diff --git a/Snakefile b/Snakefile
index 4c3a5f8..4467eba 100644
--- a/Snakefile
+++ b/Snakefile
@@ -1426,6 +1426,47 @@ rule mcmc_plots:
                 fig.savefig(output[0], bbox_inches='tight')
 
 
+rule mcmc_arviz_compare:
+    # unlike the rule after this one, this uses arviz's built-in compare
+    # functionality
+    input:
+        [op.join(config["DATA_DIR"], 'mcmc', '{{model_name}}', 'task-split_comp-{{comp}}',
+                'task-split_comp-{{comp}}_mcmc_{mcmc_model}_step-{{step_size}}_prob-{{accept_prob}}_depth-{{tree_depth}}'
+                '_c-{{num_chains}}_d-{{num_draws}}_w-{{num_warmup}}_s-{{seed}}.nc').format(mcmc_model=m)
+         for m in ['unpooled', 'partially-pooled']]
+    output:
+        op.join(config["DATA_DIR"], 'mcmc', '{model_name}', 'task-split_comp-{comp}',
+                'task-split_comp-{comp}_mcmc_compare_step-{step_size}_prob-{accept_prob}_depth-{tree_depth}'
+                '_c-{num_chains}_d-{num_draws}_w-{num_warmup}_s-{seed}_ic-{ic}.csv'),
+        op.join(config["DATA_DIR"], 'mcmc', '{model_name}', 'task-split_comp-{comp}',
+                'task-split_comp-{comp}_mcmc_compare_step-{step_size}_prob-{accept_prob}_depth-{tree_depth}'
+                '_c-{num_chains}_d-{num_draws}_w-{num_warmup}_s-{seed}_ic-{ic}_arviz.png')
+    log:
+        op.join(config["DATA_DIR"], 'logs', 'mcmc', '{model_name}', 'task-split_comp-{comp}',
+                'task-split_comp-{comp}_mcmc_compare_step-{step_size}_prob-{accept_prob}_depth-{tree_depth}'
+                '_c-{num_chains}_d-{num_draws}_w-{num_warmup}_s-{seed}_ic-{ic}_arviz.log')
+    benchmark:
+        op.join(config["DATA_DIR"], 'logs', 'mcmc', '{model_name}', 'task-split_comp-{comp}',
+                'task-split_comp-{comp}_mcmc_compare_step-{step_size}_prob-{accept_prob}_depth-{tree_depth}'
+                '_c-{num_chains}_d-{num_draws}_w-{num_warmup}_s-{seed}_ic-{ic}_arviz_benchmark.txt')
+    run:
+        import foveated_metamers as fov
+        import arviz as az
+        import re
+        import contextlib
+        with open(log[0], 'w', buffering=1) as log_file:
+            with contextlib.redirect_stdout(log_file), contextlib.redirect_stderr(log_file):
+                models = {}
+                for i in input:
+                    inf = az.from_netcdf(i)
+                    name = re.findall('mcmc_([a-z-]+)_step', i)[0]
+                    models[name] = inf
+                comp_df = az.compare(models, ic=wildcards.ic)
+                comp_df.to_csv(output[0], index=False)
+                fig = az.plot_compare(comp_df)
+                fig.savefig(output[1], bbox_inches='tight')
+
+
 rule mcmc_compare_plot:
     input:
         [op.join(config["DATA_DIR"], 'mcmc', '{{model_name}}', 'task-split_comp-{{comp}}',