diff --git a/examples/AspNetCore/Startup.cs b/examples/AspNetCore/Startup.cs
index edd68209111..af1e9717659 100644
--- a/examples/AspNetCore/Startup.cs
+++ b/examples/AspNetCore/Startup.cs
@@ -134,7 +134,13 @@ public void ConfigureServices(IServiceCollection services)
                         builder.AddOtlpExporter();
                         break;
                     default:
-                        builder.AddConsoleExporter();
+                        builder.AddConsoleExporter(options =>
+                        {
+                            // The ConsoleMetricExporter defaults to a manual collect cycle.
+                            // This configuration causes metrics to be exported to stdout on a 10s interval.
+                            options.MetricReaderType = MetricReaderType.Periodic;
+                            options.PeriodicExportingMetricReaderOptions.ExportIntervalMilliseconds = 10000;
+                        });
                         break;
                 }
             });
diff --git a/examples/Console/TestMetrics.cs b/examples/Console/TestMetrics.cs
index f58b63a6b2f..f985add3e53 100644
--- a/examples/Console/TestMetrics.cs
+++ b/examples/Console/TestMetrics.cs
@@ -77,7 +77,8 @@ internal static object Run(MetricsOptions options)
                 providerBuilder
                     .AddConsoleExporter(o =>
                     {
-                        o.MetricExportIntervalMilliseconds = options.DefaultCollectionPeriodMilliseconds;
+                        o.MetricReaderType = MetricReaderType.Periodic;
+                        o.PeriodicExportingMetricReaderOptions.ExportIntervalMilliseconds = options.DefaultCollectionPeriodMilliseconds;
                         o.AggregationTemporality = options.IsDelta ? AggregationTemporality.Delta : AggregationTemporality.Cumulative;
                     });
             }
diff --git a/src/OpenTelemetry.Exporter.Console/.publicApi/net461/PublicAPI.Unshipped.txt b/src/OpenTelemetry.Exporter.Console/.publicApi/net461/PublicAPI.Unshipped.txt
index 62138841224..1e1b5bf2eb4 100644
--- a/src/OpenTelemetry.Exporter.Console/.publicApi/net461/PublicAPI.Unshipped.txt
+++ b/src/OpenTelemetry.Exporter.Console/.publicApi/net461/PublicAPI.Unshipped.txt
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 OpenTelemetry.Exporter.ConsoleExporterOptions.AggregationTemporality.get -> OpenTelemetry.Metrics.AggregationTemporality
 OpenTelemetry.Exporter.ConsoleExporterOptions.AggregationTemporality.set -> void
-OpenTelemetry.Exporter.ConsoleExporterOptions.MetricExportIntervalMilliseconds.get -> int
-OpenTelemetry.Exporter.ConsoleExporterOptions.MetricExportIntervalMilliseconds.set -> void
+OpenTelemetry.Exporter.ConsoleExporterOptions.MetricReaderType.get -> OpenTelemetry.Metrics.MetricReaderType
+OpenTelemetry.Exporter.ConsoleExporterOptions.MetricReaderType.set -> void
+OpenTelemetry.Exporter.ConsoleExporterOptions.PeriodicExportingMetricReaderOptions.get -> OpenTelemetry.Metrics.PeriodicExportingMetricReaderOptions
+OpenTelemetry.Exporter.ConsoleExporterOptions.PeriodicExportingMetricReaderOptions.set -> void
 OpenTelemetry.Exporter.ConsoleMetricExporter
 OpenTelemetry.Exporter.ConsoleMetricExporter.ConsoleMetricExporter(OpenTelemetry.Exporter.ConsoleExporterOptions options) -> void
 OpenTelemetry.Metrics.ConsoleExporterMetricsExtensions
diff --git a/src/OpenTelemetry.Exporter.Console/.publicApi/netstandard2.0/PublicAPI.Unshipped.txt b/src/OpenTelemetry.Exporter.Console/.publicApi/netstandard2.0/PublicAPI.Unshipped.txt
index 62138841224..1e1b5bf2eb4 100644
--- a/src/OpenTelemetry.Exporter.Console/.publicApi/netstandard2.0/PublicAPI.Unshipped.txt
+++ b/src/OpenTelemetry.Exporter.Console/.publicApi/netstandard2.0/PublicAPI.Unshipped.txt
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 OpenTelemetry.Exporter.ConsoleExporterOptions.AggregationTemporality.get -> OpenTelemetry.Metrics.AggregationTemporality
 OpenTelemetry.Exporter.ConsoleExporterOptions.AggregationTemporality.set -> void
-OpenTelemetry.Exporter.ConsoleExporterOptions.MetricExportIntervalMilliseconds.get -> int
-OpenTelemetry.Exporter.ConsoleExporterOptions.MetricExportIntervalMilliseconds.set -> void
+OpenTelemetry.Exporter.ConsoleExporterOptions.MetricReaderType.get -> OpenTelemetry.Metrics.MetricReaderType
+OpenTelemetry.Exporter.ConsoleExporterOptions.MetricReaderType.set -> void
+OpenTelemetry.Exporter.ConsoleExporterOptions.PeriodicExportingMetricReaderOptions.get -> OpenTelemetry.Metrics.PeriodicExportingMetricReaderOptions
+OpenTelemetry.Exporter.ConsoleExporterOptions.PeriodicExportingMetricReaderOptions.set -> void
 OpenTelemetry.Exporter.ConsoleMetricExporter
 OpenTelemetry.Exporter.ConsoleMetricExporter.ConsoleMetricExporter(OpenTelemetry.Exporter.ConsoleExporterOptions options) -> void
 OpenTelemetry.Metrics.ConsoleExporterMetricsExtensions
diff --git a/src/OpenTelemetry.Exporter.Console/CHANGELOG.md b/src/OpenTelemetry.Exporter.Console/CHANGELOG.md
index 93ccc8b92e5..df9b24ea5df 100644
--- a/src/OpenTelemetry.Exporter.Console/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/src/OpenTelemetry.Exporter.Console/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -2,6 +2,10 @@
 
