diff --git a/app/compare/page.tsx b/app/compare/page.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fda39d5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/compare/page.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,194 @@
+import type { Metadata } from "next";
+import Link from "next/link";
+import { Check, X, Minus, ArrowRight } from "lucide-react";
+import { compareCopy, type SupportLevel } from "@/lib/copy/compare";
+import { buildPageMetadata } from "@/lib/seo";
+import { siteConfig } from "@/lib/config";
+
+export const metadata: Metadata = buildPageMetadata({
+  title: `Why Recoup? — Compare AI Music Agents vs Agencies & Generic AI | ${siteConfig.name}`,
+  description:
+    "See how Recoup's purpose-built music agents compare to hiring staff, creative agencies, and generic AI like ChatGPT. Real cost savings from real labels.",
+  path: "/compare",
+});
+
+/* ── support-level icon ── */
+function SupportIcon({ level }: { level: SupportLevel }) {
+  if (level === "full")
+    return (
+      <span className="inline-flex items-center justify-center w-6 h-6 rounded-full bg-emerald-500/15 text-emerald-400">
+        <Check className="w-3.5 h-3.5" />
+      </span>
+    );
+  if (level === "partial")
+    return (
+      <span className="inline-flex items-center justify-center w-6 h-6 rounded-full bg-amber-500/15 text-amber-400">
+        <Minus className="w-3.5 h-3.5" />
+      </span>
+    );
+  return (
+    <span className="inline-flex items-center justify-center w-6 h-6 rounded-full bg-red-500/10 text-red-400/70">
+      <X className="w-3.5 h-3.5" />
+    </span>
+  );
+}
+
+export default function ComparePage() {
+  const c = compareCopy;
+
+  return (
+    <div className="max-w-5xl mx-auto px-4 py-16 sm:py-24">
+      {/* ── Hero ── */}
+      <header className="text-center mb-20">
+        <h1 className="text-4xl sm:text-5xl font-bold tracking-tight text-[var(--foreground)] mb-6">
+          {c.title}
+        </h1>
+        <p className="text-lg sm:text-xl text-[var(--muted-foreground)] max-w-2xl mx-auto leading-relaxed">
+          {c.description}
+        </p>
+      </header>
+
+      {/* ── Comparison Grid ── */}
+      <section className="mb-24">
+        {/* column headers — desktop */}
+        <div className="hidden md:grid grid-cols-5 gap-3 mb-4 text-xs font-medium uppercase tracking-wider text-neutral-500 px-4">
+          <div>Capability</div>
+          {c.columns.map((col) => (
+            <div key={col} className="text-center">
+              {col}
+            </div>
+          ))}
+        </div>
+
+        <div className="space-y-3">
+          {c.rows.map((row) => (
+            <div
+              key={row.capability}
+              className="rounded-xl border border-white/[0.06] bg-white/[0.02] hover:border-white/[0.12] transition-colors"
+            >
+              {/* Desktop row */}
+              <div className="hidden md:grid grid-cols-5 gap-3 items-center px-6 py-5">
+                <div className="font-medium text-[var(--foreground)]">
+                  {row.capability}
+                </div>
+                {(["recoup", "humans", "agency", "genericAI"] as const).map(
+                  (key) => (
+                    <div key={key} className="flex flex-col items-center gap-1.5 text-center">
+                      <SupportIcon level={row[key].level} />
+                      <span className="text-xs text-neutral-400 leading-tight max-w-[180px]">
+                        {row[key].note}
+                      </span>
+                    </div>
+                  )
+                )}
+              </div>
+
+              {/* Mobile card */}
+              <div className="md:hidden p-5">
+                <h3 className="font-medium text-[var(--foreground)] mb-4">
+                  {row.capability}
+                </h3>
+                <div className="grid grid-cols-2 gap-3">
+                  {(["recoup", "humans", "agency", "genericAI"] as const).map(
+                    (key, i) => (
+                      <div key={key} className="flex items-start gap-2">
+                        <SupportIcon level={row[key].level} />
+                        <div>
