diff --git a/sentry_sdk/client.py b/sentry_sdk/client.py
index c10daad6ed..5f05f506d4 100644
--- a/sentry_sdk/client.py
+++ b/sentry_sdk/client.py
@@ -397,6 +397,12 @@ def _get_options(*args: "Optional[str]", **kwargs: "Any") -> "Dict[str, Any]":
             stacklevel=2,
         )
 
+    if rv["before_send_span"] and not has_span_streaming_enabled(rv):
+        warnings.warn(
+            "The `before_send_span` parameter only works when `trace_lifecycle` is set to `stream`.",
+            stacklevel=2,
+        )
+
     return rv
 
 
diff --git a/sentry_sdk/consts.py b/sentry_sdk/consts.py
index dff264f9f8..951ea66783 100644
--- a/sentry_sdk/consts.py
+++ b/sentry_sdk/consts.py
@@ -1336,6 +1336,7 @@ def __init__(
         trace_ignore_status_codes: "AbstractSet[int]" = frozenset(),
         enable_metrics: bool = True,
         before_send_metric: "Optional[Callable[[Metric, Hint], Optional[Metric]]]" = None,
+        before_send_span: "Optional[Callable[[SpanJSON, Hint], Optional[SpanJSON]]]" = None,
         org_id: "Optional[str]" = None,
         strict_trace_continuation: bool = False,
         stream_gen_ai_spans: bool = True,
@@ -1756,6 +1757,11 @@ def __init__(
             but you can provide it explicitly for self-hosted and Relay setups. This value is used for
             trace propagation and for features like `strict_trace_continuation`.
 
+        :param before_send_span: An optional function to modify spans before they're sent to Sentry.
+            Modifications to the span's attributes and name will be retained. Unlike ``before_send_log``
+            and ``before_send_metric``, spans cannot be dropped by returning None. Only works when
+            ``trace_lifecycle="stream"`` is enabled.
+
         :param stream_gen_ai_spans: When set, generative AI spans are sent in a new transport format to
             reduce downstream data loss.
 
diff --git a/sentry_sdk/utils.py b/sentry_sdk/utils.py
index 5aa533dea0..a6ece4faf1 100644
--- a/sentry_sdk/utils.py
+++ b/sentry_sdk/utils.py
@@ -2122,7 +2122,9 @@ def get_before_send_span(
     if options is None:
         return None
 
-    return options["_experiments"].get("before_send_span")
+    return options.get("before_send_span") or options["_experiments"].get(
+        "before_send_span"
+    )
 
 
 def format_attribute(val: "Any") -> "AttributeValue":
diff --git a/tests/tracing/test_span_streaming.py b/tests/tracing/test_span_streaming.py
index 74e4744066..cae8e181a0 100644
--- a/tests/tracing/test_span_streaming.py
+++ b/tests/tracing/test_span_streaming.py
@@ -235,10 +235,8 @@ def before_send_span(span, hint):
 
     sentry_init(
         traces_sample_rate=1.0,
-        _experiments={
-            "before_send_span": before_send_span,
-            "trace_lifecycle": "stream",
-        },
+        trace_lifecycle="stream",
+        before_send_span=before_send_span,
     )
 
     items = capture_items("span")
@@ -278,10 +276,8 @@ def before_send_span(span, hint):
 
     sentry_init(
         traces_sample_rate=1.0,
-        _experiments={
-            "before_send_span": before_send_span,
-            "trace_lifecycle": "stream",
-        },
+        trace_lifecycle="stream",
+        before_send_span=before_send_span,
     )
 
     items = capture_items("span")
@@ -307,10 +303,8 @@ def before_send_span(span, hint):
 
     sentry_init(
         traces_sample_rate=1.0,
-        _experiments={
-            "before_send_span": before_send_span,
-            "trace_lifecycle": "stream",
-        },
+        trace_lifecycle="stream",
+        before_send_span=before_send_span,
     )
 
     items = capture_items("span")
@@ -338,13 +332,11 @@ def before_send_span(span, hint):
 
     sentry_init(
         traces_sample_rate=1.0,
-        _experiments={
-            "before_send_span": before_send_span,
-            "trace_lifecycle": "stream",
-            "ignore_spans": [
-                "ignored",
-            ],
-        },
+        trace_lifecycle="stream",
+        before_send_span=before_send_span,
+        ignore_spans=[
+            "ignored",
+        ],
     )
 
     items = capture_items("span")
@@ -370,10 +362,8 @@ def before_send_span(span, hint):
 
     sentry_init(
         traces_sample_rate=1.0,
-        _experiments={
-            "before_send_span": before_send_span,
-            "trace_lifecycle": "stream",
-        },
+        trace_lifecycle="stream",
+        before_send_span=before_send_span,
     )
 
     items = capture_items("span")
@@ -394,6 +384,84 @@ def before_send_span(span, hint):
     assert "mutated" not in span["attributes"]
 
 
+def test_before_send_span_set_in_experiments(sentry_init, capture_items):
+    def before_send_span(span, hint):
+        span["name"] = "from experiments"
+        return span
+
+    sentry_init(
+        traces_sample_rate=1.0,
+        trace_lifecycle="stream",
+        _experiments={
+            "before_send_span": before_send_span,
+        },
+    )
+
+    items = capture_items("span")
+
+    with sentry_sdk.traces.start_span(name="span"):
+        ...
+
+    sentry_sdk.get_client().flush()
+    spans = [item.payload for item in items]
+
+    assert len(spans) == 1
+    (span,) = spans
+
+    assert span["name"] == "from experiments"
+
+
+def test_before_send_span_top_level_takes_precedence_over_experiments(
+    sentry_init, capture_items
+):
+    def top_level(span, hint):
+        span["name"] = "top-level"
+        return span
+
+    def experimental(span, hint):
+        span["name"] = "experimental"
+        return span
+
+    sentry_init(
+        traces_sample_rate=1.0,
+        trace_lifecycle="stream",
+        before_send_span=top_level,
+        _experiments={
+            "before_send_span": experimental,
+        },
+    )
+
+    items = capture_items("span")
+
+    with sentry_sdk.traces.start_span(name="span"):
+        ...
+
+    sentry_sdk.get_client().flush()
+    spans = [item.payload for item in items]
+
+    assert len(spans) == 1
+    (span,) = spans
+
+    assert span["name"] == "top-level"
+
+
+def test_before_send_span_warns_without_span_streaming(sentry_init):
+    import warnings
+
+    def before_send_span(span, hint):
+        return span
+
+    with warnings.catch_warnings(record=True) as w:
+        warnings.simplefilter("always")
+        sentry_init(
+            traces_sample_rate=1.0,
+            before_send_span=before_send_span,
+        )
+
+    (warning,) = [x for x in w if "before_send_span" in str(x.message)]
+    assert "trace_lifecycle" in str(warning.message)
+
+
 def test_span_attributes(sentry_init, capture_items):
     sentry_init(
         traces_sample_rate=1.0,