diff --git a/scripts/release/index.ts b/scripts/release/index.ts
index a2b5ecfbb70660..a44fd0f4e66961 100644
--- a/scripts/release/index.ts
+++ b/scripts/release/index.ts
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@
 
 import chalk from 'chalk-template';
 import esMain from 'es-main';
+import yargs from 'yargs';
+import { hideBin } from 'yargs/helpers';
 import { temporaryWriteTask } from 'tempy';
 
 import { getSemverBumpPulls } from './semver-pulls.js';
@@ -90,10 +92,18 @@ const commitAndPR = async (
 
 /**
  * Perform the release
+ * @param options The release options
+ * @param options.dryRun Whether to simulate the release locally
  */
-const main = async () => {
+const main = async ({ dryRun }: { dryRun: boolean }) => {
+  if (dryRun) {
+    console.log(chalk`{green Simulating release...}`);
+  }
+
   requireGitHubCLI();
-  requireWriteAccess();
+  if (!dryRun) {
+    requireWriteAccess();
+  }
 
   console.log(chalk`{blue Fetching main branch...}`);
   fetchMain();
@@ -132,20 +142,34 @@ const main = async () => {
   const notes = getNotes(thisVersion, changes, stats, versionBump);
   await addNotes(notes, versionBump, lastVersion);
 
-  const title = `Release ${thisVersion}`;
-  const body = `(This release was generated by the project's release script.)\n\n${notes}`;
-  await commitAndPR(
-    title,
-    !process.env.GITHUB_ACTIONS && versionBump !== 'patch',
-    {
-      branch: 'release',
-      pr: { title, body },
-    },
-  );
+  if (!dryRun) {
+    const title = `Release ${thisVersion}`;
+    const body = `(This release was generated by the project's release script.)\n\n${notes}`;
+    await commitAndPR(
+      title,
+      !process.env.GITHUB_ACTIONS && versionBump !== 'patch',
+      {
+        branch: 'release',
+        pr: { title, body },
+      },
+    );
+  }
 
   console.log(chalk`{blue {bold Done!}}`);
 };
 
 if (esMain(import.meta)) {
-  await main();
+  const { argv }: { argv } = yargs(hideBin(process.argv)).command(
+    '$0',
+    'Prepares a release by determining changes since the last release, and creating/updating a relase PR',
+    (yargs) =>
+      yargs.option('dry-run', {
+        alias: 'n',
+        describe: "Don't commit, push or PR",
+        type: 'boolean',
+        default: false,
+      }),
+  );
+
+  await main({ dryRun: argv.dryRun });
 }