diff --git a/devenv.nix b/devenv.nix
index a22332d..005bc23 100644
--- a/devenv.nix
+++ b/devenv.nix
@@ -92,7 +92,8 @@ in {
       nak
       # Nostr relay benchmark client
       nostr-bench
-      # Nostr reference server
+      # Nostr reference servers
+      nostr-rs-relay
       strfry
     ];
 
diff --git a/scripts/run_bench_compare.sh b/scripts/run_bench_compare.sh
index d150d9e..861a1b6 100755
--- a/scripts/run_bench_compare.sh
+++ b/scripts/run_bench_compare.sh
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ usage:
 Runs the same nostr-bench suite against:
   1) Parrhesia (temporary test relay via run_e2e_suite.sh)
   2) strfry (ephemeral instance)
+  3) nostr-rs-relay (ephemeral sqlite instance)
 
 Environment:
   PARRHESIA_BENCH_RUNS               Number of comparison runs (default: 2)
@@ -54,6 +55,11 @@ if ! command -v strfry >/dev/null 2>&1; then
   exit 1
 fi
 
+if ! command -v nostr-rs-relay >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+  echo "nostr-rs-relay not found in PATH. Enter devenv shell first." >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
 if ! command -v ss >/dev/null 2>&1; then
   echo "ss command not found; cannot detect strfry readiness." >&2
   exit 1
@@ -93,6 +99,7 @@ resolve_strfry_version() {
 }
 
 STRFRY_VERSION="$(resolve_strfry_version)"
+NOSTR_RS_RELAY_VERSION="$(nostr-rs-relay --version 2>/dev/null | head -n 1 | tr -d '\r')"
 NOSTR_BENCH_VERSION="$(nostr-bench --version 2>/dev/null | head -n 1 | tr -d '\r')"
 
 export PARRHESIA_BENCH_CONNECT_COUNT="${PARRHESIA_BENCH_CONNECT_COUNT:-200}"
@@ -109,6 +116,7 @@ export PARRHESIA_BENCH_KEEPALIVE_SECONDS="${PARRHESIA_BENCH_KEEPALIVE_SECONDS:-5
 
 WORK_DIR="$(mktemp -d)"
 STRFRY_PID=""
+NOSTR_RS_PID=""
 
 cleanup() {
   if [[ -n "$STRFRY_PID" ]] && kill -0 "$STRFRY_PID" 2>/dev/null; then
@@ -116,6 +124,11 @@ cleanup() {
     wait "$STRFRY_PID" 2>/dev/null || true
   fi
 
+  if [[ -n "$NOSTR_RS_PID" ]] && kill -0 "$NOSTR_RS_PID" 2>/dev/null; then
+    kill "$NOSTR_RS_PID" 2>/dev/null || true
+    wait "$NOSTR_RS_PID" 2>/dev/null || true
+  fi
+
   if [[ "${KEEP_BENCH_LOGS:-0}" == "1" ]]; then
     echo "bench logs kept at: $WORK_DIR"
   else
@@ -164,10 +177,51 @@ stop_strfry() {
   STRFRY_PID=""
 }
 
+start_nostr_rs_relay() {
+  local run_index="$1"
+  local port="$2"
+  local relay_dir="$WORK_DIR/nostr_rs_relay_${run_index}"
+
+  mkdir -p "$relay_dir/db"
+  cat >"$relay_dir/config.toml" <<EOF
+# generated by scripts/run_bench_compare.sh
+[database]
+engine = "sqlite"
+data_directory = "$relay_dir/db"
+
+[network]
+address = "127.0.0.1"
+port = ${port}
+EOF
+
+  nostr-rs-relay --config "$relay_dir/config.toml" >"$relay_dir/relay.log" 2>&1 &
+  NOSTR_RS_PID=$!
+
+  for _ in {1..100}; do
+    if ss -ltn | grep -q ":${port} "; then
+      return 0
+    fi
+    sleep 0.1
+  done
+
+  echo "nostr-rs-relay did not become ready on port ${port}" >&2
+  tail -n 120 "$relay_dir/relay.log" >&2 || true
+  return 1
+}
+
+stop_nostr_rs_relay() {
+  if [[ -n "$NOSTR_RS_PID" ]] && kill -0 "$NOSTR_RS_PID" 2>/dev/null; then
+    kill "$NOSTR_RS_PID" 2>/dev/null || true
+    wait "$NOSTR_RS_PID" 2>/dev/null || true
+  fi
+  NOSTR_RS_PID=""
+}
+
 echo "Running ${RUNS} comparison run(s)..."
 echo "Versions:"
 echo "  parrhesia ${PARRHESIA_VERSION}"
 echo "  ${STRFRY_VERSION}"
+echo "  ${NOSTR_RS_RELAY_VERSION}"
 echo "  ${NOSTR_BENCH_VERSION}"
 echo
 
