diff --git a/commitizen/cli.py b/commitizen/cli.py
index b59c257db3..ed89b5675a 100644
--- a/commitizen/cli.py
+++ b/commitizen/cli.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import argparse
 import logging
 import sys
+from pathlib import Path
 from functools import partial
 from types import TracebackType
 from typing import List
@@ -62,10 +63,16 @@
                         "action": "store_true",
                         "help": "show output to stdout, no commit, no modified files",
                     },
+                    {
+                        "name": "--write-message-to-file",
+                        "type": Path,
+                        "metavar": "FILE_PATH",
+                        "help": "write message to file before commiting (can be combined with --dry-run)",
+                    },
                     {
                         "name": ["-s", "--signoff"],
                         "action": "store_true",
-                        "help": "Sign off the commit",
+                        "help": "sign off the commit",
                     },
                 ],
             },
diff --git a/commitizen/commands/commit.py b/commitizen/commands/commit.py
index 13e61abe6d..4d9da5c3fa 100644
--- a/commitizen/commands/commit.py
+++ b/commitizen/commands/commit.py
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
     NoAnswersError,
     NoCommitBackupError,
     NotAGitProjectError,
+    NotAllowed,
     NothingToCommitError,
 )
 from commitizen.git import smart_open
@@ -63,10 +64,14 @@ def prompt_commit_questions(self) -> str:
 
     def __call__(self):
         dry_run: bool = self.arguments.get("dry_run")
+        write_message_to_file = self.arguments.get("write_message_to_file")
 
         if git.is_staging_clean() and not dry_run:
             raise NothingToCommitError("No files added to staging!")
 
+        if write_message_to_file is not None and write_message_to_file.is_dir():
+            raise NotAllowed(f"{write_message_to_file} is a directory")
+
         retry: bool = self.arguments.get("retry")
 
         if retry:
@@ -76,6 +81,10 @@ def __call__(self):
 
         out.info(f"\n{m}\n")
 
+        if write_message_to_file:
+            with smart_open(write_message_to_file, "w") as file:
+                file.write(m)
+
         if dry_run:
             raise DryRunExit()
 
diff --git a/docs/commit.md b/docs/commit.md
index fb3fdd65ac..2d50b111ca 100644
--- a/docs/commit.md
+++ b/docs/commit.md
@@ -6,6 +6,11 @@ In your terminal run `cz commit` or the shortcut `cz c` to generate a guided git
 
 A commit can be signed off using `cz commit --signoff` or the shortcut `cz commit -s`.
 
