diff --git a/bin/run b/bin/run
index 52a192ca..7d28227c 100755
--- a/bin/run
+++ b/bin/run
@@ -1,4 +1,6 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
-ARGS="runMain com.databricks.spark.sql.perf.RunBenchmark $@"
+# runs spark-sql-perf from the current directory
+
+ARGS="runBenchmark $@"
 build/sbt "$ARGS"
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/bin/spark-perf b/bin/spark-perf
new file mode 100755
index 00000000..eade7247
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bin/spark-perf
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# runs the most recent published version of spark-sql-perf, from within the spark directory
+# spark is compiled using SBT
+
+DIR="$( cd "$( dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" )" && pwd )"
+VERSION=`git -C $DIR/../ tag | tail -n 1 | cut -c 2-`
+ARGS="sparkPackage com.databricks:spark-sql-perf_2.10:$VERSION com.databricks.spark.sql.perf.RunBenchmark $@"
+build/sbt "$ARGS"
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/build.sbt b/build.sbt
index 23f31efa..68462243 100644
--- a/build.sbt
+++ b/build.sbt
@@ -52,6 +52,16 @@ dbcClusters += sys.env.getOrElse("DBC_USERNAME", sys.error("Please set DBC_USERN
 
 dbcLibraryPath := s"/Users/${sys.env.getOrElse("DBC_USERNAME", sys.error("Please set DBC_USERNAME"))}/lib"
 
+val runBenchmark = inputKey[Unit]("runs a benchmark")
+
+runBenchmark := {
+  import complete.DefaultParsers._
+  val args = spaceDelimited("[args]").parsed
+  val scalaRun = (runner in run).value
+  val classpath = (fullClasspath in Compile).value
+  scalaRun.run("com.databricks.spark.sql.perf.RunBenchmark", classpath.map(_.data), args, streams.value.log)
+}
+
 import ReleaseTransformations._
 
 /** Push to the team directory instead of the user's homedir for releases. */
diff --git a/src/main/scala/com/databricks/spark/sql/perf/RunBenchmark.scala b/src/main/scala/com/databricks/spark/sql/perf/RunBenchmark.scala
index 40691679..ea557b06 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/com/databricks/spark/sql/perf/RunBenchmark.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/com/databricks/spark/sql/perf/RunBenchmark.scala
@@ -27,7 +27,8 @@ import scala.util.Try
 case class RunConfig(
     benchmarkName: String = null,
     filter: Option[String] = None,
-    iterations: Int = 3)
+    iterations: Int = 3,
+    baseline: Option[Long] = None)
 
 /**
  * Runs a benchmark locally and prints the results to the screen.
@@ -46,6 +47,9 @@ object RunBenchmark {
       opt[Int]('i', "iterations")
         .action((x, c) => c.copy(iterations = x))
         .text("the number of iterations to run")
+      opt[Long]('c', "compare")
+          .action((x, c) => c.copy(baseline = Some(x)))
+          .text("the timestamp of the baseline experiment to compare with")
       help("help")
         .text("prints this usage text")
     }
@@ -96,6 +100,8 @@ object RunBenchmark {
 
     println("== STARTING EXPERIMENT ==")
     experiment.waitForFinish(1000 * 60 * 30)
+
+    sqlContext.setConf("spark.sql.shuffle.partitions", "1")
     experiment.getCurrentRuns()
         .withColumn("result", explode($"results"))
         .select("result.*")
@@ -106,7 +112,28 @@ object RunBenchmark {
           avg($"executionTime") as 'avgTimeMs,
           stddev($"executionTime") as 'stdDev)
         .orderBy("name")
-        .show()
+        .show(truncate = false)
     println(s"""Results: sqlContext.read.json("${experiment.resultPath}")""")
+
+    config.baseline.foreach { baseTimestamp =>
+      val baselineTime = when($"timestamp" === baseTimestamp, $"executionTime").otherwise(null)
+      val thisRunTime = when($"timestamp" === experiment.timestamp, $"executionTime").otherwise(null)
+
+      val data = sqlContext.read.json(benchmark.resultsLocation)
+          .coalesce(1)
+          .where(s"timestamp IN ($baseTimestamp, ${experiment.timestamp})")
+          .withColumn("result", explode($"results"))
+          .select("timestamp", "result.*")
+          .groupBy("name")
+          .agg(
+            avg(baselineTime) as 'baselineTimeMs,
+            avg(thisRunTime) as 'thisRunTimeMs,
+            stddev(baselineTime) as 'stddev)
+          .withColumn(
+            "percentChange", ($"baselineTimeMs" - $"thisRunTimeMs") / $"baselineTimeMs" * 100)
+          .filter('thisRunTimeMs.isNotNull)
+
+      data.show(truncate = false)
+    }
   }
 }
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