diff --git a/cmd/beekeeper/cmd/cmd.go b/cmd/beekeeper/cmd/cmd.go
index c0a97f18..778e5ea0 100644
--- a/cmd/beekeeper/cmd/cmd.go
+++ b/cmd/beekeeper/cmd/cmd.go
@@ -146,6 +146,10 @@ func newCommand(opts ...option) (c *command, err error) {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
+	if err := c.initScaleCmd(); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
 	c.initVersionCmd()
 
 	return c, nil
diff --git a/cmd/beekeeper/cmd/scale.go b/cmd/beekeeper/cmd/scale.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a2ac5df4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/beekeeper/cmd/scale.go
@@ -0,0 +1,258 @@
+package cmd
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"fmt"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/ethersphere/beekeeper/pkg/config"
+	"github.com/ethersphere/beekeeper/pkg/orchestration"
+	orchestrationK8S "github.com/ethersphere/beekeeper/pkg/orchestration/k8s"
+	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
+)
+
+func (c *command) initScaleCmd() (err error) {
+	const (
+		optionNameNodeGroup = "node-group"
+		optionNameCount     = "count"
+		optionNameTimeout   = "timeout"
+	)
+
+	cmd := &cobra.Command{
+		Use:   "scale",
+		Short: "scales a node group in a running Bee cluster to the given count",
+		Long: `Scales a node group in a running Bee cluster to the given node count.
+
+The node group's nodes are named <node-group>-0, <node-group>-1, ...; the command
+grows or shrinks from the last index to reach the requested count:
+• if count is greater than the current size, the missing nodes are deployed
+• if count is less than the current size, the highest-indexed nodes are deleted
+• if count equals the current size, nothing is done
+
+New nodes are not funded by this command; run "beekeeper node-funder" afterwards
+if they need ETH/BZZ.`,
+		RunE: func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) (err error) {
+			ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(cmd.Context(), c.globalConfig.GetDuration(optionNameTimeout))
+			defer cancel()
+
+			clusterName := c.globalConfig.GetString(optionNameClusterName)
+			ngName := c.globalConfig.GetString(optionNameNodeGroup)
+			count := c.globalConfig.GetInt(optionNameCount)
+
+			if ngName == "" {
+				return fmt.Errorf("node group name not provided")
+			}
+			if count < 0 {
+				return fmt.Errorf("count must be 0 or greater")
+			}
+
+			start := time.Now()
+			err = c.scaleNodeGroup(ctx, clusterName, ngName, count)
+			c.log.Infof("scale took %s", time.Since(start))
+			return err
+		},
+		PreRunE: c.preRunE,
+	}
+
+	cmd.Flags().String(optionNameClusterName, "", "cluster name")
+	cmd.Flags().String(optionNameNodeGroup, "", "node group to scale. Required")
+	cmd.Flags().Int(optionNameCount, 0, "desired node count for the node group. Required")
+	cmd.Flags().Duration(optionNameTimeout, 30*time.Minute, "timeout")
+
+	c.root.AddCommand(cmd)
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+// scaleNodeGroup reconciles a node group to exactly count nodes: growing from the last index if count is larger than the current size, shrinking from the last index if smaller, or doing nothing if count already matches.