+You can run `cz commit --write-message-to-file COMMIT_MSG_FILE` to additionally save the
+generated message to a file. This can be combined with the `--dry-run` flag to only
+write the message to a file and not modify files and create a commit. A possible use
+case for this is to [automatically prepare a commit message](./tutorials/auto_prepare_commit_message.md).
+
 !!! note
     To maintain platform compatibility, the `commit` command disable ANSI escaping in its output.
     In particular pre-commit hooks coloring will be deactivated as discussed in [commitizen-tools/commitizen#417](https://github.com/commitizen-tools/commitizen/issues/417).
diff --git a/docs/tutorials/auto_prepare_commit_message.md b/docs/tutorials/auto_prepare_commit_message.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8def5f2e28
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/tutorials/auto_prepare_commit_message.md
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+# Automatically prepare message before commit
+
+## About
+
+It can be desirable to use commitizen for all types of commits (i.e. regular, merge,
+squash) so that the complete git history adheres to the commit message convention
+without ever having to call `cz commit`.
+
+To automatically prepare a commit message prior to committing, you can
+use a [prepare-commit-msg Git hook](prepare-commit-msg-docs):
+
+> This hook is invoked by git-commit right after preparing the
+> default log message, and before the editor is started.
+
+To automatically perform arbitrary cleanup steps after a succesful commit you can use a
+[post-commit Git hook][post-commit-docs]:
+
+> This hook is invoked by git-commit. It takes no parameters, and is invoked after a
+> commit is made.
+
+A combination of these two hooks allows for enforcing the usage of commitizen so that
+whenever a commit is about to be created, commitizen is used for creating the commit
+message. Running `git commit` or `git commit -m "..."` for example, would trigger
+commitizen and use the generated commit message for the commit.
+
+## Installation
+
+Copy the hooks from [here](https://github.com/commitizen-tools/hooks) into the `.git/hooks` folder and make them
+  executable by running the following commands from the root of your Git repository:
+
+```bash
+wget -o .git/hooks/prepare-commit-msg https://github.com/commitizen-tools/hooks/prepare-commit-msg.py
+chmod +x .git/hooks/prepare-commit-msg
+wget -o .git/hooks/post-commit https://github.com/commitizen-tools/hooks/post-commit.py
+chmod +x .git/hooks/post-commit
+```
+
+## Features
+
+- Commits can be created using both `cz commit` and the regular `git commit`
+- The hooks automatically create a backup of the commit message that can be reused if
+  the commit failed
+- The commit message backup can also be used via `cz commit --retry`
+
+[post-commit-docs]: https://git-scm.com/docs/githooks#_post_commit
+[prepare-commit-msg-docs]: https://git-scm.com/docs/githooks#_prepare_commit_msg
diff --git a/hooks/post-commit.py b/hooks/post-commit.py
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..c2faebb738
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hooks/post-commit.py
@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python
+import os
+import tempfile
+from pathlib import Path
+
+
+def post_commit():
+    backup_file = Path(
+        tempfile.gettempdir(), f"cz.commit{os.environ.get('USER', '')}.backup"
+    )
+
+    # remove backup file if it exists
+    if backup_file.is_file():
+        backup_file.unlink()
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    exit(post_commit())
diff --git a/hooks/prepare-commit-msg.py b/hooks/prepare-commit-msg.py
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..58beb3a0f8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hooks/prepare-commit-msg.py
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python
+import os
+import shutil
+import subprocess
+import sys
+import tempfile
+from pathlib import Path
+from subprocess import CalledProcessError
+
+
+def prepare_commit_msg(commit_msg_file: Path) -> int:
+    # check that commitizen is installed
+    if shutil.which("cz") is None:
+        print("commitizen is not installed!")
+        return 0
+
+    # check if the commit message needs to be generated using commitizen
+    if (
+        subprocess.run(
+            [
+                "cz",
+                "check",
+                "--commit-msg-file",
+                commit_msg_file,
+            ],
+            capture_output=True,
+        ).returncode
+        != 0
+    ):
+        backup_file = Path(
+            tempfile.gettempdir(), f"cz.commit{os.environ.get('USER', '')}.backup"
+        )
+
+        if backup_file.is_file():
+            # confirm if commit message from backup file should be reused
+            answer = input("retry with previous message? [y/N]: ")
+            if answer.lower() == "y":
+                shutil.copyfile(backup_file, commit_msg_file)
+                return 0
+
+        # use commitizen to generate the commit message
+        try:
+            subprocess.run(
+                [
+                    "cz",
+                    "commit",
+                    "--dry-run",
+                    "--write-message-to-file",
+                    commit_msg_file,
+                ],
+                stdin=sys.stdin,
+                stdout=sys.stdout,
+            ).check_returncode()
+        except CalledProcessError as error:
+            return error.returncode
+
+        # write message to backup file
+        shutil.copyfile(commit_msg_file, backup_file)
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    # make hook interactive by attaching /dev/tty to stdin
+    with open("/dev/tty") as tty:
+        sys.stdin = tty
+        exit(prepare_commit_msg(sys.argv[1]))
diff --git a/mkdocs.yml b/mkdocs.yml
index da71e30abe..57cf6af46b 100644
--- a/mkdocs.yml
+++ b/mkdocs.yml
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ nav:
   - Tutorials:
       - Writing commits: "tutorials/writing_commits.md"
       - Auto check commits: "tutorials/auto_check.md"
+      - Auto prepare commit message: "tutorials/auto_prepare_commit_message.md"
       - GitLab CI: "tutorials/gitlab_ci.md"
       - Github Actions: "tutorials/github_actions.md"
       - Jenkins pipeline: "tutorials/jenkins_pipeline.md"
diff --git a/tests/commands/test_commit_command.py b/tests/commands/test_commit_command.py
index dd62fafe85..b45ac3a552 100644
--- a/tests/commands/test_commit_command.py
+++ b/tests/commands/test_commit_command.py
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
     NoAnswersError,
     NoCommitBackupError,
     NotAGitProjectError,
+    NotAllowed,
     NothingToCommitError,
 )
 
@@ -109,6 +110,51 @@ def test_commit_command_with_dry_run_option(config, mocker: MockFixture):
         commit_cmd()
 
 
+@pytest.mark.usefixtures("staging_is_clean")
+def test_commit_command_with_write_message_to_file_option(
+    config, tmp_path, mocker: MockFixture
+):
+    tmp_file = tmp_path / "message"
+
+    prompt_mock = mocker.patch("questionary.prompt")
+    prompt_mock.return_value = {
+        "prefix": "feat",
+        "subject": "user created",
+        "scope": "",
+        "is_breaking_change": False,
+        "body": "",
+        "footer": "",
+    }
+
+    commit_mock = mocker.patch("commitizen.git.commit")
+    commit_mock.return_value = cmd.Command("success", "", b"", b"", 0)
+    success_mock = mocker.patch("commitizen.out.success")
+
+    commands.Commit(config, {"write_message_to_file": tmp_file})()
+    success_mock.assert_called_once()
+    assert tmp_file.exists()
+    assert tmp_file.read_text() == "feat: user created"
+
+
+@pytest.mark.usefixtures("staging_is_clean")
+def test_commit_command_with_invalid_write_message_to_file_option(
+    config, tmp_path, mocker: MockFixture
+):
+    prompt_mock = mocker.patch("questionary.prompt")
+    prompt_mock.return_value = {
+        "prefix": "feat",
+        "subject": "user created",
+        "scope": "",
+        "is_breaking_change": False,
+        "body": "",
+        "footer": "",
+    }
+
+    with pytest.raises(NotAllowed):
+        commit_cmd = commands.Commit(config, {"write_message_to_file": tmp_path})
+        commit_cmd()
+
+
 @pytest.mark.usefixtures("staging_is_clean")
 def test_commit_command_with_signoff_option(config, mocker: MockFixture):
     prompt_mock = mocker.patch("questionary.prompt")