diff --git a/.cargo/config.toml b/.cargo/config.toml
index 4425e0dda..deb300749 100644
--- a/.cargo/config.toml
+++ b/.cargo/config.toml
@@ -6,9 +6,12 @@ lint-all = "clippy --workspace --all-features --tests --examples --bins -- -Dcli
 ci-check-min = "hack --workspace check --no-default-features"
 ci-check-default = "hack --workspace check"
 ci-check-default-tests = "check --workspace --tests"
-ci-check-all-feature-powerset="hack --workspace --feature-powerset --skip=__compress,io-uring check"
+ci-check-all-feature-powerset="hack --workspace --feature-powerset --skip=__compress,experimental-io-uring check"
 ci-check-all-feature-powerset-linux="hack --workspace --feature-powerset --skip=__compress check"
 
 # testing
 ci-doctest-default = "test --workspace --doc --no-fail-fast -- --nocapture"
 ci-doctest = "test --workspace --all-features --doc --no-fail-fast -- --nocapture"
+
+# compile docs as docs.rs would
+# RUSTDOCFLAGS="--cfg=docsrs" cargo +nightly doc --no-deps --workspace
diff --git a/actix-web/CHANGES.md b/actix-web/CHANGES.md
index a7e0a0309..77918341a 100644
--- a/actix-web/CHANGES.md
+++ b/actix-web/CHANGES.md
@@ -1,6 +1,13 @@
 # Changes
 
 ## Unreleased - 2021-xx-xx
+### Added
+- On-by-default `macros` feature flag to enable routing and runtime macros. [#2619]
+
+### Removed
+- `rt::{Arbiter, ArbiterHandle}` re-exports. [#2619]
+
+[#2601]: https://github.com/actix/actix-web/pull/2601
 
 
 ## 4.0.0-rc.1 - 2022-01-31
diff --git a/actix-web/Cargo.toml b/actix-web/Cargo.toml
index 4e10dce18..92c303b5c 100644
--- a/actix-web/Cargo.toml
+++ b/actix-web/Cargo.toml
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ edition = "2018"
 
 [package.metadata.docs.rs]
 # features that docs.rs will build with
-features = ["openssl", "rustls", "compress-brotli", "compress-gzip", "compress-zstd", "cookies", "secure-cookies"]
+features = ["macros", "openssl", "rustls", "compress-brotli", "compress-gzip", "compress-zstd", "cookies", "secure-cookies"]
 rustdoc-args = ["--cfg", "docsrs"]
 
 [lib]
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ name = "actix_web"
 path = "src/lib.rs"
 
 [features]
-default = ["compress-brotli", "compress-gzip", "compress-zstd", "cookies"]
+default = ["macros", "compress-brotli", "compress-gzip", "compress-zstd", "cookies"]
 
 # Brotli algorithm content-encoding support
 compress-brotli = ["actix-http/compress-brotli", "__compress"]
@@ -37,16 +37,23 @@ compress-gzip = ["actix-http/compress-gzip", "__compress"]
 # Zstd algorithm content-encoding support
 compress-zstd = ["actix-http/compress-zstd", "__compress"]
 
-# support for cookies
+# Routing and runtime proc macros
+macros = [
+    "actix-rt/macros",
+    "actix-macros",
+    "actix-web-codegen",
+]
+
+# Cookies support
 cookies = ["cookie"]
 
-# secure cookies feature
-secure-cookies = ["cookie/secure"]
+# Secure & signed cookies
+secure-cookies = ["cookies", "cookie/secure"]
 
-# openssl
+# TLS via OpenSSL
 openssl = ["actix-http/openssl", "actix-tls/accept", "actix-tls/openssl"]
 
-# rustls
+# TLS via Rustls
 rustls = ["actix-http/rustls", "actix-tls/accept", "actix-tls/rustls"]
 
 # Internal (PRIVATE!) features used to aid testing and checking feature status.
@@ -58,16 +65,16 @@ experimental-io-uring = ["actix-server/io-uring"]
 