+func (c *command) scaleNodeGroup(ctx context.Context, clusterName, ngName string, count int) error {
+	if clusterName == "" {
+		return errMissingClusterName
+	}
+
+	clusterConfig, ok := c.config.Clusters[clusterName]
+	if !ok {
+		return fmt.Errorf("cluster %s not defined", clusterName)
+	}
+
+	if clusterConfig.IsUsingStaticEndpoints() {
+		return fmt.Errorf("static endpoints are not supported for scaling")
+	}
+
+	ngv, ok := clusterConfig.GetNodeGroups()[ngName]
+	if !ok {
+		return fmt.Errorf("node group %s not defined in cluster %s", ngName, clusterName)
+	}
+	if ngv.Mode == bootnodeMode {
+		return fmt.Errorf("scaling bootnode node groups is not supported")
+	}
+	if len(ngv.Nodes) > 0 {
+		return fmt.Errorf("node group %s uses explicit nodes, not count-based scaling", ngName)
+	}
+
+	ngConfig, ok := c.config.NodeGroups[ngv.Config]
+	if !ok {
+		return fmt.Errorf("node group profile %s not defined", ngv.Config)
+	}
+
+	namespace := clusterConfig.GetNamespace()
+
+	currentSize, err := c.nodeGroupSize(ctx, ngName, namespace)
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("determine current size of node group %s: %w", ngName, err)
+	}
+
+	switch {
+	case count > currentSize:
+		return c.growNodeGroup(ctx, clusterConfig, ngv, ngConfig, ngName, currentSize, count)
+	case count < currentSize:
+		return c.shrinkNodeGroup(ctx, clusterConfig, ngConfig, ngName, currentSize, count)
+	default:
+		c.log.Infof("node group %s already has %d nodes, nothing to do", ngName, count)
+		return nil
+	}
+}
+
+// nodeGroupSize returns the current number of nodes in the node group by probing live StatefulSets from index 0 upward until one is missing.
+// Note: Cannot get from local.yaml config because the node group may have been scaled up or down since the cluster was deployed.
+func (c *command) nodeGroupSize(ctx context.Context, ngName, namespace string) (int, error) {
+	size := 0
+	for {
+		name := fmt.Sprintf("%s-%d", ngName, size)
+		exists, err := c.k8sClient.StatefulSet.Exists(ctx, name, namespace)
+		if err != nil {
+			return 0, fmt.Errorf("checking node %s: %w", name, err)
+		}
+		if !exists {
+			return size, nil
+		}
+		size++
+	}
+}
+
+// growNodeGroup adds nodes to the end of the node group (lowest missing index first) until count are reached.
+// For example, going from 5 to 8 deploys <ngName>-5, <ngName>-6, and <ngName>-7, leaving <ngName>-0..4 untouched.
+func (c *command) growNodeGroup(
+	ctx context.Context,
+	clusterConfig config.Cluster,
+	ngv config.ClusterNodeGroup,
+	ngConfig config.NodeGroup,
+	ngName string,
+	currentSize, count int,
+) error {
+	beeConfig, ok := c.config.BeeConfigs[ngv.BeeConfig]
+	if !ok {
+		return fmt.Errorf("bee profile %s not defined", ngv.BeeConfig)
+	}
+	bConfig := beeConfig.Export()
+
+	if bConfig.Bootnodes == nil || len(*bConfig.Bootnodes) == 0 {
+		bootnodes, err := bootnodesForCluster(clusterConfig, c.config)
+		if err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("resolve bootnodes: %w", err)
+		}
+		if bootnodes != "" {
+			bConfig.Bootnodes = &[]string{bootnodes}
+		}
+	}
+
+	ngOptions := ngConfig.Export()
+	ngOptions.BeeConfig = &bConfig
+
+	newNames := make([]string, 0, count-currentSize)
+	for i := currentSize; i < count; i++ {
+		newNames = append(newNames, fmt.Sprintf("%s-%d", ngName, i))
+	}
+
+	c.log.Infof("scaling node group %s from %d to %d: deploying %v", ngName, currentSize, count, newNames)
+
+	cluster := orchestrationK8S.NewCluster(clusterConfig.GetName(), clusterConfig.Export(), c.k8sClient, c.swapClient, c.log)
+	cluster.AddNodeGroup(ngName, ngOptions)
+
+	ng, err := cluster.NodeGroup(ngName)
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("get node group: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	inCluster := c.globalConfig.GetBool(optionNameInCluster)
+
+	errChan := make(chan error)
+	defer close(errChan)
+
+	for _, name := range newNames {
+		go func(name string) {
+			_, err := ng.DeployNode(ctx, name, inCluster, orchestration.NodeOptions{})
+			errChan <- err
+		}(name)
+	}
+
+	for range newNames {
+		if err := <-errChan; err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("deploy node: %w", err)
+		}
+	}
+
+	c.log.Infof("node group %s scaled to %d nodes", ngName, count)
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+// shrinkNodeGroup removes nodes from the end of the node group (highest index first) until only count remain.
