diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index d3512c6..911fab0 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## 0.31.0
+- feat: Apply default parsing automatically, with Arg.parse_inference == False to disable.
+
 ## 0.30.4
 - fix: Use of a synchronous context manager inside an `invoke_async` invoke context.
 - fix: Stripped type aliases losing e.g. Dep metadata.
diff --git a/docs/source/arg.md b/docs/source/arg.md
index 9ff7842..39bb306 100644
--- a/docs/source/arg.md
+++ b/docs/source/arg.md
@@ -527,9 +527,14 @@ Note cappa itself contains a number of component `parse_*` functions inside the
 module, which can be used in combination with your own custom `parse` functions.
 ```
 
-### `default_parse`
+### `default_parse`/`Arg.parse_inference
 
-A function [cappa.default_parse](cappa.default_parse) is exposed
+A function [cappa.default_parse](cappa.default_parse) is exposed and **can** be directly referenced
+in parse function sequences. However by default the `default_parse` function is applied automatically
+at the end of the user-provided parse function/sequence.
+
+With that said, if the default behavior is undesirable, one can set `Arg(parse_inference=False)` to
+**only** execute the user provided parser function(s).
 
 (parsing-json)=
 ### Parsing JSON
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 594914e..39f02ee 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [project]
 name = "cappa"
-version = "0.30.4"
+version = "0.31.0"
 description = "Declarative CLI argument parser."
 
 urls = { repository = "https://github.com/dancardin/cappa" }
diff --git a/src/cappa/arg.py b/src/cappa/arg.py
index ae54a7f..8694489 100644
--- a/src/cappa/arg.py
+++ b/src/cappa/arg.py
@@ -149,6 +149,7 @@ class Arg(Generic[T]):
             return the parsed value. This can be either a single function, or a sequence of functions.
             If a sequence is provided, they will be called (in order) with their return value
             chained into the next function in the sequence.
+        parse_inference: Whether to include the default inferred parser for the annotated.
 
         group: Optional group names for the argument. This affects how they're displayed
             in the backend's help text. Note this can also be a `Group` instance in order
@@ -192,6 +193,7 @@ def __hash__(self):
     default: T | EmptyType | None = Empty
     help: str | None = None
     parse: Callable[..., T] | Sequence[Callable[..., Any]] | None = None
+    parse_inference: bool = True
 
     group: str | tuple[int, str] | Group | EmptyType = Empty
 
@@ -627,22 +629,27 @@ def infer_num_args(
 def infer_parse(
     arg: Arg[Any], type_view: TypeView[Any], state: State[Any] | None = None
 ) -> Callable[..., Any]:
-    if arg.parse:
-        parse: Parser[Any] | Sequence[Parser[Any]] = arg.parse
-    else:
-        parse = parse_value(type_view)
+    parse: Parser[Any] | Sequence[Parser[Any]] = arg.parse  # type: ignore
+    default_parse = parse_value(type_view)
 
     # This is the original arg choices, e.g. explicitly provided. Inferred choices
     # need to be handled internally to the parsers.
-    if arg.choices:
-        if not isinstance(parse, Sequence):
-            parse = [parse]
+    parsers: Sequence[Parser[Any]] = []
+    if parse:
+        if isinstance(parse, Sequence):
+            parsers = [*cast(Sequence[Any], parse)]
+        else:
+            parsers = [parse]
 
+    if arg.choices:
         literal_type = Literal[tuple(arg.choices)]  # type: ignore
         literal_parse: Parser[Any] = parse_literal(literal_type)  # type: ignore
-        parse = cast(Sequence[Parser[Any]], [*parse, literal_parse])
+        parsers = cast(Sequence[Parser[Any]], [*parsers, literal_parse])
+
+    if arg.parse_inference:
+        parsers = [*parsers, default_parse]
 
-    return evaluate_parse(parse, type_view, state=state)
+    return evaluate_parse(parsers, type_view, state=state)
 
 
 def infer_help(arg: Arg[Any], fallback_help: str | None) -> str | None:
diff --git a/src/cappa/parse.py b/src/cappa/parse.py
index 7d977ae..db56933 100644
--- a/src/cappa/parse.py
+++ b/src/cappa/parse.py
@@ -17,8 +17,6 @@
     cast,
 )
 
-from typing_extensions import Never
-
 from cappa.file_io import FileMode
 from cappa.state import S, State
 from cappa.type_view import TypeView
@@ -105,7 +103,7 @@ def parse_value(typ: MaybeTypeView[T]) -> Parser[T]:
         return type_view.annotation
 
     if type_view.is_none_type:
-        return parse_none
+        return parse_none  # type: ignore
 
     if type_view.is_subclass_of(enum.Enum):
         return parse_enum(type_view)
@@ -131,7 +129,17 @@ def parse_value(typ: MaybeTypeView[T]) -> Parser[T]:
     if type_view.is_subclass_of((TextIO, BinaryIO)):
         return parse_file_io(type_view)
 
-    return type_view.annotation
+    return parse_fallback(type_view.annotation)
+
+
+def parse_fallback(fallback: type[T]) -> Parser[T]:
+    def fallback_mapper(v: Any) -> T:
+        if isinstance(v, fallback):
+            return v
+
+        return fallback(v)  # type: ignore
+
+    return fallback_mapper
 
 
 def parse_literal(typ: MaybeTypeView[T]) -> Parser[T]:
@@ -252,11 +260,10 @@ def union_mapper(value: Any) -> Any:
     return union_mapper
 
 
-def parse_none(value: Any) -> Never:
-    """Create a value parser for None.
-
-    Default values are not run through Arg.parse, so there's no way to arrive at a `None` value.
-    """
+def parse_none(value: Any) -> None:
+    """Create a value parser for None."""
+    if value is None:
+        return
     raise ValueError(value)
 
 
diff --git a/tests/arg/test_parse_inference.py b/tests/arg/test_parse_inference.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bf4e1b9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/arg/test_parse_inference.py
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+from dataclasses import dataclass
+
+from typing_extensions import Annotated
+
+import cappa
+from tests.utils import Backend, backends, parse
+
+
+@dataclass
+class Args:
+    numbers: Annotated[str, cappa.Arg(parse=int, parse_inference=False)]
+
+
+@backends
+def test_disable_default_parser(backend: Backend):
+    test = parse(Args, "1", backend=backend)
+    assert test.numbers == 1
diff --git a/uv.lock b/uv.lock
index e53557b..bbac5ed 100644
--- a/uv.lock
+++ b/uv.lock
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ wheels = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "cappa"
-version = "0.30.3"
+version = "0.30.4"
 source = { editable = "." }
 dependencies = [
     { name = "rich" },