diff --git a/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml b/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml
index 2e6829b..54fbc84 100644
--- a/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.gitea/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -110,3 +110,25 @@ jobs:
           pytest tests/ --cov=app --cov-report=term-missing --cov-fail-under=70 || \
             echo "::warning::Coverage below 70%"
         continue-on-error: true
+
+  memory:
+    name: Memory Leak Check
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    needs: [lint]
+    container:
+      image: python:3.11-slim
+
+    steps:
+      - name: Setup and checkout
+        run: |
+          apt-get update -qq && apt-get install -yqq --no-install-recommends git >/dev/null
+          git clone --depth 1 --branch "${GITHUB_REF_NAME}" \
+            "https://oauth2:${{ github.token }}@${GITHUB_SERVER_URL#https://}/${GITHUB_REPOSITORY}.git" .
+
+      - name: Install dependencies
+        run: |
+          pip install -q -r requirements.txt
+          pip install -q pytest
+
+      - name: Run memory leak tests
+        run: pytest tests/test_memory.py -v --tb=short
diff --git a/tests/test_memory.py b/tests/test_memory.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a346479
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_memory.py
@@ -0,0 +1,173 @@
+"""Memory leak detection tests."""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import gc
+import tracemalloc
+from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
+
+import pytest
+
+from app import create_app
+
+if TYPE_CHECKING:
+    from flask import Flask
+    from flask.testing import FlaskClient
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def app() -> Flask:
+    """Create application configured for testing."""
+    app = create_app("testing")
+    app.config["POW_DIFFICULTY"] = 0
+    app.config["RATE_LIMIT_ENABLED"] = False
+    return app
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def client(app: Flask) -> FlaskClient:
+    """Create test client."""
+    return app.test_client()
+
+
+class TestMemoryLeaks:
+    """Test for memory leaks in common operations."""
+
+    def test_paste_create_delete_no_leak(self, client: FlaskClient) -> None:
+        """Creating and deleting pastes should not leak memory."""
+        gc.collect()
+        tracemalloc.start()
+
+        # Warm-up phase (allocations may happen on first run)
+        for _ in range(5):
+            resp = client.post("/", data=b"warmup content")
+            paste_id = resp.get_json()["id"]
+            client.delete(f"/{paste_id}")
+
+        gc.collect()
+        snapshot1 = tracemalloc.take_snapshot()
+        baseline = sum(stat.size for stat in snapshot1.statistics("lineno"))
+
+        # Main test: create and delete many pastes
+        iterations = 100
+        for i in range(iterations):
+            resp = client.post("/", data=f"test content {i}".encode())
+            assert resp.status_code == 201
+            paste_id = resp.get_json()["id"]
+            # Don't delete to accumulate if there's a leak
+            # (pastes are in-memory during test)
+
+        gc.collect()
+        snapshot2 = tracemalloc.take_snapshot()
+        after_creates = sum(stat.size for stat in snapshot2.statistics("lineno"))
+
+        # Clean up
+        tracemalloc.stop()
+
+        # Allow reasonable growth (100 pastes * ~1KB each + overhead)
+        # but fail if growth is excessive (> 50MB suggests a leak)
+        growth_mb = (after_creates - baseline) / (1024 * 1024)
+        assert growth_mb < 50, f"Memory grew by {growth_mb:.2f}MB after {iterations} creates"
+
+    def test_paste_access_no_leak(self, client: FlaskClient) -> None:
+        """Repeatedly accessing a paste should not leak memory."""
+        # Create a test paste
+        resp = client.post("/", data=b"access test content")
+        paste_id = resp.get_json()["id"]
+
+        gc.collect()
+        tracemalloc.start()
+
+        # Warm-up
+        for _ in range(10):
+            client.get(f"/{paste_id}/raw")
+
+        gc.collect()
+        snapshot1 = tracemalloc.take_snapshot()
+        baseline = sum(stat.size for stat in snapshot1.statistics("lineno"))
+
+        # Main test: access many times
+        iterations = 500
+        for _ in range(iterations):
+            resp = client.get(f"/{paste_id}/raw")
+            assert resp.status_code == 200
+
+        gc.collect()
+        snapshot2 = tracemalloc.take_snapshot()
+        after_accesses = sum(stat.size for stat in snapshot2.statistics("lineno"))
+
+        tracemalloc.stop()
+
+        # Access should have minimal memory growth (< 10MB)
+        growth_mb = (after_accesses - baseline) / (1024 * 1024)
+        assert growth_mb < 10, f"Memory grew by {growth_mb:.2f}MB after {iterations} accesses"
+
+    def test_challenge_generation_no_leak(self, app: Flask) -> None:
+        """PoW challenge generation should not leak memory."""
+        app.config["POW_DIFFICULTY"] = 8
+        client = app.test_client()
+
+        gc.collect()
+        tracemalloc.start()
+
+        # Warm-up
+        for _ in range(10):
+            client.get("/challenge")
+
+        gc.collect()
+        snapshot1 = tracemalloc.take_snapshot()
+        baseline = sum(stat.size for stat in snapshot1.statistics("lineno"))
+
+        # Main test: generate many challenges
+        iterations = 200
+        for _ in range(iterations):
+            resp = client.get("/challenge")
+            assert resp.status_code == 200
+
+        gc.collect()
+        snapshot2 = tracemalloc.take_snapshot()
+        after_challenges = sum(stat.size for stat in snapshot2.statistics("lineno"))
+
+        tracemalloc.stop()
+
+        # Challenge generation should have minimal growth (< 5MB)
+        growth_mb = (after_challenges - baseline) / (1024 * 1024)
+        assert growth_mb < 5, f"Memory grew by {growth_mb:.2f}MB after {iterations} challenges"
+
+
+class TestMemoryCleanup:
+    """Test that cleanup operations release memory."""
+
+    def test_expired_paste_cleanup_releases_memory(self, app: Flask) -> None:
+        """Expired paste cleanup should release memory."""
+        app.config["PASTE_EXPIRY_ANON"] = 1  # 1 second expiry
+        client = app.test_client()
+
+        # Create pastes that will expire
+        paste_ids = []
+        for i in range(50):
+            resp = client.post("/", data=f"expiring content {i}".encode())
+            paste_ids.append(resp.get_json()["id"])
+
+        gc.collect()
+        tracemalloc.start()
+        snapshot1 = tracemalloc.take_snapshot()
+        before = sum(stat.size for stat in snapshot1.statistics("lineno"))
+
+        # Wait for expiry and trigger cleanup
+        import time
+
+        time.sleep(2)
+
+        # Access index to trigger cleanup
+        client.get("/")
+        gc.collect()
+
+        snapshot2 = tracemalloc.take_snapshot()
+        after = sum(stat.size for stat in snapshot2.statistics("lineno"))
+
+        tracemalloc.stop()
+
+        # Memory should not have grown significantly (cleanup should work)
+        growth_mb = (after - before) / (1024 * 1024)
+        assert growth_mb < 5, f"Memory grew by {growth_mb:.2f}MB after cleanup"