+// For example, going from 8 to 5 deletes <ngName>-7, <ngName>-6, and <ngName>-5, leaving <ngName>-0..4 untouched.
+func (c *command) shrinkNodeGroup(
+	ctx context.Context,
+	clusterConfig config.Cluster,
+	ngConfig config.NodeGroup,
+	ngName string,
+	currentSize, count int,
+) error {
+	namespace := clusterConfig.GetNamespace()
+
+	cluster := orchestrationK8S.NewCluster(clusterConfig.GetName(), clusterConfig.Export(), c.k8sClient, c.swapClient, c.log)
+	cluster.AddNodeGroup(ngName, ngConfig.Export())
+
+	ng, err := cluster.NodeGroup(ngName)
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("get node group: %w", err)
+	}
+
+	c.log.Infof("node group %s: shrinking from %d to %d nodes", ngName, currentSize, count)
+
+	// delete from the highest index down, so the remaining nodes are always a contiguous 0..count-1 range with no gaps
+	for i := currentSize - 1; i >= count; i-- {
+		name := fmt.Sprintf("%s-%d", ngName, i)
+
+		c.log.Infof("deleting node %s", name)
+		if err := ng.DeleteNode(ctx, name); err != nil {
+			return fmt.Errorf("deleting node %s: %w", name, err)
+		}
+
+		// the StatefulSet's PVC outlives the StatefulSet itself, so it needs an explicit delete when persistence is enabled for this node group
+		if ngConfig.PersistenceEnabled != nil && *ngConfig.PersistenceEnabled {
+			pvcName := fmt.Sprintf("data-%s-0", name)
+			if err := c.k8sClient.PVC.Delete(ctx, pvcName, namespace); err != nil {
+				return fmt.Errorf("deleting pvc %s: %w", pvcName, err)
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	c.log.Infof("node group %s: now has %d nodes", ngName, count)
+
+	return nil
+}
+
+// bootnodesForCluster resolves the bootnode multiaddr for a cluster the same way cluster setup
+func bootnodesForCluster(clusterConfig config.Cluster, cfg *config.Config) (string, error) {
+	for _, v := range clusterConfig.GetNodeGroups() {
+		if v.Mode != bootnodeMode {
+			continue
+		}
+		for _, node := range v.Nodes {
+			if node.Bootnodes == "" {
+				continue
+			}
+			return fmt.Sprintf(node.Bootnodes, clusterConfig.GetNamespace()), nil
+		}
+	}
+	return "", nil
+}
diff --git a/pkg/k8s/statefulset/client.go b/pkg/k8s/statefulset/client.go
index 3a53e20b..43da16d3 100644
--- a/pkg/k8s/statefulset/client.go
+++ b/pkg/k8s/statefulset/client.go
@@ -145,6 +145,18 @@ func (c *Client) Get(ctx context.Context, name, namespace string) (*appsv1.State
 	return statefulSet, nil
 }
 
+// Exists reports whether a StatefulSet with the given name exists in the namespace.
+func (c *Client) Exists(ctx context.Context, name, namespace string) (bool, error) {
+	_, err := c.clientset.AppsV1().StatefulSets(namespace).Get(ctx, name, metav1.GetOptions{})
+	if err != nil {
+		if errors.IsNotFound(err) {
+			return false, nil
+		}
+		return false, fmt.Errorf("getting statefulset %s in namespace %s: %w", name, namespace, err)
+	}
+	return true, nil
+}
+
 // Scale scales StatefulSet
 func (c *Client) Scale(ctx context.Context, name, namespace string, replicas int32) (sc *v1.Scale, err error) {
 	scale := &v1.Scale{