@@ -193,6 +247,19 @@ for run in $(seq 1 "$RUNS"); do
   fi
   stop_strfry
 
+  echo "[run ${run}/${RUNS}] nostr-rs-relay"
+  nostr_rs_log="$WORK_DIR/nostr_rs_relay_${run}.log"
+  nostr_rs_port=$((50000 + run))
+
+  start_nostr_rs_relay "$run" "$nostr_rs_port"
+  if ! NOSTR_RS_BENCH_RELAY_URL="ws://127.0.0.1:${nostr_rs_port}" ./scripts/run_nostr_bench_nostr_rs_relay.sh all >"$nostr_rs_log" 2>&1; then
+    echo "nostr-rs-relay benchmark failed. Log: $nostr_rs_log" >&2
+    tail -n 120 "$nostr_rs_log" >&2 || true
+    stop_nostr_rs_relay
+    exit 1
+  fi
+  stop_nostr_rs_relay
+
   echo
 
 done
@@ -271,6 +338,7 @@ function loadRuns(prefix) {
 
 const parrhesiaRuns = loadRuns("parrhesia");
 const strfryRuns = loadRuns("strfry");
+const nostrRsRuns = loadRuns("nostr_rs_relay");
 
 const summary = {
   parrhesia: {
@@ -293,27 +361,100 @@ const summary = {
     reqTps: mean(strfryRuns.map((m) => m.reqTps)),
     reqSizeMiBS: mean(strfryRuns.map((m) => m.reqSizeMiBS)),
   },
+  nostrRsRelay: {
+    connectAvgMs: mean(nostrRsRuns.map((m) => m.connectAvgMs)),
+    connectMaxMs: mean(nostrRsRuns.map((m) => m.connectMaxMs)),
+    echoTps: mean(nostrRsRuns.map((m) => m.echoTps)),
+    echoSizeMiBS: mean(nostrRsRuns.map((m) => m.echoSizeMiBS)),
+    eventTps: mean(nostrRsRuns.map((m) => m.eventTps)),
+    eventSizeMiBS: mean(nostrRsRuns.map((m) => m.eventSizeMiBS)),
+    reqTps: mean(nostrRsRuns.map((m) => m.reqTps)),
+    reqSizeMiBS: mean(nostrRsRuns.map((m) => m.reqSizeMiBS)),
+  },
 };
 
-function ratioStrfryVsParrhesia(metric) {
+function ratioVsParrhesia(serverKey, metric) {
   const p = summary.parrhesia[metric];
-  const s = summary.strfry[metric];
-  if (!Number.isFinite(p) || !Number.isFinite(s) || p === 0) return "n/a";
-  return `${(s / p).toFixed(2)}x`;
+  const other = summary[serverKey][metric];
+  if (!Number.isFinite(p) || !Number.isFinite(other) || p === 0) return "n/a";
+  return `${(other / p).toFixed(2)}x`;
 }
 
