diff --git a/Src/Amr/AMReX_Amr.H b/Src/Amr/AMReX_Amr.H
index bb18ec9d160..3d9df9484ec 100644
--- a/Src/Amr/AMReX_Amr.H
+++ b/Src/Amr/AMReX_Amr.H
@@ -121,6 +121,8 @@ public:
     Real plotPer () const noexcept { return plot_per; }
     //! Spacing in log10(time) of logarithmically spaced plot files
     Real plotLogPer () const noexcept { return plot_log_per; }
+    //! Maximum level to plot
+    int plotMaxLevel () const noexcept { return plot_max_level; }
     //! Number of time steps between small plot files.
     int smallplotInt () const noexcept { return small_plot_int; }
     //! Time between plot files.
@@ -424,6 +426,7 @@ protected:
     int              plot_int;        //!< How often plotfile (# of time steps)
     Real             plot_per;        //!< How often plotfile (in units of time)
     Real             plot_log_per;    //!< How often plotfile (in units of log10(time))
+    int              plot_max_level;  //!< Maximum AMR level to write to a plotfile
     int              small_plot_int;  //!< How often small plotfile (# of time steps)
     Real             small_plot_per;  //!< How often small plotfile (in units of time)
     Real             small_plot_log_per;  //!< How often small plotfile (in units of log10(time))
diff --git a/Src/Amr/AMReX_Amr.cpp b/Src/Amr/AMReX_Amr.cpp
index e8696aaaab8..eeeae2ba861 100644
--- a/Src/Amr/AMReX_Amr.cpp
+++ b/Src/Amr/AMReX_Amr.cpp
@@ -920,6 +920,8 @@ Amr::writePlotFileDoit (std::string const& pltfile, bool regular)
 {
     auto dPlotFileTime0 = amrex::second();
 
+    int max_level_to_plot = std::min(plot_max_level, finest_level);
+
     VisMF::SetNOutFiles(plot_nfiles);
     VisMF::Header::Version currentVersion(VisMF::GetHeaderVersion());
     VisMF::SetHeaderVersion(plot_headerversion);
@@ -941,7 +943,7 @@ Amr::writePlotFileDoit (std::string const& pltfile, bool regular)
         if (precreateDirectories) {    // ---- make all directories at once
             amrex::UtilRenameDirectoryToOld(pltfile, false);      // dont call barrier
             amrex::UtilCreateCleanDirectory(pltfileTemp, false);  // dont call barrier
-            for(int i(0); i <= finest_level; ++i) {
+            for(int i(0); i <= max_level_to_plot; ++i) {
                 amr_level[i]->CreateLevelDirectory(pltfileTemp);
             }
             ParallelDescriptor::Barrier("Amr::writePlotFile:PCD");
@@ -973,17 +975,17 @@ Amr::writePlotFileDoit (std::string const& pltfile, bool regular)
         }
 
         if (regular) {
-            for (int k(0); k <= finest_level; ++k) {
+            for (int k(0); k <= max_level_to_plot; ++k) {
                 amr_level[k]->writePlotFilePre(pltfileTemp, HeaderFile);
             }
-            for (int k(0); k <= finest_level; ++k) {
+            for (int k(0); k <= max_level_to_plot; ++k) {
                 amr_level[k]->writePlotFile(pltfileTemp, HeaderFile);
             }
-            for (int k(0); k <= finest_level; ++k) {
+            for (int k(0); k <= max_level_to_plot; ++k) {
                 amr_level[k]->writePlotFilePost(pltfileTemp, HeaderFile);
             }
         } else {
-            for (int k(0); k <= finest_level; ++k) {
+            for (int k(0); k <= max_level_to_plot; ++k) {
                 amr_level[k]->writeSmallPlotFile(pltfileTemp, HeaderFile);
             }
         }
@@ -3268,6 +3270,9 @@ Amr::initPltAndChk ()
         }
     }
 
+    plot_max_level = max_level;
+    pp.queryAdd("plot_max_level",plot_max_level);
+
     small_plot_file_root = "smallplt";
     pp.queryAdd("small_plot_file",small_plot_file_root);
 
diff --git a/Src/Amr/AMReX_AmrLevel.cpp b/Src/Amr/AMReX_AmrLevel.cpp
index dff9c88b61c..f0a54cac62a 100644
--- a/Src/Amr/AMReX_AmrLevel.cpp
+++ b/Src/Amr/AMReX_AmrLevel.cpp
@@ -179,6 +179,8 @@ AmrLevel::writePlotFile (const std::string& dir,
     // if the State_Type is ::Interval, this will get t^{n+1/2} instead of t^n
     Real cur_time = state[0].curTime();
 
