diff --git a/.env.example b/.env.example
index 3e52404cc..5699b9873 100644
--- a/.env.example
+++ b/.env.example
@@ -67,4 +67,9 @@ SCRATCH_ASSET_CONFIG_BASE_URL=https://example.com/config/
 SCRATCH_ASSET_IMPORT_BASE_URL=https://example.com/assets/
 
 # Pardot Form Handler endpoint for subscription forwarding
-PARDOT_SUBSCRIPTION_URL=
\ No newline at end of file
+PARDOT_SUBSCRIPTION_URL=
+
+# Cloudflare Turnstile bot protection. This is a test key that always passes.
+# Others are available for testing purposes at
+# https://developers.cloudflare.com/turnstile/troubleshooting/testing/.
+CLOUDFLARE_TURNSTILE_SECRET_KEY=1x0000000000000000000000000000000AA
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/app/controllers/api/subscriptions_controller.rb b/app/controllers/api/subscriptions_controller.rb
index 9047ec66d..63fcc848e 100644
--- a/app/controllers/api/subscriptions_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/api/subscriptions_controller.rb
@@ -2,8 +2,11 @@
 
 module Api
   class SubscriptionsController < ApiController
+    before_action :check_cloudflare_turnstile, only: :create
+
     def create
-      payload = subscription_params.to_h
+      # turnstile token is only used for bot check so strip it out before validation and submission
+      payload = subscription_params.except(:turnstile_token).to_h
       errors = validation_errors_for(payload)
 
       if errors.empty?
@@ -39,8 +42,28 @@ def create
 
     private
 
+    def check_cloudflare_turnstile
+      return unless Rails.configuration.x.cloudflare_turnstile.enabled
+      return if params[:subscription].blank?
+
+      turnstile_check = Subscriptions::TurnstileVerifier.new(
+        token: params.dig(:subscription, :turnstile_token),
+        remote_ip: request.remote_ip,
+        secret_key: Rails.configuration.x.cloudflare_turnstile.secret_key
+      )
+
+      return if turnstile_check.passed?
+
+      Rails.logger.warn('[subscriptions#create] outcome=failure error_code=turnstile_verification_failed')
+      render json: {
+        ok: false,
+        error_code: 'turnstile_verification_failed',
+        message: 'Bot protection check failed. Please try again.'
+      }, status: :unprocessable_content
+    end
+
     def subscription_params
-      params.require(:subscription).permit(:email, :test_opt_in, :privacy_policy)
+      params.require(:subscription).permit(:email, :test_opt_in, :privacy_policy, :turnstile_token)
     end
 
     def subscriptions_submitter
diff --git a/app/services/subscriptions/turnstile_verifier.rb b/app/services/subscriptions/turnstile_verifier.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c7477c370
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/services/subscriptions/turnstile_verifier.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+module Subscriptions
+  class TurnstileVerifier
+    API_URL = 'https://challenges.cloudflare.com/turnstile/v0/siteverify'
+
+    def initialize(token:, remote_ip:, secret_key:)
+      @token = token
+      @remote_ip = remote_ip
+      @secret_key = secret_key
+    end
+
+    def passed?
+      return false if @token.blank?
+
+      response = faraday.post(
+        API_URL,
+        {
+          secret: secret_key,
+          response: token,
+          remoteip: remote_ip
+        }
+      )
+      unless response.success?
+        Rails.logger.warn("[subscriptions#create] turnstile verification skipped: HTTP #{response.status}")
+        return true # fail open
+      end
+
+      JSON.parse(response.body)['success'] == true
+    rescue Faraday::Error, JSON::ParserError => e
+      Sentry.capture_exception(e)
+      Rails.logger.warn("[subscriptions#create] turnstile verification error: #{e.message}")
+      # Fail open to allow the request through if verification is unavailable
+      # due to network issues, Cloudflare downtime or malformed responses etc.
+      true
+    end
+
+    private
+
+    attr_reader :secret_key, :remote_ip, :token
+
+    def faraday
+      @faraday ||= Faraday.new do |f|
+        f.request :url_encoded
+        f.options.timeout = 5
+        f.options.open_timeout = 2
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/config/application.rb b/config/application.rb
index e749e6d49..a230f5477 100644
--- a/config/application.rb
+++ b/config/application.rb
@@ -70,5 +70,8 @@ class Application < Rails::Application
     config.active_record.encryption.key_derivation_salt = ENV.fetch('ACTIVE_RECORD_ENCRYPTION_KEY_DERIVATION_SALT')
 
     config.x.subscriptions.pardot_form_handler_url = ENV.fetch('PARDOT_SUBSCRIPTION_URL', '')
+
+    config.x.cloudflare_turnstile.secret_key = ENV.fetch('CLOUDFLARE_TURNSTILE_SECRET_KEY', nil)
+    config.x.cloudflare_turnstile.enabled = ENV['CLOUDFLARE_TURNSTILE_SECRET_KEY'].present?
   end
 end
diff --git a/spec/requests/api/subscriptions_spec.rb b/spec/requests/api/subscriptions_spec.rb
index 6b8c05c2c..c562db889 100644
--- a/spec/requests/api/subscriptions_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/requests/api/subscriptions_spec.rb
@@ -10,7 +10,8 @@
         subscription: {
           email: 'teacher@example.com',
           test_opt_in: true,
-          privacy_policy: true
+          privacy_policy: true,
+          turnstile_token: 'test-token'
         }
       }
     end
@@ -37,8 +38,10 @@
     let(:submitter) { instance_double(Subscriptions::PardotFormHandlerSubmitter) }
 