 const rows = [
-  ["connect avg latency (ms) ↓", toFixed(summary.parrhesia.connectAvgMs), toFixed(summary.strfry.connectAvgMs), ratioStrfryVsParrhesia("connectAvgMs")],
-  ["connect max latency (ms) ↓", toFixed(summary.parrhesia.connectMaxMs), toFixed(summary.strfry.connectMaxMs), ratioStrfryVsParrhesia("connectMaxMs")],
-  ["echo throughput (TPS) ↑", toFixed(summary.parrhesia.echoTps), toFixed(summary.strfry.echoTps), ratioStrfryVsParrhesia("echoTps")],
-  ["echo throughput (MiB/s) ↑", toFixed(summary.parrhesia.echoSizeMiBS), toFixed(summary.strfry.echoSizeMiBS), ratioStrfryVsParrhesia("echoSizeMiBS")],
-  ["event throughput (TPS) ↑", toFixed(summary.parrhesia.eventTps), toFixed(summary.strfry.eventTps), ratioStrfryVsParrhesia("eventTps")],
-  ["event throughput (MiB/s) ↑", toFixed(summary.parrhesia.eventSizeMiBS), toFixed(summary.strfry.eventSizeMiBS), ratioStrfryVsParrhesia("eventSizeMiBS")],
-  ["req throughput (TPS) ↑", toFixed(summary.parrhesia.reqTps), toFixed(summary.strfry.reqTps), ratioStrfryVsParrhesia("reqTps")],
-  ["req throughput (MiB/s) ↑", toFixed(summary.parrhesia.reqSizeMiBS), toFixed(summary.strfry.reqSizeMiBS), ratioStrfryVsParrhesia("reqSizeMiBS")],
+  [
+    "connect avg latency (ms) ↓",
+    toFixed(summary.parrhesia.connectAvgMs),
+    toFixed(summary.strfry.connectAvgMs),
+    toFixed(summary.nostrRsRelay.connectAvgMs),
+    ratioVsParrhesia("strfry", "connectAvgMs"),
+    ratioVsParrhesia("nostrRsRelay", "connectAvgMs"),
+  ],
+  [
+    "connect max latency (ms) ↓",
+    toFixed(summary.parrhesia.connectMaxMs),
+    toFixed(summary.strfry.connectMaxMs),
+    toFixed(summary.nostrRsRelay.connectMaxMs),
+    ratioVsParrhesia("strfry", "connectMaxMs"),
+    ratioVsParrhesia("nostrRsRelay", "connectMaxMs"),
+  ],
+  [
+    "echo throughput (TPS) ↑",
+    toFixed(summary.parrhesia.echoTps),
+    toFixed(summary.strfry.echoTps),
+    toFixed(summary.nostrRsRelay.echoTps),
+    ratioVsParrhesia("strfry", "echoTps"),
+    ratioVsParrhesia("nostrRsRelay", "echoTps"),
+  ],
+  [
+    "echo throughput (MiB/s) ↑",
+    toFixed(summary.parrhesia.echoSizeMiBS),
+    toFixed(summary.strfry.echoSizeMiBS),
+    toFixed(summary.nostrRsRelay.echoSizeMiBS),
+    ratioVsParrhesia("strfry", "echoSizeMiBS"),
+    ratioVsParrhesia("nostrRsRelay", "echoSizeMiBS"),
+  ],
+  [
+    "event throughput (TPS) ↑",
+    toFixed(summary.parrhesia.eventTps),
+    toFixed(summary.strfry.eventTps),
+    toFixed(summary.nostrRsRelay.eventTps),
+    ratioVsParrhesia("strfry", "eventTps"),
+    ratioVsParrhesia("nostrRsRelay", "eventTps"),
+  ],
+  [
+    "event throughput (MiB/s) ↑",
+    toFixed(summary.parrhesia.eventSizeMiBS),
+    toFixed(summary.strfry.eventSizeMiBS),
+    toFixed(summary.nostrRsRelay.eventSizeMiBS),
+    ratioVsParrhesia("strfry", "eventSizeMiBS"),
+    ratioVsParrhesia("nostrRsRelay", "eventSizeMiBS"),
+  ],
+  [
+    "req throughput (TPS) ↑",
+    toFixed(summary.parrhesia.reqTps),
+    toFixed(summary.strfry.reqTps),
+    toFixed(summary.nostrRsRelay.reqTps),
+    ratioVsParrhesia("strfry", "reqTps"),
+    ratioVsParrhesia("nostrRsRelay", "reqTps"),
+  ],
+  [
+    "req throughput (MiB/s) ↑",
+    toFixed(summary.parrhesia.reqSizeMiBS),
+    toFixed(summary.strfry.reqSizeMiBS),
+    toFixed(summary.nostrRsRelay.reqSizeMiBS),
+    ratioVsParrhesia("strfry", "reqSizeMiBS"),
+    ratioVsParrhesia("nostrRsRelay", "reqSizeMiBS"),
+  ],
 ];
 