 [dependencies]
 actix-codec = "0.4.1"
-actix-macros = "0.2.3"
-actix-rt = "2.6"
+actix-macros = { version = "0.2.3", optional = true }
+actix-rt = { version = "2.6", default-features = false }
 actix-server = "2"
-actix-service = "2.0.0"
-actix-utils = "3.0.0"
-actix-tls = { version = "3.0.0", default-features = false, optional = true }
+actix-service = "2"
+actix-utils = "3"
+actix-tls = { version = "3", default-features = false, optional = true }
 
 actix-http = { version = "3.0.0-rc.1", features = ["http2", "ws"] }
 actix-router = "0.5.0-rc.3"
-actix-web-codegen = "0.5.0-rc.2"
+actix-web-codegen = { version = "0.5.0-rc.2", optional = true }
 
 ahash = "0.7"
 bytes = "1"
@@ -84,7 +91,7 @@ log = "0.4"
 mime = "0.3"
 pin-project-lite = "0.2.7"
 regex = "1.4"
-serde = { version = "1.0", features = ["derive"] }
+serde = "1.0"
 serde_json = "1.0"
 serde_urlencoded = "0.7"
 smallvec = "1.6.1"
@@ -106,6 +113,7 @@ futures-util = { version = "0.3.7", default-features = false, features = ["std"]
 rand = "0.8"
 rcgen = "0.8"
 rustls-pemfile = "0.2"
+serde = { version = "1.0", features = ["derive"] }
 static_assertions = "1"
 tls-openssl = { package = "openssl", version = "0.10.9" }
 tls-rustls = { package = "rustls", version = "0.20.0" }
diff --git a/actix-web/examples/macroless.rs b/actix-web/examples/macroless.rs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..78ffd45c1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/actix-web/examples/macroless.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+use actix_web::{middleware, rt, web, App, HttpRequest, HttpServer};
+
+async fn index(req: HttpRequest) -> &'static str {
+    println!("REQ: {:?}", req);
+    "Hello world!\r\n"
+}
+
+fn main() -> std::io::Result<()> {
+    env_logger::init_from_env(env_logger::Env::new().default_filter_or("info"));
+
+    rt::System::new().block_on(
+        HttpServer::new(|| {
+            App::new()
+                .wrap(middleware::Logger::default())
+                .service(web::resource("/").route(web::get().to(index)))
+        })
+        .bind(("127.0.0.1", 8080))?
+        .workers(1)
+        .run(),
+    )
+}
diff --git a/actix-web/src/app.rs b/actix-web/src/app.rs
index a63cf5d50..be3526393 100644
--- a/actix-web/src/app.rs
+++ b/actix-web/src/app.rs
@@ -21,8 +21,7 @@ use crate::{
     },
 };
 
-/// Application builder - structure that follows the builder pattern
-/// for building application instances.
+/// The top-level builder for an Actix Web application.
 pub struct App<T> {
     endpoint: T,
     services: Vec<Box<dyn AppServiceFactory>>,
diff --git a/actix-web/src/lib.rs b/actix-web/src/lib.rs
index 18f0d581d..c3313db81 100644
--- a/actix-web/src/lib.rs
+++ b/actix-web/src/lib.rs
@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@
 //!
 //! # Crate Features
 //! * `cookies` - cookies support (enabled by default)
+//! * `macros` - routing and runtime macros (enabled by default)
 //! * `compress-brotli` - brotli content encoding compression support (enabled by default)
 //! * `compress-gzip` - gzip and deflate content encoding compression support (enabled by default)
 //! * `compress-zstd` - zstd content encoding compression support (enabled by default)
@@ -68,6 +69,7 @@
 #![warn(future_incompatible)]
 #![doc(html_logo_url = "https://actix.rs/img/logo.png")]
 #![doc(html_favicon_url = "https://actix.rs/favicon.ico")]
+#![cfg_attr(docsrs, feature(doc_cfg))]
 
 mod app;
 mod app_service;
@@ -88,6 +90,7 @@ mod resource;
 mod response;
 mod rmap;
 mod route;
+pub mod rt;
 mod scope;
 mod server;
 mod service;
@@ -95,15 +98,10 @@ pub mod test;
 pub(crate) mod types;
 pub mod web;
 
