diff --git a/packages/analytics-browser-test/test/index.test.ts b/packages/analytics-browser-test/test/index.test.ts
index 5b05f7938b..3d052d601b 100644
--- a/packages/analytics-browser-test/test/index.test.ts
+++ b/packages/analytics-browser-test/test/index.test.ts
@@ -800,47 +800,6 @@ describe('integration', () => {
       second.done();
     });
 
-    test('should exhaust max retries', async () => {
-      const scope = nock(url).post(path).times(3).reply(500, {
-        code: 500,
-      });
-
-      await client.init(apiKey, {
-        logLevel: 0,
-        flushMaxRetries: 3,
-        defaultTracking,
-        fetchRemoteConfig: false,
-      }).promise;
-      const response = await client.track('test event').promise;
-      expect(response.event).toEqual({
-        user_id: undefined,
-        device_id: uuid,
-        session_id: number,
-        time: number,
-        platform: 'Web',
-        language: 'en-US',
-        ip: '$remote',
-        insert_id: uuid,
-        partner_id: undefined,
-        event_type: 'test event',
-        event_properties: {
-          '[Amplitude] Page Domain': '',
-          '[Amplitude] Page Location': '',
-          '[Amplitude] Page Path': '',
-          '[Amplitude] Page Title': '',
-          '[Amplitude] Page URL': '',
-          '[Amplitude] Previous Page Location': '',
-          '[Amplitude] Previous Page Type': 'direct',
-        },
-        event_id: 0,
-        library: library,
-        user_agent: userAgent,
-      });
-      expect(response.code).toBe(500);
-      expect(response.message).toBe('Event rejected due to exceeded retry count');
-      scope.done();
-    }, 10000);
-
     test('should handle missing api key', async () => {
       await client.init('', undefined, {
         logLevel: 0,
diff --git a/packages/analytics-core/src/plugins/destination.ts b/packages/analytics-core/src/plugins/destination.ts
index bcf3306e66..5e609572ce 100644
--- a/packages/analytics-core/src/plugins/destination.ts
+++ b/packages/analytics-core/src/plugins/destination.ts
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ import { EventCallback } from '../types/event-callback';
 import { IDiagnosticsClient } from '../diagnostics/diagnostics-client';
 import { isSuccessStatusCode } from '../utils/status-code';
 import { getStacktrace } from '../utils/debug';
+import { isClientSide } from '../utils/environment';
 
 export interface Context {
   event: Event;
@@ -95,6 +96,11 @@ export class Destination implements DestinationPlugin {
   flushId: ReturnType<typeof setTimeout> | null = null;
   queue: Context[] = [];
   diagnosticsClient: IDiagnosticsClient | undefined;
+  // True for client SDKs (browser page or worker, Chrome extension, React Native), which can
+  // recover from an offline state via a network reconnect or a page reload / worker restart /
+  // app relaunch. False for the Node (server) SDK — a long-lived process with no such
+  // recovery — where events past the retry budget are dropped as before.
+  isClientSide = isClientSide();
 
   constructor(context?: { diagnosticsClient: IDiagnosticsClient }) {
     this.diagnosticsClient = context?.diagnosticsClient;
@@ -390,13 +396,49 @@ export class Destination implements DestinationPlugin {
     this.scheduleEvents(tryable);
   }
 