 ## Unreleased
 
+* Added configuration options for `MetricReaderType` to allow for configuring
+  the `ConsoleMetricExporter` to export either manually or periodically.
+  ([#2648](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-dotnet/pull/2648))
+
 ## 1.2.0-beta2
 
 Released 2021-Nov-19
diff --git a/src/OpenTelemetry.Exporter.Console/ConsoleExporterMetricsExtensions.cs b/src/OpenTelemetry.Exporter.Console/ConsoleExporterMetricsExtensions.cs
index cd56b910dc3..d75a31bbee2 100644
--- a/src/OpenTelemetry.Exporter.Console/ConsoleExporterMetricsExtensions.cs
+++ b/src/OpenTelemetry.Exporter.Console/ConsoleExporterMetricsExtensions.cs
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@
 // </copyright>
 
 using System;
-using System.Threading;
 using OpenTelemetry.Exporter;
 using OpenTelemetry.Internal;
 
@@ -39,9 +38,9 @@ public static MeterProviderBuilder AddConsoleExporter(this MeterProviderBuilder
 
             var exporter = new ConsoleMetricExporter(options);
 
-            var reader = options.MetricExportIntervalMilliseconds == Timeout.Infinite
+            var reader = options.MetricReaderType == MetricReaderType.Manual
                 ? new BaseExportingMetricReader(exporter)
-                : new PeriodicExportingMetricReader(exporter, options.MetricExportIntervalMilliseconds);
+                : new PeriodicExportingMetricReader(exporter, options.PeriodicExportingMetricReaderOptions.ExportIntervalMilliseconds);
 
             reader.PreferredAggregationTemporality = options.AggregationTemporality;
 
diff --git a/src/OpenTelemetry.Exporter.Console/ConsoleExporterOptions.cs b/src/OpenTelemetry.Exporter.Console/ConsoleExporterOptions.cs
index 3c75ef2d9d1..93c7e3422c5 100644
--- a/src/OpenTelemetry.Exporter.Console/ConsoleExporterOptions.cs
+++ b/src/OpenTelemetry.Exporter.Console/ConsoleExporterOptions.cs
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@
 // limitations under the License.
 // </copyright>
 
-using System.Threading;
 using OpenTelemetry.Metrics;
 
 namespace OpenTelemetry.Exporter
@@ -27,9 +26,14 @@ public class ConsoleExporterOptions
         public ConsoleExporterOutputTargets Targets { get; set; } = ConsoleExporterOutputTargets.Console;
 