-pub use actix_http::{body, HttpMessage};
-#[doc(inline)]
-pub use actix_rt as rt;
-pub use actix_web_codegen::*;
-#[cfg(feature = "cookies")]
-pub use cookie;
-
 pub use crate::app::App;
-pub use crate::error::{Error, ResponseError, Result};
+#[doc(inline)]
+pub use crate::error::Result;
+pub use crate::error::{Error, ResponseError};
 pub use crate::extract::FromRequest;
 pub use crate::handler::Handler;
 pub use crate::request::HttpRequest;
@@ -114,4 +112,32 @@ pub use crate::scope::Scope;
 pub use crate::server::HttpServer;
 pub use crate::types::Either;
 
+pub use actix_http::{body, HttpMessage};
+
+#[cfg(feature = "cookies")]
+#[cfg_attr(docsrs, doc(cfg(feature = "cookies")))]
+#[doc(inline)]
+pub use cookie;
+
+macro_rules! codegen_reexport {
+    ($name:ident) => {
+        #[cfg(feature = "macros")]
+        #[cfg_attr(docsrs, doc(cfg(feature = "macros")))]
+        pub use actix_web_codegen::$name;
+    };
+}
+
+codegen_reexport!(main);
+codegen_reexport!(test);
+codegen_reexport!(route);
+codegen_reexport!(head);
+codegen_reexport!(get);
+codegen_reexport!(post);
+codegen_reexport!(patch);
+codegen_reexport!(put);
+codegen_reexport!(delete);
+codegen_reexport!(trace);
+codegen_reexport!(connect);
+codegen_reexport!(options);
+
 pub(crate) type BoxError = Box<dyn std::error::Error>;
diff --git a/actix-web/src/rt.rs b/actix-web/src/rt.rs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..87d76048f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/actix-web/src/rt.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+//! A selection of re-exports from [`actix-rt`] and [`tokio`].
+//!
+//! [`actix-rt`]: https://docs.rs/actix_rt
+//! [`tokio`]: https://docs.rs/tokio
+//!
+//! # Running Actix Web Macro-less
+//! ```no_run
+//! use actix_web::{middleware, rt, web, App, HttpRequest, HttpServer};
+//!
+//! async fn index(req: HttpRequest) -> &'static str {
+//!     println!("REQ: {:?}", req);
+//!     "Hello world!\r\n"
+//! }
+//!
+//! # fn main() -> std::io::Result<()> {
+//! rt::System::new().block_on(
+//!     HttpServer::new(|| {
+//!         App::new()
+//!             .wrap(middleware::Logger::default())
+//!             .service(web::resource("/").route(web::get().to(index)))
+//!     })
+//!     .bind(("127.0.0.1", 8080))?
+//!     .workers(1)
+//!     .run()
+//! )
+//! # }
+//! ```
+
+// In particular:
+// - Omit the `Arbiter` types because they have limited value here.
+// - Re-export but hide the runtime macros because they won't work directly but are required for
+//   `#[actix_web::main]` and `#[actix_web::test]` to work.
+
+pub use actix_rt::{net, pin, signal, spawn, task, time, Runtime, System, SystemRunner};
+
+#[cfg(feature = "macros")]
+#[doc(hidden)]
+pub use actix_rt::{main, test};
diff --git a/actix-web/src/service.rs b/actix-web/src/service.rs
index 061c3e044..3843abcf8 100644
--- a/actix-web/src/service.rs
+++ b/actix-web/src/service.rs
@@ -610,11 +610,10 @@ where
     }
 }
 
-/// Macro helping register different types of services at the sametime.
+/// Macro to help register different types of services at the same time.
 ///
-/// The service type must be implementing [`HttpServiceFactory`](self::HttpServiceFactory) trait.
-///
-/// The max number of services can be grouped together is 12.
+/// The max number of services that can be grouped together is 12 and all must implement the
+/// [`HttpServiceFactory`] trait.
 ///
 /// # Examples
 /// ```