+  getRetryBackoff(attempts: number): number {
+    return this.retryTimeout * Math.pow(2, Math.max(0, attempts - 1));
+  }
+
   handleOtherResponse(list: Context[]) {
-    const later = list.map((context) => {
-      context.timeout = context.attempts * this.retryTimeout;
-      return context;
-    });
+    let tryable: Context[];
+
+    if (this.isClientSide) {
+      // Client SDKs: mirror the mobile SDKs. Retry with exponential backoff, and once the
+      // retry budget is exhausted, go offline and keep the events instead of dropping
+      // them — this pauses all further flushing. They stay in the queue + storage; flushing
+      // resumes when the connectivity checker sees a `navigator`/NetInfo online event, or on
+      // page reload / worker restart / app relaunch (which resets config.offline and, since
+      // `attempts` is not persisted, retries from scratch).
+      tryable = [];
+      let isExceedingMaxRetries = false;
+      list.forEach((context) => {
+        context.attempts += 1;
+        if (context.attempts < this.config.flushMaxRetries) {
+          context.timeout = this.getRetryBackoff(context.attempts);
+          tryable.push(context);
+        } else {
+          isExceedingMaxRetries = true;
+        }
+      });
+      if (isExceedingMaxRetries) {
+        this.config.offline = true;
+        this.config.loggerProvider.debug(
+          `Upload failed after ${this.config.flushMaxRetries} retries; going offline and pausing flush until the SDK reconnects or the page reloads.`,
+        );
+        this.diagnosticsClient?.increment('offline.by.max.retries');
+      }
+    } else {
+      // Server (Node) SDK: a long-lived process with no reconnect/reload to recover from
+      // offline, so keep the legacy behavior — linear backoff and drop events past the
+      // retry budget.
+      const later = list.map((context) => {
+        context.timeout = context.attempts * this.retryTimeout;
+        return context;
+      });
+      tryable = this.removeEventsExceedFlushMaxRetries(later);
+    }
 
-    const tryable = this.removeEventsExceedFlushMaxRetries(later);
     this.scheduleEvents(tryable);
   }
 
diff --git a/packages/analytics-core/src/utils/environment.ts b/packages/analytics-core/src/utils/environment.ts
index d7284fb869..64361e5839 100644
--- a/packages/analytics-core/src/utils/environment.ts
+++ b/packages/analytics-core/src/utils/environment.ts
@@ -9,3 +9,26 @@ export function isReactNative(): boolean {
   const globalScope = getGlobalScope() as { navigator?: { product?: string } };
   return globalScope?.navigator?.product === 'ReactNative';
 }
+
+// Main-thread browser only. Workers have no `document` — use isWebWorker() for those.
+export function isBrowser(): boolean {
+  const globalScope = getGlobalScope() as { document?: unknown } | undefined;
+  return typeof globalScope?.document !== 'undefined';
+}
+
+// True inside a dedicated / shared / service worker, e.g. a Manifest V3 extension background
+// worker. `WorkerGlobalScope` is only exposed on worker globals, so its presence is already
+// worker-specific; the instanceof check additionally rules out non-browser runtimes that expose
+// web constructors on a server global.
+export function isWebWorker(): boolean {
+  const globalScope = getGlobalScope() as { WorkerGlobalScope?: new () => unknown } | undefined;
+  if (!globalScope) {
+    return false;
+  }
+  const workerGlobalScope = globalScope.WorkerGlobalScope;
+  return typeof workerGlobalScope === 'function' && globalScope instanceof workerGlobalScope;
+}
+
+export function isClientSide(): boolean {
+  return isReactNative() || isBrowser() || isWebWorker() || isChromeExtension();
+}
diff --git a/packages/analytics-core/test/plugins/destination.test.ts b/packages/analytics-core/test/plugins/destination.test.ts
index 9d3ff5748f..b0285f5971 100644
--- a/packages/analytics-core/test/plugins/destination.test.ts
+++ b/packages/analytics-core/test/plugins/destination.test.ts
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import { Response } from '../../src/types/response';
 import { API_KEY, useDefaultConfig } from '../helpers/default';
 import {
   INVALID_API_KEY,
+  MAX_RETRIES_EXCEEDED_MESSAGE,
   MISSING_API_KEY_MESSAGE,
   SUCCESS_MESSAGE,
   UNEXPECTED_ERROR_MESSAGE,
@@ -148,6 +149,103 @@ describe('destination', () => {
     });
   });
 
