         if footer:
             footer = f"\n\n{footer}"
diff --git a/commitizen/defaults.py b/commitizen/defaults.py
index 94d4d97b2..70d70c045 100644
--- a/commitizen/defaults.py
+++ b/commitizen/defaults.py
@@ -61,6 +61,7 @@ class Settings(TypedDict, total=False):
     version_scheme: str | None
     version_type: str | None
     version: str | None
+    breaking_change_exclamation_in_title: bool
 
 
 CONFIG_FILES: list[str] = [
@@ -108,6 +109,7 @@ class Settings(TypedDict, total=False):
     "always_signoff": False,
     "template": None,  # default provided by plugin
     "extras": {},
+    "breaking_change_exclamation_in_title": False,
 }
 
 MAJOR = "MAJOR"
diff --git a/docs/config.md b/docs/config.md
index 649881dae..c30dcbf7c 100644
--- a/docs/config.md
+++ b/docs/config.md
@@ -103,6 +103,15 @@ Default: `None`
 
 Create custom commit message, useful to skip CI. [Read more][bump_message]
 
+### `breaking_change_exclamation_in_title`
+
+Type: `bool`
+
+Default: `false`
+
+When true, breaking changes will be indicated by an exclamation mark in the commit title (e.g., `feat!: breaking change`).
+When false, breaking changes will be indicated by `BREAKING CHANGE:` in the footer. [Read more][breaking-change-exclamation]
+
 ### `retry_after_failure`
 
 Type: `bool`
diff --git a/docs/tutorials/writing_commits.md b/docs/tutorials/writing_commits.md
index 7d9139929..a64480874 100644
--- a/docs/tutorials/writing_commits.md
+++ b/docs/tutorials/writing_commits.md
@@ -13,6 +13,10 @@ add to your commit body the following `BREAKING CHANGE`.
 Using these three keywords will allow the proper identification of the semantic version.
 Of course, there are other keywords, but I'll leave it to the reader to explore them.
 
+Note: You can also indicate breaking changes by adding an exclamation mark in the commit title
+(e.g., `feat!: breaking change`) by setting the `breaking_change_exclamation_in_title`
+configuration option to `true`. [Read more][breaking-change-config]
+
 ## Writing commits
 
 Now to the important part: when writing commits, it's important to think about:
@@ -44,3 +48,4 @@ Emojis may be added as well (e.g., see [cz-emoji][cz_emoji]), which requires the
 [conventional_commits]: https://www.conventionalcommits.org
 [cz_emoji]: https://commitizen-tools.github.io/commitizen/third-party-commitizen/#cz-emoji
 [configuration]: ../config.md#encoding
+[breaking-change-config]: ../config.md#breaking_change_exclamation_in_title
diff --git a/tests/test_conf.py b/tests/test_conf.py
index f89a0049f..202eadf1f 100644
--- a/tests/test_conf.py
+++ b/tests/test_conf.py
@@ -95,6 +95,7 @@
     "always_signoff": False,
     "template": None,
     "extras": {},
+    "breaking_change_exclamation_in_title": False,
 }
 
 _new_settings: dict[str, Any] = {
@@ -126,6 +127,7 @@
     "always_signoff": False,
     "template": None,
     "extras": {},
+    "breaking_change_exclamation_in_title": False,
 }
 
 
diff --git a/tests/test_cz_conventional_commits.py b/tests/test_cz_conventional_commits.py
index c96e03670..1742b0f3b 100644
--- a/tests/test_cz_conventional_commits.py
+++ b/tests/test_cz_conventional_commits.py
@@ -105,6 +105,55 @@ def test_breaking_change_in_footer(config):
     )
 
 
+@pytest.mark.parametrize(
+    "scope,breaking_change_exclamation_in_title,expected_message",
+    [
+        # Test with scope and breaking_change_exclamation_in_title enabled
+        (
+            "users",
+            True,
+            "feat(users)!: email pattern corrected\n\ncomplete content\n\nBREAKING CHANGE: migrate by renaming user to users",
+        ),
+        # Test without scope and breaking_change_exclamation_in_title enabled
+        (
+            "",
+            True,
+            "feat!: email pattern corrected\n\ncomplete content\n\nBREAKING CHANGE: migrate by renaming user to users",
+        ),
+        # Test with scope and breaking_change_exclamation_in_title disabled
+        (
+            "users",
+            False,
+            "feat(users): email pattern corrected\n\ncomplete content\n\nBREAKING CHANGE: migrate by renaming user to users",
+        ),
+        # Test without scope and breaking_change_exclamation_in_title disabled
+        (
+            "",
+            False,
+            "feat: email pattern corrected\n\ncomplete content\n\nBREAKING CHANGE: migrate by renaming user to users",
+        ),
+    ],
+)
+def test_breaking_change_message_formats(
+    config, scope, breaking_change_exclamation_in_title, expected_message
+):
+    # Set the breaking_change_exclamation_in_title setting
+    config.settings["breaking_change_exclamation_in_title"] = (
+        breaking_change_exclamation_in_title
+    )
+    conventional_commits = ConventionalCommitsCz(config)
+    answers = {
+        "prefix": "feat",
+        "scope": scope,
+        "subject": "email pattern corrected",
+        "is_breaking_change": True,
+        "body": "complete content",
+        "footer": "migrate by renaming user to users",
+    }
+    message = conventional_commits.message(answers)
+    assert message == expected_message
+
+
 def test_example(config):
     """just testing a string is returned. not the content"""
     conventional_commits = ConventionalCommitsCz(config)