diff --git a/packages/runner/src/run.ts b/packages/runner/src/run.ts
index b9dee3aa524e..86641c0a85b3 100644
--- a/packages/runner/src/run.ts
+++ b/packages/runner/src/run.ts
@@ -17,9 +17,7 @@ import type {
   TestContext,
   WriteableTestContext,
 } from './types/tasks'
-import { processError } from '@vitest/utils/error' // TODO: load dynamically
-import { shuffle } from '@vitest/utils/helpers'
-import { getSafeTimers } from '@vitest/utils/timers'
+
 import { collectTests } from './collect'
 import { abortContextSignal, getFileContext } from './context'
 import { PendingError, TestRunAbortError } from './errors'
@@ -299,9 +297,10 @@ export async function runTest(test: Test, runner: VitestRunner): Promise<void> {
   const suite = test.suite || test.file
 
   const repeats = test.repeats ?? 0
+  const retryConfig = normalizeRetryConfig(test.retry ?? runner.config.retry)
+
   for (let repeatCount = 0; repeatCount <= repeats; repeatCount++) {
-    const retry = test.retry ?? 0
-    for (let retryCount = 0; retryCount <= retry; retryCount++) {
+    for (let retryCount = 0; retryCount <= retryConfig.count; retryCount++) {
       let beforeEachCleanups: unknown[] = []
       try {
         await runner.onBeforeTryTask?.(test, {
@@ -341,13 +340,17 @@ export async function runTest(test: Test, runner: VitestRunner): Promise<void> {
           if (!test.repeats) {
             test.result.state = 'pass'
           }
-          else if (test.repeats && retry === retryCount) {
+          else if (test.repeats && retryConfig.count === retryCount) {
             test.result.state = 'pass'
           }
         }
       }
       catch (e) {
         failTask(test.result, e, runner.config.diffOptions)
+
+        if (e instanceof Error && !shouldRetryOnError(e, retryConfig.condition)) {
+          break
+        }
       }
 
       try {
@@ -402,13 +405,16 @@ export async function runTest(test: Test, runner: VitestRunner): Promise<void> {
         break
       }
 
-      if (retryCount < retry) {
-        // reset state when retry test
+      if (retryCount < retryConfig.count) {
         test.result.state = 'run'
         test.result.retryCount = (test.result.retryCount ?? 0) + 1
+
+        if (retryConfig.delay > 0) {
+          const delayMs = calculateBackoffDelay(retryConfig.delay, retryCount)
+          await sleep(delayMs)
+        }
       }
 
-      // update retry info
       updateTask('test-retried', test, runner)
     }
   }
diff --git a/packages/runner/src/suite.ts b/packages/runner/src/suite.ts
index 917ec7fe610e..0f96eca220ef 100644
--- a/packages/runner/src/suite.ts
+++ b/packages/runner/src/suite.ts
@@ -315,7 +315,7 @@ function createSuiteCollector(
       type: 'test',
       file: undefined!,
       timeout,
-      retry: options.retry ?? runner.config.retry,
+      retry: options.retry ?? runner.config.retry ?? 0,
       repeats: options.repeats,
       mode: options.only
         ? 'only'
diff --git a/packages/runner/src/types/runner.ts b/packages/runner/src/types/runner.ts
index 6ed48ea4fbb8..1ae7c3f306bf 100644
--- a/packages/runner/src/types/runner.ts
+++ b/packages/runner/src/types/runner.ts
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ export interface VitestRunnerConfig {
   maxConcurrency: number
   testTimeout: number
   hookTimeout: number
-  retry: number
+  retry: number | import('./tasks').RetryConfig
   includeTaskLocation?: boolean
   diffOptions?: DiffOptions
 }
diff --git a/packages/runner/src/types/tasks.ts b/packages/runner/src/types/tasks.ts
index b88a4bb2599c..30c550c87b75 100644
--- a/packages/runner/src/types/tasks.ts
+++ b/packages/runner/src/types/tasks.ts
@@ -442,18 +442,19 @@ type ChainableTestAPI<ExtraContext = object> = ChainableFunction<
 