+  describe('offline on max retries (SDKW-42)', () => {
+    test('getRetryBackoff grows exponentially (bounded by flushMaxRetries, no interval cap)', () => {
+      const destination = new Destination();
+      destination.retryTimeout = 1000;
+      expect(destination.getRetryBackoff(1)).toBe(1000); // 1000 * 2^0
+      expect(destination.getRetryBackoff(2)).toBe(2000); // 1000 * 2^1
+      expect(destination.getRetryBackoff(3)).toBe(4000); // 1000 * 2^2
+      expect(destination.getRetryBackoff(5)).toBe(16000); // 1000 * 2^4 (last retry at default flushMaxRetries=5)
+    });
+
+    test('transient failures below the retry limit use exponential backoff and stay online', () => {
+      const destination = new Destination();
+      destination.config = { ...useDefaultConfig(), flushMaxRetries: 20, offline: false };
+      destination.isClientSide = true; // client SDK (browser / RN)
+      destination.retryTimeout = 1000;
+      const schedule = jest.spyOn(destination, 'schedule').mockImplementation(jest.fn);
+      const context: Context = { event: { event_type: 'a' }, attempts: 0, callback: () => undefined, timeout: 0 };
+
+      destination.handleOtherResponse([context]); // attempts -> 1
+      expect(context.timeout).toBe(1000);
+      destination.handleOtherResponse([context]); // attempts -> 2
+      expect(context.timeout).toBe(2000);
+      destination.handleOtherResponse([context]); // attempts -> 3
+      expect(context.timeout).toBe(4000);
+
+      expect(destination.config.offline).toBe(false);
+      expect(schedule).toHaveBeenCalled();
+    });
+
+    test('goes offline and retains events instead of dropping once the retry limit is hit', () => {
+      const diagnosticsClient = new DiagnosticsClient(API_KEY, getMockLogger());
+      const increment = jest.spyOn(diagnosticsClient, 'increment').mockImplementation(jest.fn);
+      const destination = new Destination({ diagnosticsClient });
+      destination.config = { ...useDefaultConfig(), flushMaxRetries: 1, offline: false };
+      destination.isClientSide = true; // client SDK (browser / RN)
+      const fulfillRequest = jest.spyOn(destination, 'fulfillRequest').mockImplementation(jest.fn);
+      jest.spyOn(destination, 'schedule').mockImplementation(jest.fn);
+      const context: Context = { event: { event_type: 'a' }, attempts: 0, callback: () => undefined, timeout: 0 };
+      destination.queue = [context];
+
+      destination.handleOtherResponse([context]); // attempts 0 -> 1, 1 < 1 is false -> offline
+
+      // Event is retained, not dropped.
+      expect(fulfillRequest).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+      expect(destination.queue).toContain(context);
+      // SDK went offline (mirrors mobile); attempts is left as-is (reset happens on reload
+      // because attempts is not persisted to storage).
+      expect(destination.config.offline).toBe(true);
+      expect(context.attempts).toBe(1);
+      // Diagnostics counter for going offline due to max retries.