         /// <summary>
-        /// Gets or sets the metric export interval in milliseconds. The default value is <c>Timeout.Infinite</c>.
+        /// Gets or sets the <see cref="MetricReaderType" /> to use. Defaults to <c>MetricReaderType.Manual</c>.
         /// </summary>
-        public int MetricExportIntervalMilliseconds { get; set; } = Timeout.Infinite;
+        public MetricReaderType MetricReaderType { get; set; } = MetricReaderType.Manual;
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Gets or sets the <see cref="PeriodicExportingMetricReaderOptions" /> options. Ignored unless <c>MetricReaderType</c> is <c>Periodic</c>.
+        /// </summary>
+        public PeriodicExportingMetricReaderOptions PeriodicExportingMetricReaderOptions { get; set; } = new PeriodicExportingMetricReaderOptions();
 
         /// <summary>
         /// Gets or sets the AggregationTemporality used for Histogram
diff --git a/src/OpenTelemetry/.publicApi/net461/PublicAPI.Unshipped.txt b/src/OpenTelemetry/.publicApi/net461/PublicAPI.Unshipped.txt
index 9bfa7df92f2..4d61f50b233 100644
--- a/src/OpenTelemetry/.publicApi/net461/PublicAPI.Unshipped.txt
+++ b/src/OpenTelemetry/.publicApi/net461/PublicAPI.Unshipped.txt
@@ -70,6 +70,9 @@ OpenTelemetry.Metrics.MetricReader.PreferredAggregationTemporality.set -> void
 OpenTelemetry.Metrics.MetricReader.Shutdown(int timeoutMilliseconds = -1) -> bool
 OpenTelemetry.Metrics.MetricReader.SupportedAggregationTemporality.get -> OpenTelemetry.Metrics.AggregationTemporality
 OpenTelemetry.Metrics.MetricReader.SupportedAggregationTemporality.set -> void
+OpenTelemetry.Metrics.MetricReaderType
+OpenTelemetry.Metrics.MetricReaderType.Manual = 0 -> OpenTelemetry.Metrics.MetricReaderType
+OpenTelemetry.Metrics.MetricReaderType.Periodic = 1 -> OpenTelemetry.Metrics.MetricReaderType
 OpenTelemetry.Metrics.MetricStreamConfiguration
 OpenTelemetry.Metrics.MetricStreamConfiguration.Description.get -> string
 OpenTelemetry.Metrics.MetricStreamConfiguration.Description.set -> void
@@ -87,6 +90,10 @@ OpenTelemetry.Metrics.MetricType.LongSum = 26 -> OpenTelemetry.Metrics.MetricTyp
 OpenTelemetry.Metrics.MetricTypeExtensions
 OpenTelemetry.Metrics.PeriodicExportingMetricReader
 OpenTelemetry.Metrics.PeriodicExportingMetricReader.PeriodicExportingMetricReader(OpenTelemetry.BaseExporter<OpenTelemetry.Metrics.Metric> exporter, int exportIntervalMilliseconds = 60000, int exportTimeoutMilliseconds = 30000) -> void
+OpenTelemetry.Metrics.PeriodicExportingMetricReaderOptions
+OpenTelemetry.Metrics.PeriodicExportingMetricReaderOptions.PeriodicExportingMetricReaderOptions() -> void
+OpenTelemetry.Metrics.PeriodicExportingMetricReaderOptions.ExportIntervalMilliseconds.get -> int
+OpenTelemetry.Metrics.PeriodicExportingMetricReaderOptions.ExportIntervalMilliseconds.set -> void
 OpenTelemetry.ReadOnlyTagCollection
 OpenTelemetry.ReadOnlyTagCollection.Count.get -> int
 OpenTelemetry.ReadOnlyTagCollection.Enumerator
diff --git a/src/OpenTelemetry/.publicApi/netstandard2.0/PublicAPI.Unshipped.txt b/src/OpenTelemetry/.publicApi/netstandard2.0/PublicAPI.Unshipped.txt
index 9bfa7df92f2..4d61f50b233 100644
--- a/src/OpenTelemetry/.publicApi/netstandard2.0/PublicAPI.Unshipped.txt
+++ b/src/OpenTelemetry/.publicApi/netstandard2.0/PublicAPI.Unshipped.txt
@@ -70,6 +70,9 @@ OpenTelemetry.Metrics.MetricReader.PreferredAggregationTemporality.set -> void
 OpenTelemetry.Metrics.MetricReader.Shutdown(int timeoutMilliseconds = -1) -> bool
 OpenTelemetry.Metrics.MetricReader.SupportedAggregationTemporality.get -> OpenTelemetry.Metrics.AggregationTemporality
