diff --git a/src/fastapi_toolsets/crud/factory.py b/src/fastapi_toolsets/crud/factory.py
index 5361faf..7d8f752 100644
--- a/src/fastapi_toolsets/crud/factory.py
+++ b/src/fastapi_toolsets/crud/factory.py
@@ -1229,37 +1229,45 @@ class AsyncCrud(Generic[ModelType]):
             ``OFFSET``, :class:`.CursorPaginatedResponse` when it is
             ``CURSOR``.
         """
-        if pagination_type is PaginationType.CURSOR:
-            return await cls.cursor_paginate(
-                session,
-                cursor=cursor,
-                filters=filters,
-                joins=joins,
-                outer_join=outer_join,
-                load_options=load_options,
-                order_by=order_by,
-                items_per_page=items_per_page,
-                search=search,
-                search_fields=search_fields,
-                facet_fields=facet_fields,
-                filter_by=filter_by,
-                schema=schema,
-            )
-        return await cls.offset_paginate(
-            session,
-            filters=filters,
-            joins=joins,
-            outer_join=outer_join,
-            load_options=load_options,
-            order_by=order_by,
-            page=page,
-            items_per_page=items_per_page,
-            search=search,
-            search_fields=search_fields,
-            facet_fields=facet_fields,
-            filter_by=filter_by,
-            schema=schema,
-        )
+        if items_per_page < 1:
+            raise ValueError(f"items_per_page must be >= 1, got {items_per_page}")
+        match pagination_type:
+            case PaginationType.CURSOR:
+                return await cls.cursor_paginate(
+                    session,
+                    cursor=cursor,
+                    filters=filters,
+                    joins=joins,
+                    outer_join=outer_join,
+                    load_options=load_options,
+                    order_by=order_by,
+                    items_per_page=items_per_page,
+                    search=search,
+                    search_fields=search_fields,
+                    facet_fields=facet_fields,
+                    filter_by=filter_by,
+                    schema=schema,
+                )
+            case PaginationType.OFFSET:
+                if page < 1:
+                    raise ValueError(f"page must be >= 1, got {page}")
+                return await cls.offset_paginate(
+                    session,
+                    filters=filters,
+                    joins=joins,
+                    outer_join=outer_join,
+                    load_options=load_options,
+                    order_by=order_by,
+                    page=page,
+                    items_per_page=items_per_page,
+                    search=search,
+                    search_fields=search_fields,
+                    facet_fields=facet_fields,
+                    filter_by=filter_by,
+                    schema=schema,
+                )
+            case _:
+                raise ValueError(f"Unknown pagination_type: {pagination_type!r}")
 
 
 def CrudFactory(
diff --git a/tests/test_crud.py b/tests/test_crud.py
index 58e9a0f..809c2fd 100644
--- a/tests/test_crud.py
+++ b/tests/test_crud.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ import pytest
 from sqlalchemy.ext.asyncio import AsyncSession
 from sqlalchemy.orm import selectinload
 
-from fastapi_toolsets.crud import CrudFactory
+from fastapi_toolsets.crud import CrudFactory, PaginationType
 from fastapi_toolsets.crud.factory import AsyncCrud
 from fastapi_toolsets.exceptions import NotFoundError
 
@@ -2384,3 +2384,72 @@ class TestCursorPaginateColumnTypes:
         page1_ids = {p.id for p in page1.data}
         page2_ids = {p.id for p in page2.data}
         assert page1_ids.isdisjoint(page2_ids)
+
+
+class TestPaginate:
+    """Tests for the unified paginate() method."""
+
+    @pytest.mark.anyio
+    async def test_offset_pagination(self, db_session: AsyncSession):
+        """paginate() with OFFSET returns OffsetPaginatedResponse."""
+        from fastapi_toolsets.schemas import OffsetPagination
+
+        await RoleCrud.create(db_session, RoleCreate(name="admin"))
+        await RoleCrud.create(db_session, RoleCreate(name="user"))
+
+        result = await RoleCrud.paginate(
+            db_session,
+            pagination_type=PaginationType.OFFSET,
+            schema=RoleRead,
+        )
+
+        assert isinstance(result.pagination, OffsetPagination)
+        assert result.pagination_type == PaginationType.OFFSET
+
+    @pytest.mark.anyio
+    async def test_cursor_pagination(self, db_session: AsyncSession):
+        """paginate() with CURSOR returns CursorPaginatedResponse."""
+        from fastapi_toolsets.schemas import CursorPagination
+
+        await RoleCursorCrud.create(db_session, RoleCreate(name="admin"))
+
+        result = await RoleCursorCrud.paginate(
+            db_session,
+            pagination_type=PaginationType.CURSOR,
+            schema=RoleRead,
+        )
+
+        assert isinstance(result.pagination, CursorPagination)
+        assert result.pagination_type == PaginationType.CURSOR
+
+    @pytest.mark.anyio
+    async def test_invalid_items_per_page_raises(self, db_session: AsyncSession):
+        """paginate() raises ValueError when items_per_page < 1."""
+        with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="items_per_page"):
+            await RoleCrud.paginate(
+                db_session,
+                pagination_type=PaginationType.OFFSET,
+                items_per_page=0,
+                schema=RoleRead,
+            )
+
+    @pytest.mark.anyio
+    async def test_invalid_page_raises(self, db_session: AsyncSession):
+        """paginate() raises ValueError when page < 1 for offset pagination."""
+        with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="page"):
+            await RoleCrud.paginate(
+                db_session,
+                pagination_type=PaginationType.OFFSET,
+                page=0,
+                schema=RoleRead,
+            )
+
+    @pytest.mark.anyio
+    async def test_unknown_pagination_type_raises(self, db_session: AsyncSession):
+        """paginate() raises ValueError for unknown pagination_type."""
+        with pytest.raises(ValueError, match="Unknown pagination_type"):
+            await RoleCrud.paginate(
+                db_session,
+                pagination_type="unknown",
+                schema=RoleRead,
+            )  # type: ignore[no-matching-overload]