 type TestCollectorOptions = Omit<TestOptions, 'shuffle'>
 
+export interface RetryConfig {
+  count?: number
+  strategy?: 'immediate' | 'test-file' | 'deferred'
+  delay?: number
+  condition?: string | RegExp | ((error: Error) => boolean)
+}
+
 export interface TestOptions {
   /**
    * Test timeout.
    */
   timeout?: number
-  /**
-   * Times to retry the test if fails. Useful for making flaky tests more stable.
-   * When retries is up, the last test error will be thrown.
-   *
-   * @default 0
-   */
-  retry?: number
+  retry?: number | RetryConfig
   /**
    * How many times the test will run again.
    * Only inner tests will repeat if set on `describe()`, nested `describe()` will inherit parent's repeat by default.
diff --git a/packages/runner/src/utils/retry.ts b/packages/runner/src/utils/retry.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..ce6456cbd334
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/runner/src/utils/retry.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+import type { RetryConfig } from '../types/tasks'
+
+export function normalizeRetryConfig(
+  retry: number | RetryConfig | undefined,
+): {
+  count: number
+  strategy: 'immediate' | 'test-file' | 'deferred'
+  delay: number
+  condition?: string | RegExp | ((error: Error) => boolean)
+} {
+  if (typeof retry === 'number') {
+    return {
+      count: retry,
+      strategy: 'immediate',
+      delay: 0,
+    }
+  }
+
+  if (!retry) {
+    return {
+      count: 0,
+      strategy: 'immediate',
+      delay: 0,
+    }
+  }
+
+  return {
+    count: retry.count ?? 0,
+    strategy: retry.strategy ?? 'immediate',
+    delay: retry.delay ?? 0,
+    condition: retry.condition,
+  }
+}
+
+export function shouldRetryOnError(
+  error: Error,
+  condition?: string | RegExp | ((error: Error) => boolean),
+): boolean {
+  if (!condition) {
+    return true
+  }
+
+  if (typeof condition === 'string') {
+    return error.message.includes(condition)
+  }
+
+  if (condition instanceof RegExp) {
+    return condition.test(error.message)
+  }
+
+  if (typeof condition === 'function') {
+    try {
+      return condition(error)
+    }
+    catch {
+      return false
+    }
+  }
+
+  return true
+}
+
+export function sleep(ms: number): Promise<void> {
+  return new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, ms))
+}
+
+export function calculateBackoffDelay(
+  baseDelay: number,
+  retryCount: number,
+): number {
+  return baseDelay * 2 ** retryCount
+}
diff --git a/packages/vitest/src/node/cli/cli-config.ts b/packages/vitest/src/node/cli/cli-config.ts
index 9f52ccb53605..720fbfe4e237 100644
--- a/packages/vitest/src/node/cli/cli-config.ts
+++ b/packages/vitest/src/node/cli/cli-config.ts
@@ -602,8 +602,26 @@ export const cliOptionsConfig: VitestCLIOptions = {
   },
   retry: {
     description:
-      'Retry the test specific number of times if it fails (default: `0`)',
-    argument: '<times>',
+      'Retry configuration. Can be a number or advanced options (default: `0`)',
+    argument: '<times|config>',
+    subcommands: {
+      count: {
+        description: 'Number of times to retry the test if it fails (default: 0)',
+        argument: '<times>',
+      },
+      strategy: {
+        description: 'Retry strategy: immediate, test-file, or deferred (default: immediate)',
+        argument: '<strategy>',
+      },
+      delay: {
+        description: 'Delay in milliseconds between retries (default: 0)',
+        argument: '<milliseconds>',
+      },
+      condition: {
+        description: 'Condition for retrying: string pattern to match error messages',
+        argument: '<pattern>',
+      } as any,
+    },
   },
   diff: {
     description:
diff --git a/packages/vitest/src/node/types/config.ts b/packages/vitest/src/node/types/config.ts
index ebd4c3239259..4e0b63f03f81 100644
--- a/packages/vitest/src/node/types/config.ts
+++ b/packages/vitest/src/node/types/config.ts
@@ -742,11 +742,40 @@ export interface InlineConfig {
   bail?: number
 