-const headers = ["metric", "parrhesia", "strfry", "strfry/parrhesia"];
+const headers = [
+  "metric",
+  "parrhesia",
+  "strfry",
+  "nostr-rs-relay",
+  "strfry/parrhesia",
+  "nostr-rs/parrhesia",
+];
 const widths = headers.map((h, i) => Math.max(h.length, ...rows.map((r) => r[i].length)));
 
 function fmtRow(cols) {
@@ -330,16 +471,18 @@ for (const row of rows) {
 }
 
 console.log("\nLegend: ↑ higher is better, ↓ lower is better.");
-console.log("Ratio column is strfry/parrhesia (for ↓ metrics, <1.00x means strfry is faster).\n");
+console.log("Ratio columns are server/parrhesia (for ↓ metrics, <1.00x means that server is faster).\n");
 
 console.log("Run details:");
 for (let i = 0; i < runs; i += 1) {
   const p = parrhesiaRuns[i];
   const s = strfryRuns[i];
+  const n = nostrRsRuns[i];
   console.log(
     `  run ${i + 1}: ` +
       `parrhesia(echo_tps=${toFixed(p.echoTps, 0)}, event_tps=${toFixed(p.eventTps, 0)}, req_tps=${toFixed(p.reqTps, 0)}, connect_avg_ms=${toFixed(p.connectAvgMs, 0)}) | ` +
-      `strfry(echo_tps=${toFixed(s.echoTps, 0)}, event_tps=${toFixed(s.eventTps, 0)}, req_tps=${toFixed(s.reqTps, 0)}, connect_avg_ms=${toFixed(s.connectAvgMs, 0)})`
+      `strfry(echo_tps=${toFixed(s.echoTps, 0)}, event_tps=${toFixed(s.eventTps, 0)}, req_tps=${toFixed(s.reqTps, 0)}, connect_avg_ms=${toFixed(s.connectAvgMs, 0)}) | ` +
+      `nostr-rs-relay(echo_tps=${toFixed(n.echoTps, 0)}, event_tps=${toFixed(n.eventTps, 0)}, req_tps=${toFixed(n.reqTps, 0)}, connect_avg_ms=${toFixed(n.connectAvgMs, 0)})`
   );
 }
 NODE
diff --git a/scripts/run_nostr_bench_nostr_rs_relay.sh b/scripts/run_nostr_bench_nostr_rs_relay.sh
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..0994efd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/run_nostr_bench_nostr_rs_relay.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,112 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -euo pipefail
+
+ROOT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/.." && pwd)"
+cd "$ROOT_DIR"
+
+usage() {
+  cat <<'EOF'
+usage:
+  ./scripts/run_nostr_bench_nostr_rs_relay.sh [all]
+  ./scripts/run_nostr_bench_nostr_rs_relay.sh <connect|echo|event|req> [nostr-bench options...]
+
+Runs nostr-bench against a running nostr-rs-relay instance.
+
+Examples:
+  ./scripts/run_nostr_bench_nostr_rs_relay.sh
+  NOSTR_RS_BENCH_RELAY_URL=ws://127.0.0.1:8080 ./scripts/run_nostr_bench_nostr_rs_relay.sh
+  ./scripts/run_nostr_bench_nostr_rs_relay.sh connect -c 500 -r 100
+
+Relay target env vars:
+  NOSTR_RS_BENCH_RELAY_URL (default: ws://127.0.0.1:${NOSTR_RS_RELAY_PORT:-8080})