+      expect(increment).toHaveBeenCalledWith('offline.by.max.retries');
+    });
+
+    test('does not poll the server — offline stays set until reconnect or reload', () => {
+      jest.useFakeTimers();
+      try {
+        const destination = new Destination();
+        destination.config = { ...useDefaultConfig(), flushMaxRetries: 1, offline: false };
+        destination.isClientSide = true; // client SDK (browser / RN)
+        jest.spyOn(destination, 'fulfillRequest').mockImplementation(jest.fn);
+        jest.spyOn(destination, 'schedule').mockImplementation(jest.fn);
+        const context: Context = { event: { event_type: 'a' }, attempts: 0, callback: () => undefined, timeout: 0 };
+        destination.queue = [context];
+
+        destination.handleOtherResponse([context]);
+        expect(destination.config.offline).toBe(true);
+
+        // No self-recovery timer: advancing time does not bring the SDK back online.
+        jest.advanceTimersByTime(10 * 60 * 1000);
+        expect(destination.config.offline).toBe(true);
+      } finally {
+        jest.clearAllTimers();
+        jest.useRealTimers();
+      }
+    });
+
+    test('Node (server) SDK drops after max retries instead of going offline', () => {
+      const destination = new Destination();
+      destination.config = { ...useDefaultConfig(), flushMaxRetries: 1, offline: false };
+      destination.isClientSide = false; // server SDK (Node): no reconnect/reload
+      const fulfillRequest = jest.spyOn(destination, 'fulfillRequest').mockImplementation(jest.fn);
+      jest.spyOn(destination, 'schedule').mockImplementation(jest.fn);
+      const context: Context = { event: { event_type: 'a' }, attempts: 0, callback: () => undefined, timeout: 0 };
+
+      destination.handleOtherResponse([context]); // attempts 0 -> 1, 1 < 1 is false -> drop
+
+      // Legacy behavior: event is dropped, SDK stays online.
+      expect(fulfillRequest).toHaveBeenCalledWith([context], 500, MAX_RETRIES_EXCEEDED_MESSAGE);
+      expect(destination.config.offline).toBe(false);
+    });
+
+    test('detects a server (Node/jest) environment as non-recovering on construction', () => {
+      // jest runs analytics-core in a node testEnvironment -> not a client SDK.
+      expect(new Destination().isClientSide).toBe(false);
+    });
+  });
+
   describe('schedule', () => {
     beforeEach(() => {
       jest.useFakeTimers();
diff --git a/packages/analytics-core/test/utils/environment.test.ts b/packages/analytics-core/test/utils/environment.test.ts
index a87371d9b1..9c33029ae9 100644
--- a/packages/analytics-core/test/utils/environment.test.ts
+++ b/packages/analytics-core/test/utils/environment.test.ts
@@ -1,8 +1,17 @@
 import * as analyticsCoreModule from '../../src/index';
+// Not part of the public API — imported from the module under test directly.
+import { isBrowser, isClientSide, isWebWorker } from '../../src/utils/environment';
 import * as globalScopeModule from '../../src/global-scope';
 