+                          <div className="text-[10px] uppercase tracking-wider text-neutral-500 mb-0.5">
+                            {c.columns[i]}
+                          </div>
+                          <div className="text-xs text-neutral-400 leading-tight">
+                            {row[key].note}
+                          </div>
+                        </div>
+                      </div>
+                    )
+                  )}
+                </div>
+              </div>
+            </div>
+          ))}
+        </div>
+      </section>
+
+      {/* ── Cost Comparison ── */}
+      <section className="mb-24">
+        <h2 className="text-3xl sm:text-4xl font-bold tracking-tight text-[var(--foreground)] mb-3 text-center">
+          {c.costTitle}
+        </h2>
+        <p className="text-[var(--muted-foreground)] text-center mb-12 max-w-xl mx-auto">
+          {c.costDescription}
+        </p>
+
+        <div className="grid sm:grid-cols-3 gap-4">
+          {c.costs.map((cost) => (
+            <div
+              key={cost.label}
+              className="rounded-2xl border border-white/[0.06] bg-white/[0.02] p-8 hover:border-white/[0.12] transition-colors"
+            >
+              <span className="text-xs font-medium uppercase tracking-wider text-neutral-500">
+                {cost.source}
+              </span>
+              <h3 className="text-xl font-semibold text-[var(--foreground)] mt-3 mb-2">
+                {cost.label}
+              </h3>
+              <div className="text-3xl font-bold text-red-400/80 line-through mb-1">
+                {cost.traditional}
+              </div>
+              <div className="text-emerald-400 font-medium mb-4">
+                {cost.recoup}
+              </div>
+              <p className="text-sm text-neutral-400">{cost.savings}</p>
+            </div>
+          ))}
+        </div>
+      </section>
+
+      {/* ── ChatGPT Objection ── */}
+      <section className="mb-24">
+        <div className="rounded-2xl border border-white/[0.06] bg-white/[0.02] p-8 sm:p-12">
+          <h2 className="text-2xl sm:text-3xl font-bold tracking-tight text-[var(--foreground)] mb-4">
+            {c.chatgptTitle}
+          </h2>
+          <p className="text-[var(--muted-foreground)] leading-relaxed mb-8 max-w-2xl">
+            {c.chatgptDescription}
+          </p>
+
+          <div className="grid sm:grid-cols-2 gap-x-8 gap-y-3 mb-8">
+            {c.chatgptPoints.map((point) => (
+              <div key={point} className="flex items-start gap-3">
+                <span className="mt-1 inline-flex items-center justify-center w-5 h-5 rounded-full bg-red-500/10 text-red-400/70 flex-shrink-0">
+                  <X className="w-3 h-3" />
+                </span>
+                <span className="text-sm text-neutral-300">{point}</span>
+              </div>
+            ))}
+          </div>
+
+          <p className="text-[var(--foreground)] font-medium text-lg">
+            {c.chatgptPunchline}
+          </p>
+        </div>
+      </section>
+
+      {/* ── CTA ── */}
+      <section className="text-center">
+        <div className="flex flex-col sm:flex-row items-center justify-center gap-4">
+          <Link
+            href={c.ctaPrimary.href}
+            className="inline-flex items-center gap-2 px-8 py-3.5 rounded-full bg-white text-black font-medium text-sm hover:bg-neutral-200 transition-colors"
+          >
+            {c.ctaPrimary.label}
+            <ArrowRight className="w-4 h-4" />
+          </Link>
+          <Link
+            href={c.ctaSecondary.href}
+            className="inline-flex items-center gap-2 px-8 py-3.5 rounded-full border border-white/[0.12] text-[var(--foreground)] font-medium text-sm hover:border-white/[0.25] transition-colors"
+          >
+            {c.ctaSecondary.label}
+          </Link>
+        </div>
+      </section>
+    </div>
+  );
+}
diff --git a/lib/copy/compare.ts b/lib/copy/compare.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0d122b1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/copy/compare.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,129 @@
+/**
+ * Compare page copy — single source of truth.
+ * Competitive comparison: Recoup vs alternatives.