 OpenTelemetry.Metrics.MetricReader.SupportedAggregationTemporality.set -> void
+OpenTelemetry.Metrics.MetricReaderType
+OpenTelemetry.Metrics.MetricReaderType.Manual = 0 -> OpenTelemetry.Metrics.MetricReaderType
+OpenTelemetry.Metrics.MetricReaderType.Periodic = 1 -> OpenTelemetry.Metrics.MetricReaderType
 OpenTelemetry.Metrics.MetricStreamConfiguration
 OpenTelemetry.Metrics.MetricStreamConfiguration.Description.get -> string
 OpenTelemetry.Metrics.MetricStreamConfiguration.Description.set -> void
@@ -87,6 +90,10 @@ OpenTelemetry.Metrics.MetricType.LongSum = 26 -> OpenTelemetry.Metrics.MetricTyp
 OpenTelemetry.Metrics.MetricTypeExtensions
 OpenTelemetry.Metrics.PeriodicExportingMetricReader
 OpenTelemetry.Metrics.PeriodicExportingMetricReader.PeriodicExportingMetricReader(OpenTelemetry.BaseExporter<OpenTelemetry.Metrics.Metric> exporter, int exportIntervalMilliseconds = 60000, int exportTimeoutMilliseconds = 30000) -> void
+OpenTelemetry.Metrics.PeriodicExportingMetricReaderOptions
+OpenTelemetry.Metrics.PeriodicExportingMetricReaderOptions.PeriodicExportingMetricReaderOptions() -> void
+OpenTelemetry.Metrics.PeriodicExportingMetricReaderOptions.ExportIntervalMilliseconds.get -> int
+OpenTelemetry.Metrics.PeriodicExportingMetricReaderOptions.ExportIntervalMilliseconds.set -> void
 OpenTelemetry.ReadOnlyTagCollection
 OpenTelemetry.ReadOnlyTagCollection.Count.get -> int
 OpenTelemetry.ReadOnlyTagCollection.Enumerator
diff --git a/src/OpenTelemetry/Metrics/MetricReaderType.cs b/src/OpenTelemetry/Metrics/MetricReaderType.cs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..4c20574f552
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/OpenTelemetry/Metrics/MetricReaderType.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+// <copyright file="MetricReaderType.cs" company="OpenTelemetry Authors">
+// Copyright The OpenTelemetry Authors
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+// </copyright>
+
+namespace OpenTelemetry.Metrics
+{
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Type of <see cref="MetricReader" /> to be used.
+    /// </summary>
+    public enum MetricReaderType
+    {
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Use the <see cref="BaseExportingMetricReader" />.
+        /// This requires manually invoking <c>MetricReader.Collect()</c> to export metrics.
+        /// </summary>
+        Manual,
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Use the <see cref="PeriodicExportingMetricReader" />.
+        /// <c>MetricReader.Collect()</c> will be invoked on a defined interval.
+        /// </summary>
+        Periodic,
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/OpenTelemetry/Metrics/PeriodicExportingMetricReaderOptions.cs b/src/OpenTelemetry/Metrics/PeriodicExportingMetricReaderOptions.cs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..af1df534cdc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/OpenTelemetry/Metrics/PeriodicExportingMetricReaderOptions.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+// <copyright file="PeriodicExportingMetricReaderOptions.cs" company="OpenTelemetry Authors">
+// Copyright The OpenTelemetry Authors
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+// </copyright>
+
+namespace OpenTelemetry.Metrics
+{
+    public class PeriodicExportingMetricReaderOptions
+    {
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Gets or sets the metric export interval in milliseconds. The default value is <c>60000</c>.
+        /// </summary>
+        public int ExportIntervalMilliseconds { get; set; } = 60000;
+    }
+}