   /**
-   * Retry the test specific number of times if it fails.
+   * Retry configuration for tests.
+   * Can be a number (for backward compatibility) or an object with advanced options.
    *
    * @default 0
    */
-  retry?: number
+  retry?: number | {
+    /**
+     * Number of times to retry the test if it fails.
+     * @default 0
+     */
+    count?: number
+
+    /**
+     * Strategy for when retries are executed.
+     * - "immediate": retry failed test immediately (default)
+     * - "test-file": run retries until the end of the test file
+     * - "deferred": defer retries after all other tests have run across all test files
+     * @default "immediate"
+     */
+    strategy?: 'immediate' | 'test-file' | 'deferred'
+
+    /**
+     * Delay in milliseconds between retries.
+     * @default 0
+     */
+    delay?: number
+
+    /**
+     * Condition for when to retry. Can be a RegExp pattern to match error messages
+     * or a function that receives the error and returns boolean.
+     * @default undefined (retry on any error)
+     */
+    condition?: string | RegExp | ((error: Error) => boolean)
+  }
 
   /**
    * Show full diff when snapshot fails instead of a patch.
diff --git a/packages/vitest/src/runtime/config.ts b/packages/vitest/src/runtime/config.ts
index 98acd25e33f9..0c61f7332de9 100644
--- a/packages/vitest/src/runtime/config.ts
+++ b/packages/vitest/src/runtime/config.ts
@@ -92,7 +92,12 @@ export interface SerializedConfig {
     truncateThreshold?: number
   } | undefined
   diff: string | SerializedDiffOptions | undefined
-  retry: number
+  retry: number | {
+    count?: number
+    strategy?: 'immediate' | 'test-file' | 'deferred'
+    delay?: number
+    condition?: string | RegExp | ((error: Error) => boolean)
+  }
   includeTaskLocation: boolean | undefined
   inspect: boolean | string | undefined
   inspectBrk: boolean | string | undefined
diff --git a/packages/vitest/src/utils/retry.ts b/packages/vitest/src/utils/retry.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..f5f7f64b448f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/vitest/src/utils/retry.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+import type { SerializedConfig } from '../runtime/config'
+
+export function normalizeRetryConfig(
+  retry: SerializedConfig['retry']
+): {
+  count: number
+  strategy: 'immediate' | 'test-file' | 'deferred'
+  delay: number
+  condition?: string | RegExp | ((error: Error) => boolean)
+} {
+  if (typeof retry === 'number') {
+    return {
+      count: retry,
+      strategy: 'immediate',
+      delay: 0,
+    }
+  }
+
+  return {
+    count: retry.count ?? 0,
+    strategy: retry.strategy ?? 'immediate',
+    delay: retry.delay ?? 0,
+    condition: retry.condition,
+  }
+}
+
+export function shouldRetryOnError(
+  error: Error,
+  condition?: string | RegExp | ((error: Error) => boolean)
+): boolean {
+  if (!condition) {
+    return true
+  }
+
+  if (typeof condition === 'string') {
+    return error.message.includes(condition)
+  }
+
+  if (condition instanceof RegExp) {
+    return condition.test(error.message)
+  }
+
+  if (typeof condition === 'function') {
+    try {
+      return condition(error)
+    } catch {
+      return false
+    }
+  }
+
+  return true
+}
+
+export function sleep(ms: number): Promise<void> {
+  return new Promise(resolve => setTimeout(resolve, ms))
+}
+
+export function calculateBackoffDelay(
+  baseDelay: number,
+  retryCount: number,
+  algorithm: 'linear' | 'exponential' = 'linear'
+): number {
+  switch (algorithm) {
+    case 'exponential':
+      return baseDelay * Math.pow(2, retryCount)
+    case 'linear':
+    default:
+      return baseDelay
+  }
+}
diff --git a/test/core/test/cli-test.test.ts b/test/core/test/cli-test.test.ts
index ba38a3ae7265..5f21af5dd685 100644
--- a/test/core/test/cli-test.test.ts
+++ b/test/core/test/cli-test.test.ts
@@ -511,3 +511,25 @@ test('should include builtin reporters list', () => {
   const expected = Object.keys(ReportersMap)
   expect(new Set(listed)).toEqual(new Set(expected))
 })
+
+test('retry options work correctly', async () => {
+  expect(getCLIOptions('--retry 3')).toEqual({
+    retry: 3,
+  })
+
+  expect(getCLIOptions('--retry.count 2 --retry.delay 1000 --retry.strategy immediate --retry.condition "NetworkError"')).toEqual({
+    retry: {
+      count: 2,
+      delay: 1000,
+      strategy: 'immediate',
+      condition: 'NetworkError',
+    },
+  })
+
+  expect(getCLIOptions('--retry.count 1 --retry.delay 500')).toEqual({
+    retry: {
+      count: 1,
+      delay: 500,
+    },
+  })
+})