diff --git a/scripts/create-cluster-compare.sh b/scripts/create-cluster-compare.sh
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..7f4607a6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/create-cluster-compare.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,366 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+# Compare `charon create cluster` and `pluto create cluster` across a small
+# matrix of CLI argument combinations.
+#
+# The generated lock contains fresh validator keys, threshold shares, ENRs, and
+# signatures derived from independent CSPRNGs in each binary, so Charon and Pluto
+# cannot produce byte-identical lock files. This script compares the
+# deterministic lock surface (cluster definition, counts, deposit amounts, etc.)
+# and verifies that each command writes the same lock to every node directory.
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+ROOT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/.." && pwd)"
+
+if [[ -z "${PLUTO_BIN:-}" ]]; then
+    PLUTO_BIN="${ROOT_DIR}/target/debug/pluto"
+fi
+
+if [[ -z "${CHARON_BIN:-}" ]]; then
+    printf '[create-cluster-compare] ERROR: %s\n' \
+        "CHARON_BIN must be set to the path of a built charon binary" >&2
+    exit 1
+fi
+
+: "${WORK_DIR:=/tmp/create-cluster-compare}"
+: "${KEEP_WORK:=0}"
+
+FEE_RECIPIENT_ADDRESS="0xDeaDbeefdEAdbeefdEadbEEFdeadbeEFdEaDbeeF"
+WITHDRAWAL_ADDRESS="0xDeaDbeefdEAdbeefdEadbEEFdeadbeEFdEaDbeeF"
+
+CASE_FILTER=""
+
+usage() {
+    cat <<'USAGE'
+Usage: scripts/create-cluster-compare.sh [--case NAME] [--keep-work]
+
+Environment:
+  PLUTO_BIN     Path to pluto binary. Defaults to ./target/debug/pluto.
+  CHARON_BIN    Path to charon binary. Required.
+  WORK_DIR      Scratch/output directory. Defaults to /tmp/create-cluster-compare.
+  KEEP_WORK     Keep scratch directory when set to 1/true/yes/on.
+
+Cases:
+  basic
+  threshold-default
+  two-partial-deposits
+  four-partial-deposits
+  target-gas-limit
+  compounding
+USAGE
+}
+
+while (($#)); do
+    case "$1" in
+        --case)
+            CASE_FILTER="${2:?--case requires a name}"
+            shift 2
+            ;;
+        --keep-work)
+            KEEP_WORK=1
+            shift
+            ;;
+        -h|--help)
+            usage
+            exit 0
+            ;;
+        *)
+            echo "unknown argument: $1" >&2
+            usage >&2
+            exit 2
+            ;;
+    esac
+done
+
+is_truthy() {
+    case "${1:-}" in
+        1|true|TRUE|True|yes|YES|Yes|on|ON|On) return 0 ;;
+        *) return 1 ;;
+    esac
+}
+
+log() {
+    printf '[create-cluster-compare] %s\n' "$*"
+}
+
+fail() {
+    printf '[create-cluster-compare] ERROR: %s\n' "$*" >&2
+    exit 1
+}
+
+require_bin() {
+    local label="$1"
+    local bin="$2"
+
+    if [[ -x "${bin}" ]] || command -v "${bin}" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+        return 0
+    fi
+
+    fail "${label} binary not found or not executable: ${bin}"
+}
+
+case_nodes() {
+    case "$1" in
+        basic) echo 4 ;;
+        threshold-default) echo 3 ;;
+        two-partial-deposits) echo 4 ;;
+        four-partial-deposits) echo 4 ;;
+        target-gas-limit) echo 4 ;;
+        compounding) echo 4 ;;
+        *) fail "unknown case: $1" ;;
+    esac
+}
+
+case_args() {
+    case "$1" in
+        basic)
+            printf '%s\0' \
+                --nodes=4 \
+                --threshold=3 \
+                --num-validators=1 \
+                --network=goerli \
+                "--fee-recipient-addresses=${FEE_RECIPIENT_ADDRESS}" \
+                "--withdrawal-addresses=${WITHDRAWAL_ADDRESS}" \
+                --insecure-keys
+            ;;
+        threshold-default)
+            printf '%s\0' \
+                --nodes=3 \
+                --num-validators=2 \
+                --network=goerli \