 type ChromeStub = { runtime?: { id?: string | number } };
 
+// Stands in for a worker global: an instance of the constructor it also exposes.
+class FakeWorkerGlobalScope {
+  WorkerGlobalScope = FakeWorkerGlobalScope;
+}
+
+const workerGlobalScope = () => new FakeWorkerGlobalScope() as unknown as typeof globalThis;
+
 describe('isChromeExtension', () => {
   const originalChrome = (globalThis as typeof globalThis & { chrome?: ChromeStub }).chrome;
 
@@ -72,3 +81,103 @@ describe('isReactNative', () => {
     expect(analyticsCoreModule.isReactNative()).toBe(true);
   });
 });
+
+describe('isBrowser', () => {
+  let getGlobalScopeSpy: jest.SpyInstance;
+
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    getGlobalScopeSpy = jest.spyOn(globalScopeModule, 'getGlobalScope');
+  });
+
+  afterEach(() => {
+    getGlobalScopeSpy.mockRestore();
+  });
+
+  test('returns false when globalScope is undefined', () => {
+    getGlobalScopeSpy.mockReturnValue(undefined);
+    expect(isBrowser()).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  test('returns false when document is undefined', () => {
+    getGlobalScopeSpy.mockReturnValue({} as typeof globalThis);
+    expect(isBrowser()).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  test('returns true when document is defined', () => {
+    getGlobalScopeSpy.mockReturnValue({ document: {} } as unknown as typeof globalThis);
+    expect(isBrowser()).toBe(true);
+  });
+});
+
+describe('isWebWorker', () => {
+  let getGlobalScopeSpy: jest.SpyInstance;
+
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    getGlobalScopeSpy = jest.spyOn(globalScopeModule, 'getGlobalScope');
+  });
+
+  afterEach(() => {
+    getGlobalScopeSpy.mockRestore();
+  });
+
+  test('returns false when globalScope is undefined', () => {
+    getGlobalScopeSpy.mockReturnValue(undefined);
+    expect(isWebWorker()).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  test('returns false when WorkerGlobalScope is not exposed', () => {
+    getGlobalScopeSpy.mockReturnValue({} as typeof globalThis);
+    expect(isWebWorker()).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  test('returns false when WorkerGlobalScope is exposed but the scope is not a worker', () => {
+    // e.g. a server runtime that exposes web constructors on its global.
+    getGlobalScopeSpy.mockReturnValue({
+      WorkerGlobalScope: FakeWorkerGlobalScope,
+    } as unknown as typeof globalThis);
+    expect(isWebWorker()).toBe(false);
+  });
+
+  test('returns true inside a worker global scope', () => {
+    getGlobalScopeSpy.mockReturnValue(workerGlobalScope());
+    expect(isWebWorker()).toBe(true);
+  });
+});
+
+describe('isClientSide', () => {
+  let getGlobalScopeSpy: jest.SpyInstance;
+
+  beforeEach(() => {
+    getGlobalScopeSpy = jest.spyOn(globalScopeModule, 'getGlobalScope');
+  });
+
+  afterEach(() => {
+    getGlobalScopeSpy.mockRestore();
+  });
+
+  test('returns true in a React Native environment', () => {
+    getGlobalScopeSpy.mockReturnValue({ navigator: { product: 'ReactNative' } } as unknown as typeof globalThis);
+    expect(isClientSide()).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  test('returns true in a browser environment', () => {
+    getGlobalScopeSpy.mockReturnValue({ document: {} } as unknown as typeof globalThis);
+    expect(isClientSide()).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  test('returns true in a document-less browser worker', () => {
+    // e.g. a Manifest V3 extension background service worker.
+    getGlobalScopeSpy.mockReturnValue(workerGlobalScope());
+    expect(isClientSide()).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  test('returns true in a Chrome extension without document', () => {
+    getGlobalScopeSpy.mockReturnValue({ chrome: { runtime: { id: 'ext-abc' } } } as unknown as typeof globalThis);
+    expect(isClientSide()).toBe(true);
+  });
+
+  test('returns false in a server (Node) environment', () => {
+    getGlobalScopeSpy.mockReturnValue({} as typeof globalThis);
+    expect(isClientSide()).toBe(false);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/packages/analytics-react-native/test/migration/remnant-data-migration.test.ts b/packages/analytics-react-native/test/migration/remnant-data-migration.test.ts
index bbd3b95fa8..e1c5217079 100644
--- a/packages/analytics-react-native/test/migration/remnant-data-migration.test.ts
+++ b/packages/analytics-react-native/test/migration/remnant-data-migration.test.ts
@@ -230,6 +230,9 @@ describe('migration', () => {
       migrateLegacyData: false,
       loggerProvider,
       instanceName: 'test-instance',
+      attribution: {
+        disabled: true,
+      },
     }).promise;
     expect(client.getDeviceId()).not.toEqual(deviceId);
     expect(client.getUserId()).not.toEqual(userId);
diff --git a/packages/analytics-react-native/test/react-native-client.test.ts b/packages/analytics-react-native/test/react-native-client.test.ts
index 04ef27f586..db6650e6fa 100644
--- a/packages/analytics-react-native/test/react-native-client.test.ts
+++ b/packages/analytics-react-native/test/react-native-client.test.ts
@@ -374,7 +374,9 @@ describe('react-native-client', () => {
   describe('reset', () => {
     test('should reset user id and generate new device id config', async () => {
       const client = new AmplitudeReactNative();
-      await client.init(API_KEY).promise;
+      await client.init(API_KEY, undefined, {
+        ...attributionConfig,
+      }).promise;
       client.setUserId(USER_ID);
       client.setDeviceId(DEVICE_ID);
       expect(client.getUserId()).toBe(USER_ID);