+  NOSTR_RS_RELAY_PORT      (default: 8080)
+
+Default "all" run can be tuned via env vars:
+  PARRHESIA_BENCH_CONNECT_COUNT (default: 200)
+  PARRHESIA_BENCH_CONNECT_RATE  (default: 100)
+  PARRHESIA_BENCH_ECHO_COUNT    (default: 100)
+  PARRHESIA_BENCH_ECHO_RATE     (default: 50)
+  PARRHESIA_BENCH_ECHO_SIZE     (default: 512)
+  PARRHESIA_BENCH_EVENT_COUNT   (default: 100)
+  PARRHESIA_BENCH_EVENT_RATE    (default: 50)
+  PARRHESIA_BENCH_REQ_COUNT     (default: 100)
+  PARRHESIA_BENCH_REQ_RATE      (default: 50)
+  PARRHESIA_BENCH_REQ_LIMIT     (default: 10)
+  PARRHESIA_BENCH_KEEPALIVE_SECONDS (default: 5)
+EOF
+}
+
+MODE="${1:-all}"
+if [[ $# -gt 0 ]]; then
+  shift
+fi
+
+if [[ "$MODE" == "-h" || "$MODE" == "--help" ]]; then
+  usage
+  exit 0
+fi
+
+if ! command -v nostr-bench >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+  echo "nostr-bench not found in PATH. Enter devenv shell first." >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+RELAY_URL="${NOSTR_RS_BENCH_RELAY_URL:-ws://127.0.0.1:${NOSTR_RS_RELAY_PORT:-8080}}"
+
+if [[ "$MODE" == "all" && $# -gt 0 ]]; then
+  echo "extra arguments are only supported for explicit subcommands" >&2
+  usage
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+run_default() {
+  echo "==> nostr-bench connect ${RELAY_URL}"
+  nostr-bench connect \
+    --json \
+    -c "${PARRHESIA_BENCH_CONNECT_COUNT:-200}" \
+    -r "${PARRHESIA_BENCH_CONNECT_RATE:-100}" \
+    -k "${PARRHESIA_BENCH_KEEPALIVE_SECONDS:-5}" \
+    "${RELAY_URL}"
+
+  echo
+  echo "==> nostr-bench echo ${RELAY_URL}"
+  nostr-bench echo \
+    --json \
+    -c "${PARRHESIA_BENCH_ECHO_COUNT:-100}" \
+    -r "${PARRHESIA_BENCH_ECHO_RATE:-50}" \
+    -k "${PARRHESIA_BENCH_KEEPALIVE_SECONDS:-5}" \
+    --size "${PARRHESIA_BENCH_ECHO_SIZE:-512}" \
+    "${RELAY_URL}"
+
+  echo
+  echo "==> nostr-bench event ${RELAY_URL}"
+  nostr-bench event \
+    --json \
+    -c "${PARRHESIA_BENCH_EVENT_COUNT:-100}" \
+    -r "${PARRHESIA_BENCH_EVENT_RATE:-50}" \
+    -k "${PARRHESIA_BENCH_KEEPALIVE_SECONDS:-5}" \
+    "${RELAY_URL}"
+
+  echo
+  echo "==> nostr-bench req ${RELAY_URL}"
+  nostr-bench req \
+    --json \
+    -c "${PARRHESIA_BENCH_REQ_COUNT:-100}" \
+    -r "${PARRHESIA_BENCH_REQ_RATE:-50}" \
+    -k "${PARRHESIA_BENCH_KEEPALIVE_SECONDS:-5}" \
+    --limit "${PARRHESIA_BENCH_REQ_LIMIT:-10}" \
+    "${RELAY_URL}"
+}
+
+case "$MODE" in
+  all)
+    run_default
+    ;;
+  connect | echo | event | req)
+    exec nostr-bench "$MODE" "$@" "${RELAY_URL}"
+    ;;
+  *)
+    echo "invalid mode: ${MODE}" >&2
+    exit 1
+    ;;
+esac