diff --git a/pkg/rain/coverage_target_internal_test.go b/pkg/rain/coverage_target_internal_test.go
index 0aaf275..ac990f1 100644
--- a/pkg/rain/coverage_target_internal_test.go
+++ b/pkg/rain/coverage_target_internal_test.go
@@ -748,17 +748,17 @@ func TestCoverageDDLMethodsAndHelpers(t *testing.T) {
 		{value: time.Date(2026, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 0, time.UTC), want: "'2026-01-02T03:04:05Z'"},
 		{value: []byte("abc"), want: "'abc'"},
 	} {
-		if got, err := columnDefaultSQL(pg, &schema.ColumnDef{Name: "x", Default: tc.value}); err != nil || got != tc.want {
+		if got, err := columnDefaultSQL(pg, users.TableDef(), &schema.ColumnDef{Name: "x", Default: tc.value}); err != nil || got != tc.want {
 			t.Fatalf("unexpected columnDefaultSQL for %#v: %q err=%v", tc.value, got, err)
 		}
 		if got, err := literalDDLSQL(pg, tc.value); err != nil || got != tc.want {
 			t.Fatalf("unexpected literalDDLSQL for %#v: %q err=%v", tc.value, got, err)
 		}
 	}
-	if got, err := columnDefaultSQL(pg, &schema.ColumnDef{Name: "x", DefaultSQL: "NOW()"}); err != nil || got != "NOW()" {
+	if got, err := columnDefaultSQL(pg, users.TableDef(), &schema.ColumnDef{Name: "x", DefaultSQL: "NOW()"}); err != nil || got != "NOW()" {
 		t.Fatalf("unexpected DefaultSQL passthrough: %q err=%v", got, err)
 	}
-	if _, err := columnDefaultSQL(pg, &schema.ColumnDef{Name: "x", Default: struct{}{}}); err == nil {
+	if _, err := columnDefaultSQL(pg, users.TableDef(), &schema.ColumnDef{Name: "x", Default: struct{}{}}); err == nil {
 		t.Fatalf("expected unsupported default type to fail")
 	}
 	if _, err := literalDDLSQL(pg, struct{}{}); err == nil {
diff --git a/pkg/rain/ddl.go b/pkg/rain/ddl.go
index 3062f76..b0057a4 100644
--- a/pkg/rain/ddl.go
+++ b/pkg/rain/ddl.go
@@ -140,11 +140,11 @@ func (db *DB) ColumnDefaultSQL(table schema.TableReference, columnName string) (
 	if !ok {
 		return "", fmt.Errorf("rain: table %q has no column %q", tableDef.Name, columnName)
 	}
-	if !column.HasDefault && column.DefaultSQL == "" {
+	if !column.HasDefault && column.DefaultSQL == "" && column.DefaultExpr == nil {
 		return "", nil
 	}
 
-	return columnDefaultSQL(db.dialect, column)
+	return columnDefaultSQL(db.dialect, tableDef, column)
 }
 
 func createTableSQL(d dialect.Dialect, table *schema.TableDef) (string, error) {
@@ -342,8 +342,8 @@ func columnDefinitionSQL(d dialect.Dialect, table *schema.TableDef, column *sche
 	if column.Unique {
 		parts = append(parts, "UNIQUE")
 	}
-	if column.HasDefault || column.DefaultSQL != "" {
-		defaultSQL, err := columnDefaultSQL(d, column)
+	if column.HasDefault || column.DefaultSQL != "" || column.DefaultExpr != nil {
+		defaultSQL, err := columnDefaultSQL(d, table, column)
 		if err != nil {
 			return "", err
 		}
@@ -396,7 +396,11 @@ func shouldEmitAutoIncrementKeyword(d dialect.Dialect, column *schema.ColumnDef,
 	}
 }
 
-func columnDefaultSQL(d dialect.Dialect, column *schema.ColumnDef) (string, error) {
+func columnDefaultSQL(d dialect.Dialect, table *schema.TableDef, column *schema.ColumnDef) (string, error) {
+	if column.DefaultExpr != nil {
+		return expressionDDLSQL(d, table, column.DefaultExpr)
+	}
+
 	if column.DefaultSQL != "" {
 		return column.DefaultSQL, nil
 	}
diff --git a/pkg/rain/ddl_test.go b/pkg/rain/ddl_test.go
index 144ddb6..1be8c22 100644
--- a/pkg/rain/ddl_test.go
+++ b/pkg/rain/ddl_test.go
@@ -78,6 +78,77 @@ func defineDDLTables() (*ddlUsersTable, *ddlPostsTable, *ddlMembershipsTable) {
 	return users, posts, memberships
 }
 