+                "--fee-recipient-addresses=${FEE_RECIPIENT_ADDRESS}" \
+                "--withdrawal-addresses=${WITHDRAWAL_ADDRESS}" \
+                --insecure-keys
+            ;;
+        two-partial-deposits)
+            printf '%s\0' \
+                --nodes=4 \
+                --threshold=3 \
+                --num-validators=1 \
+                --network=goerli \
+                --deposit-amounts=31,1 \
+                "--fee-recipient-addresses=${FEE_RECIPIENT_ADDRESS}" \
+                "--withdrawal-addresses=${WITHDRAWAL_ADDRESS}" \
+                --insecure-keys
+            ;;
+        four-partial-deposits)
+            printf '%s\0' \
+                --nodes=4 \
+                --threshold=3 \
+                --num-validators=1 \
+                --network=goerli \
+                --deposit-amounts=8,8,8,8 \
+                "--fee-recipient-addresses=${FEE_RECIPIENT_ADDRESS}" \
+                "--withdrawal-addresses=${WITHDRAWAL_ADDRESS}" \
+                --insecure-keys
+            ;;
+        target-gas-limit)
+            printf '%s\0' \
+                --nodes=4 \
+                --threshold=3 \
+                --num-validators=1 \
+                --network=goerli \
+                --target-gas-limit=30000000 \
+                "--fee-recipient-addresses=${FEE_RECIPIENT_ADDRESS}" \
+                "--withdrawal-addresses=${WITHDRAWAL_ADDRESS}" \
+                --insecure-keys
+            ;;
+        compounding)
+            printf '%s\0' \
+                --nodes=4 \
+                --threshold=3 \
+                --num-validators=1 \
+                --network=goerli \
+                --compounding \
+                "--fee-recipient-addresses=${FEE_RECIPIENT_ADDRESS}" \
+                "--withdrawal-addresses=${WITHDRAWAL_ADDRESS}" \
+                --insecure-keys
+            ;;
+        *)
+            fail "unknown case: $1"
+            ;;
+    esac
+}
+
+run_case_for_bin() {
+    local label="$1"
+    local bin="$2"
+    local name="$3"
+    local out_dir="$4"
+    shift 4
+    local args=("$@")
+
+    mkdir -p "${out_dir}"
+    log "${name}: running ${label}"
+    if ! "${bin}" create cluster --cluster-dir="${out_dir}" "${args[@]}" >"${out_dir}/create-cluster.stdout" 2>"${out_dir}/create-cluster.stderr"; then
+        printf '%s\n' "---- ${label} stdout ----" >&2
+        cat "${out_dir}/create-cluster.stdout" >&2 || true
+        printf '%s\n' "---- ${label} stderr ----" >&2
+        cat "${out_dir}/create-cluster.stderr" >&2 || true
+        fail "${name}: ${label} create cluster failed"
+    fi
+}
+
+lock_path() {
+    local dir="$1"
+    printf '%s/node0/cluster-lock.json' "${dir}"
+}
+
+canonical_summary() {
+    jq -S '
+      def validators: (.distributed_validators // .validators // []);
+      def clean_address:
+        if type == "string" then ascii_downcase else . end;
+      {
+        cluster_definition: {
+          name: (.cluster_definition.name // ""),
+          version: .cluster_definition.version,
+          num_validators: .cluster_definition.num_validators,
+          threshold: .cluster_definition.threshold,
+          dkg_algorithm: .cluster_definition.dkg_algorithm,
+          fork_version: .cluster_definition.fork_version,
+          deposit_amounts: (.cluster_definition.deposit_amounts // [] | map(tostring)),
+          consensus_protocol: (.cluster_definition.consensus_protocol // ""),
+          target_gas_limit: (.cluster_definition.target_gas_limit // 0),
+          compounding: (.cluster_definition.compounding // false),
+          validators: (
+            .cluster_definition.validators // []
+            | map({
+                fee_recipient_address: (.fee_recipient_address // "" | clean_address),
+                withdrawal_address: (.withdrawal_address // "" | clean_address)
+              })
+          )
+        },