+ */
+
+export type SupportLevel = "full" | "partial" | "none";
+
+export interface ComparisonRow {
+  capability: string;
+  recoup: { level: SupportLevel; note: string };
+  humans: { level: SupportLevel; note: string };
+  agency: { level: SupportLevel; note: string };
+  genericAI: { level: SupportLevel; note: string };
+}
+
+export interface CostRow {
+  label: string;
+  traditional: string;
+  recoup: string;
+  savings: string;
+  source: string;
+}
+
+export const compareCopy = {
+  title: "Why Recoup?",
+  description:
+    "Generic AI doesn't understand music. Agencies are slow and expensive. Recoup is purpose-built music intelligence — agents that know your artists, your data, and your industry.",
+
+  columns: ["Recoup", "In-House Team", "Creative Agency", "ChatGPT / Claude"] as const,
+
+  rows: [
+    {
+      capability: "Content Creation",
+      recoup: { level: "full", note: "30 days of branded content in one session" },
+      humans: { level: "full", note: "High quality, slow turnaround" },
+      agency: { level: "full", note: "$5K+/mo, days per batch" },
+      genericAI: { level: "partial", note: "Can write, but no artist context" },
+    },
+    {
+      capability: "Artist Research",
+      recoup: { level: "full", note: "Streaming, social, audience, playlists — live data" },
+      humans: { level: "partial", note: "Manual data pulls, hours per report" },
+      agency: { level: "none", note: "Not typically offered" },
+      genericAI: { level: "partial", note: "No access to streaming APIs" },
+    },
+    {
+      capability: "Release Strategy",
+      recoup: { level: "full", note: "Data-informed, auto-generated per release" },
+      humans: { level: "full", note: "Experienced, but expensive" },
+      agency: { level: "partial", note: "Template-based, not data-driven" },
+      genericAI: { level: "partial", note: "Generic advice, no real data" },
+    },
+    {
+      capability: "Social Analytics",
+      recoup: { level: "full", note: "Cross-platform scraping + insights" },
+      humans: { level: "partial", note: "Manual exports from each platform" },
+      agency: { level: "partial", note: "Monthly reports, often delayed" },
+      genericAI: { level: "none", note: "No platform access" },
+    },
+    {
+      capability: "Catalog Valuation",
+      recoup: { level: "full", note: "Real-time from streaming data" },
+      humans: { level: "partial", note: "Requires specialist + weeks" },
+      agency: { level: "none", note: "Not offered" },
+      genericAI: { level: "none", note: "No valuation models" },
+    },
+    {
+      capability: "Automated Reporting",
+      recoup: { level: "full", note: "Weekly reports, zero human effort" },
+      humans: { level: "partial", note: "40+ hours/month for a team of 5" },
+      agency: { level: "partial", note: "Monthly cadence, manual process" },
+      genericAI: { level: "none", note: "No scheduling or automation" },
+    },
+    {
+      capability: "Agent Plugin Ecosystem",
+      recoup: { level: "full", note: "Install plugins in Claude, Cursor, Codex" },
+      humans: { level: "none", note: "N/A" },
+      agency: { level: "none", note: "N/A" },
+      genericAI: { level: "partial", note: "General tools, no music plugins" },
+    },
+  ] satisfies ComparisonRow[],
+
+  costTitle: "The real cost of alternatives",
+  costDescription:
+    "These aren't hypothetical. They're from real labels who switched to Recoup.",
+
+  costs: [
+    {
+      label: "Creative Director",
+      traditional: "$10,000/mo",
+      recoup: "72-hour campaign delivery",
+      savings: "$10K saved on a single campaign",
+      source: "Fat Beats",
+    },
+    {
+      label: "Content Agency",
+      traditional: "$5,000/mo",
+      recoup: "Same price, 10× the output",
+      savings: "Agency eliminated + new AI artist co-created",
+      source: "Rostrum Records",
+    },
+    {
+      label: "Manual Reporting",
+      traditional: "40+ staff hours/mo",
+      recoup: "Automated, $0 marginal cost",
+      savings: "$3K–$5K/mo in staff time",
+      source: "Parlophone (Warner)",
+    },
+  ] satisfies CostRow[],
+
+  chatgptTitle: "But can't I just use ChatGPT?",
+  chatgptDescription:
+    "ChatGPT can write a marketing plan. Recoup writes one informed by your artist's actual streaming data, audience demographics, playlist history, and competitive landscape.",
+
+  chatgptPoints: [
+    "No access to streaming analytics (Spotify, Apple Music, Chartmetric)",
+    "No playlist intelligence or placement tracking",
+    "No artist context — brand voice, catalog history, audience segments",
+    "No automated workflows — can't schedule reports or content pipelines",
+    "No music industry data models — catalog valuation, royalty estimation",
+    "No plugin ecosystem — can't extend with music-specific tools",
+  ],
+
+  chatgptPunchline:
+    "Generic AI is a blank canvas. Recoup is a music business that already knows your artists.",
+
+  ctaPrimary: { label: "See it in action", href: "/valuation" },
+  ctaSecondary: { label: "View pricing", href: "/pricing" },
+};
diff --git a/lib/nav.ts b/lib/nav.ts
index 956cf3b..0bdef7e 100644
--- a/lib/nav.ts
+++ b/lib/nav.ts
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import { siteConfig } from "@/lib/config";
 
 export const nav: readonly { label: string; href: string; external?: boolean }[] = [
   { label: "Results", href: "/results" },
+  { label: "Compare", href: "/compare" },
   { label: "Pricing", href: "/pricing" },
   { label: "Docs", href: siteConfig.docsUrl, external: true },
   { label: "Blog", href: "/blog" },
@@ -24,6 +25,7 @@ export const footerNav = {
     label: "Resources",
     items: [
       { label: "Results", href: "/results" },
+      { label: "Compare", href: "/compare" },
       { label: "Blog", href: "/resources" },
       { label: "AI Playbook", href: "/playbook" },
       { label: "ROI Calculator", href: "/calculator" },