+    int f_lev = std::min(parent->plotMaxLevel(), parent->finestLevel());
+
     if (level == 0 && ParallelDescriptor::IOProcessor())
     {
         //
@@ -218,7 +220,6 @@ AmrLevel::writePlotFile (const std::string& dir,
 
         os << AMREX_SPACEDIM << '\n';
         os << parent->cumTime() << '\n';
-        int f_lev = parent->finestLevel();
         os << f_lev << '\n';
         for (i = 0; i < AMREX_SPACEDIM; i++) {
             os << Geom().ProbLo(i) << ' ';
@@ -290,7 +291,7 @@ AmrLevel::writePlotFile (const std::string& dir,
             RealBox gridloc = RealBox(grids[i],geom.CellSize(),geom.ProbLo());
             for (n = 0; n < AMREX_SPACEDIM; n++) {
                 os << gridloc.lo(n) << ' ' << gridloc.hi(n) << '\n';
-}
+            }
         }
         //
         // The full relative pathname of the MultiFabs at this level.
@@ -307,8 +308,8 @@ AmrLevel::writePlotFile (const std::string& dir,
 #ifdef AMREX_USE_EB
         if (EB2::TopIndexSpaceIfPresent()) {
             // volfrac threshold for amrvis
-            if (level == parent->finestLevel()) {
-                for (int lev = 0; lev <= parent->finestLevel(); ++lev) {
+            if (level == f_lev) {
+                for (int lev = 0; lev <= f_lev; ++lev) {
                     os << "1.0e-6\n";
                 }
             }
diff --git a/Tools/Plotfile/fcompare.cpp b/Tools/Plotfile/fcompare.cpp
index 025df0075ce..87f4d83cb88 100644
--- a/Tools/Plotfile/fcompare.cpp
+++ b/Tools/Plotfile/fcompare.cpp
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ void PrintUsage()
         << " variable.\n"
         << "\n"
         << " usage:\n"
-        << "    fcompare [-n|--norm num] [-d|--diffvar var] [-z|--zone_info var] [-a|--allow_diff_grids] [-r|rel_tol] [--abs_tol] [--abort_if_not_all_found] file1 file2\n"
+        << "    fcompare [-n|--norm num] [-d|--diffvar var] [-z|--zone_info var] [-a|--allow_diff_grids] [-l|--allow_diff_num_levels] [-r|rel_tol] [--abs_tol] [--abort_if_not_all_found] file1 file2\n"
         << "\n"
         << " optional arguments:\n"
         << "    -n|--norm num            : what norm to use (default is 0 for inf norm)\n"
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ void PrintUsage()
         << "    -z|--zone_info var       : output the information for a zone corresponding\n"
         << "                               to the maximum error for the given variable\n"
         << "    -a|--allow_diff_grids    : allow different BoxArrays covering the same domain\n"
+        << "    -l|--allow_diff_num_levels : allow different number of levels (only the levels in common will be compared)\n"
         << "    -r|--rel_tol rtol        : relative tolerance (default is 0)\n"
         << "    --abs_tol atol           : absolute tolerance (default is 0)\n"
         << "    --abort_if_not_all_found : abort if not all variables are present in both files\n"
@@ -56,6 +57,7 @@ int main_main()
     std::string diffvar;
     int zone_info = false;
     int allow_diff_grids = false;
+    int allow_diff_num_levels = false;
     Real rtol = 0.0;
     Real atol = 0.0;
     std::string zone_info_var_name;
@@ -82,6 +84,8 @@ int main_main()
             plot_names[0] = diffvar;
         } else if (fname == "-a" || fname == "--allow_diff_grids") {
             allow_diff_grids = true;
+        } else if (fname == "-l" || fname == "--allow_diff_num_levels") {
+            allow_diff_num_levels = true;
         } else if (fname == "-r" || fname == "--rel_tol") {
             rtol = Real(std::stod(amrex::get_command_argument(++farg)));
         } else if (fname == "--abs_tol") {
@@ -114,10 +118,15 @@ int main_main()
     AMREX_ALWAYS_ASSERT_WITH_MESSAGE(pf_a.spaceDim() == pf_b.spaceDim(),
                                      "ERROR: plotfiles have different numbers of spatial dimensions");
 
-    const int finest_level = pf_a.finestLevel();
+    const int finest_level = std::min(pf_a.finestLevel(), pf_b.finestLevel());
     const int nlevels = finest_level+1;
-    AMREX_ALWAYS_ASSERT_WITH_MESSAGE(pf_a.finestLevel() == pf_b.finestLevel(),
-                                     "ERROR: number of levels do not match");
+    if (allow_diff_num_levels && pf_a.finestLevel() != pf_b.finestLevel()) {
+        amrex::Print() << "\n WARNING: number of levels do not match\n";
+    }
+    else {
+        AMREX_ALWAYS_ASSERT_WITH_MESSAGE(pf_a.finestLevel() == pf_b.finestLevel(),
+                                         "ERROR: number of levels do not match");
+    }
 
     const int ncomp_a = pf_a.nComp();
     const int ncomp_b = pf_b.nComp();