     before do
+      allow(Rails.configuration.x.cloudflare_turnstile).to receive(:enabled).and_return(false)
       allow(Subscriptions::PardotFormHandlerSubmitter).to receive(:new).and_return(submitter)
       allow(submitter).to receive(:call).and_return(submitter_result_success)
+      allow(Sentry).to receive(:capture_exception)
     end
 
     it 'returns success for a valid payload' do
@@ -110,5 +113,47 @@
         'message' => 'Subscription provider rejected the request.'
       )
     end
+
+    describe 'Cloudflare Turnstile integration' do
+      let(:turnstile_check) { instance_double(Subscriptions::TurnstileVerifier, passed?: true) }
+
+      before do
+        allow(Rails.configuration.x.cloudflare_turnstile).to receive_messages(
+          enabled: true,
+          secret_key: 'test-secret'
+        )
+        allow(Subscriptions::TurnstileVerifier).to receive(:new).and_return(turnstile_check)
+      end
+
+      it 'passes the token, remote IP and secret key to the verifier' do
+        post(path, params: payload, as: :json)
+
+        expect(Subscriptions::TurnstileVerifier).to have_received(:new).with(
+          token: 'test-token',
+          remote_ip: '127.0.0.1',
+          secret_key: 'test-secret'
+        )
+      end
+
+      context 'when the turnstile check passes' do
+        it 'allows the request through' do
+          post(path, params: payload, as: :json)
+
+          expect(response).to have_http_status(:ok)
+          expect(response.parsed_body['ok']).to be(true)
+        end
+      end
+
+      context 'when the turnstile check fails' do
+        before { allow(turnstile_check).to receive(:passed?).and_return(false) }
+
+        it 'returns 422 with turnstile_verification_failed error code' do
+          post(path, params: payload, as: :json)
+
+          expect(response).to have_http_status(:unprocessable_content)
+          expect(response.parsed_body['error_code']).to eq('turnstile_verification_failed')
+        end
+      end
+    end
   end
 end
diff --git a/spec/services/subscriptions/turnstile_verifier_spec.rb b/spec/services/subscriptions/turnstile_verifier_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..872d05e60
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/services/subscriptions/turnstile_verifier_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+require 'rails_helper'
+
+RSpec.describe Subscriptions::TurnstileVerifier do
+  let(:secret_key) { 'test-secret' }
+  let(:remote_ip) { '127.0.0.1' }
+  let(:token) { 'test-token' }
+  let(:verifier) { described_class.new(token:, remote_ip:, secret_key:) }
+  let(:connection) { instance_double(Faraday::Connection) }
+  let(:response) do
+    instance_double(Faraday::Response, success?: true, status: 200, body: { success: true }.to_json)
+  end
+
+  before do
+    allow(verifier).to receive(:faraday).and_return(connection)
+    allow(connection).to receive(:post).and_return(response)
+    allow(Sentry).to receive(:capture_exception)
+  end
+
+  describe '#passed?' do
+    it 'posts to Cloudflare siteverify with the correct params' do
+      verifier.passed?
+
+      expect(connection).to have_received(:post).with(
+        described_class::API_URL,
+        { secret: secret_key, response: token, remoteip: remote_ip }
+      )
+    end
+
+    context 'when turnstile token is missing' do
+      let(:token) { '' }
+
+      it 'returns false without calling Cloudflare' do
+        expect(verifier.passed?).to be(false)
+        expect(connection).not_to have_received(:post)
+      end
+    end
+
+    context 'when turnstile token is valid' do
+      it { expect(verifier.passed?).to be(true) }
+    end
+
+    context 'when Cloudflare rejects the token' do
+      let(:response) do
+        instance_double(Faraday::Response, success?: true, status: 200, body: { success: false }.to_json)
+      end
+
+      it { expect(verifier.passed?).to be(false) }
+    end
+
+    context 'when Cloudflare returns a server error' do
+      let(:response) do
+        instance_double(Faraday::Response, success?: false, status: 500, body: 'Internal Server Error')
+      end
+
+      it { expect(verifier.passed?).to be(true) }
+    end
+
+    context 'when Cloudflare returns malformed JSON' do
+      let(:response) do
+        instance_double(Faraday::Response, success?: true, status: 200, body: 'not-json')
+      end
+
+      it { expect(verifier.passed?).to be(true) }
+
+      it 'reports the error to Sentry' do
+        verifier.passed?
+        expect(Sentry).to have_received(:capture_exception).with(be_a(JSON::ParserError))
+      end
+    end
+
+    context 'when the Cloudflare connection fails' do
+      before do
+        allow(connection).to receive(:post).and_raise(Faraday::ConnectionFailed.new('connection failed'))
+      end
+
+      it { expect(verifier.passed?).to be(true) }
+
+      it 'reports the error to Sentry' do
+        verifier.passed?
+        expect(Sentry).to have_received(:capture_exception).with(be_a(Faraday::Error))
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end