+        operator_count: (.cluster_definition.operators | length),
+        distributed_validator_count: (validators | length),
+        public_share_counts: [
+          validators[]
+          | (.public_shares // .pubshares // [])
+          | length
+        ],
+        partial_deposit_amounts: [
+          validators[]
+          | (.partial_deposit_data // .deposit_data // [])
+          | map(.amount | tostring)
+        ],
+        builder_registration_gas_limits: [
+          validators[]
+          | .builder_registration.message.gas_limit
+        ],
+        builder_registration_timestamps: [
+          validators[]
+          | .builder_registration.message.timestamp
+        ],
+        node_signature_count: (.node_signatures // [] | length),
+        has_signature_aggregate: ((.signature_aggregate // "") != ""),
+        lock_hash_hex_len: ((.lock_hash // "") | sub("^0x"; "") | length)
+      }
+    ' "$1"
+}
+
+verify_node_locks_same() {
+    local label="$1"
+    local dir="$2"
+    local nodes="$3"
+    local first
+    first="$(lock_path "${dir}")"
+
+    [[ -s "${first}" ]] || fail "${label}: missing lock file: ${first}"
+
+    for ((i = 1; i < nodes; i++)); do
+        local other="${dir}/node${i}/cluster-lock.json"
+        [[ -s "${other}" ]] || fail "${label}: missing lock file: ${other}"
+        if ! cmp -s "${first}" "${other}"; then
+            fail "${label}: node${i}/cluster-lock.json differs from node0/cluster-lock.json"
+        fi
+    done
+}
+
+compare_files() {
+    local left="$1"
+    local right="$2"
+    local diff_file="$3"
+
+    if diff -u "${left}" "${right}" >"${diff_file}"; then
+        return 0
+    fi
+
+    return 1
+}
+
+run_case() {
+    local name="$1"
+    local nodes
+    local args
+    local charon_dir
+    local pluto_dir
+    local case_dir
+
+    nodes="$(case_nodes "${name}")"
+    args=()
+    while IFS= read -r -d '' arg; do
+        args+=("${arg}")
+    done < <(case_args "${name}")
+
+    case_dir="${WORK_DIR}/${name}"
+    charon_dir="${case_dir}/charon"
+    pluto_dir="${case_dir}/pluto"
+
+    rm -rf "${case_dir}"
+    mkdir -p "${case_dir}"
+
+    log "${name}: args: ${args[*]}"
+    run_case_for_bin "charon" "${CHARON_BIN}" "${name}" "${charon_dir}" "${args[@]}"
+    run_case_for_bin "pluto" "${PLUTO_BIN}" "${name}" "${pluto_dir}" "${args[@]}"
+
+    verify_node_locks_same "${name}: charon" "${charon_dir}" "${nodes}"
+    verify_node_locks_same "${name}: pluto" "${pluto_dir}" "${nodes}"
+
+    canonical_summary "$(lock_path "${charon_dir}")" >"${case_dir}/charon.summary.json"
+    canonical_summary "$(lock_path "${pluto_dir}")" >"${case_dir}/pluto.summary.json"
+
+    if compare_files "${case_dir}/charon.summary.json" "${case_dir}/pluto.summary.json" "${case_dir}/summary.diff"; then
+        log "${name}: semantic lock summary matches"
+    else
+        printf '%s\n' "---- ${name} semantic diff ----" >&2
+        cat "${case_dir}/summary.diff" >&2
+        fail "${name}: Charon and Pluto semantic lock summaries differ"
+    fi
+}
+
+main() {
+    require_bin "jq" "jq"
+    require_bin "pluto" "${PLUTO_BIN}"
+    require_bin "charon" "${CHARON_BIN}"
+
+    if ! is_truthy "${KEEP_WORK}"; then
+        rm -rf "${WORK_DIR}"
+    fi
+    mkdir -p "${WORK_DIR}"
+
+    local cases=(
+        basic
+        threshold-default
+        two-partial-deposits
+        four-partial-deposits
+        target-gas-limit
+        compounding
+    )
+
+    local ran=0
+    for case_name in "${cases[@]}"; do
+        if [[ -n "${CASE_FILTER}" && "${CASE_FILTER}" != "${case_name}" ]]; then
+            continue
+        fi
+        run_case "${case_name}"
+        ran=$((ran + 1))
+    done
+
+    if (( ran == 0 )); then
+        fail "no cases matched --case=${CASE_FILTER}"
+    fi
+
+    log "passed ${ran} case(s); artifacts: ${WORK_DIR}"
+}
+
+main "$@"