+type ddlDefaultRawTable struct {
+	schema.TableModel
+	ID        *schema.Column[int64]
+	CreatedAt *schema.Column[time.Time]
+	Random    *schema.Column[float64]
+}
+
+func TestCreateTableSQLWithDefaultRaw(t *testing.T) {
+	t.Parallel()
+
+	table := schema.Define("default_raw_test", func(t *ddlDefaultRawTable) {
+		t.ID = t.BigSerial("id").PrimaryKey()
+		t.CreatedAt = t.TimestampTZ("created_at").NotNull().DefaultRaw(schema.Raw("now()"))
+		t.Random = t.Double("random").NotNull().DefaultRaw(schema.Raw("random()"))
+	})
+
+	cases := []struct {
+		name      string
+		dialect   string
+		fragments []string
+	}{
+		{
+			name:    "postgres default raw",
+			dialect: "postgres",
+			fragments: []string{
+				`"created_at" TIMESTAMPTZ NOT NULL DEFAULT now()`,
+				`"random" DOUBLE PRECISION NOT NULL DEFAULT random()`,
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			name:    "mysql default raw",
+			dialect: "mysql",
+			fragments: []string{
+				"`created_at` DATETIME NOT NULL DEFAULT now()",
+				"`random` DOUBLE NOT NULL DEFAULT random()",
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			name:    "sqlite default raw",
+			dialect: "sqlite",
+			fragments: []string{
+				`"created_at" TEXT NOT NULL DEFAULT now()`,
+				`"random" REAL NOT NULL DEFAULT random()`,
+			},
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tc := range cases {
+		tc := tc
+		t.Run(tc.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			t.Parallel()
+
+			db, err := rain.OpenDialect(tc.dialect)
+			if err != nil {
+				t.Fatalf("OpenDialect(%q): %v", tc.dialect, err)
+			}
+
+			sql, err := db.CreateTableSQL(table)
+			if err != nil {
+				t.Fatalf("CreateTableSQL: %v", err)
+			}
+
+			for _, fragment := range tc.fragments {
+				if !strings.Contains(sql, fragment) {
+					t.Fatalf("expected SQL to contain %q, got:\n%s", fragment, sql)
+				}
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
 func TestCreateTableSQLAcrossDialects(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Parallel()
 
diff --git a/pkg/schema/schema.go b/pkg/schema/schema.go
index c5da9dc..831c506 100644
--- a/pkg/schema/schema.go
+++ b/pkg/schema/schema.go
@@ -134,6 +134,7 @@ type ColumnDef struct {
 	Default         any
 	HasDefault      bool
 	DefaultSQL      string
+	DefaultExpr     Expression
 	PrimaryKey      bool
 	AutoIncrement   bool
 	Unique          bool
@@ -628,6 +629,8 @@ func (c *Column[T]) Nullable() *Column[T] {
 func (c *Column[T]) Default(value T) *Column[T] {
 	c.def.HasDefault = true
 	c.def.Default = value
+	c.def.DefaultSQL = ""
+	c.def.DefaultExpr = nil
 	return c
 }
 
@@ -635,6 +638,20 @@ func (c *Column[T]) Default(value T) *Column[T] {
 func (c *Column[T]) DefaultNow() *Column[T] {
 	c.def.HasDefault = true
 	c.def.DefaultSQL = "CURRENT_TIMESTAMP"
+	c.def.Default = nil
+	c.def.DefaultExpr = nil
+	return c
+}
+
+// DefaultRaw sets a raw SQL expression as the default value.
+func (c *Column[T]) DefaultRaw(expr Expression) *Column[T] {
+	if expr == nil {
+		panic("schema: DefaultRaw requires a non-nil expression")
+	}
+	c.def.HasDefault = true
+	c.def.DefaultExpr = expr
+	c.def.Default = nil
+	c.def.DefaultSQL = ""
 	return c
 }