diff --git a/docs/generated/settings/settings-for-tenants.txt b/docs/generated/settings/settings-for-tenants.txt
index fe6df50d8a6a..cabf950b7f1d 100644
--- a/docs/generated/settings/settings-for-tenants.txt
+++ b/docs/generated/settings/settings-for-tenants.txt
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ bulkio.backup.file_size	byte size	128 MiB	target size for individual data files
 bulkio.backup.read_timeout	duration	5m0s	amount of time after which a read attempt is considered timed out, which causes the backup to fail
 bulkio.backup.read_with_priority_after	duration	1m0s	amount of time since the read-as-of time above which a BACKUP should use priority when retrying reads
 bulkio.stream_ingestion.minimum_flush_interval	duration	5s	the minimum timestamp between flushes; flushes may still occur if internal buffers fill up
+changefeed.balance_range_distribution.enable	boolean	false	if enabled, the ranges are balanced equally among all nodes
 changefeed.node_throttle_config	string		specifies node level throttling configuration for all changefeeeds
 changefeed.schema_feed.read_with_priority_after	duration	1m0s	retry with high priority if we were not able to read descriptors for too long; 0 disables
 cloudstorage.http.custom_ca	string		custom root CA (appended to system's default CAs) for verifying certificates when interacting with HTTPS storage
diff --git a/docs/generated/settings/settings.html b/docs/generated/settings/settings.html
index 858b99217e83..1085adbec6a3 100644
--- a/docs/generated/settings/settings.html
+++ b/docs/generated/settings/settings.html
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 <tr><td><code>bulkio.backup.read_timeout</code></td><td>duration</td><td><code>5m0s</code></td><td>amount of time after which a read attempt is considered timed out, which causes the backup to fail</td></tr>
 <tr><td><code>bulkio.backup.read_with_priority_after</code></td><td>duration</td><td><code>1m0s</code></td><td>amount of time since the read-as-of time above which a BACKUP should use priority when retrying reads</td></tr>
 <tr><td><code>bulkio.stream_ingestion.minimum_flush_interval</code></td><td>duration</td><td><code>5s</code></td><td>the minimum timestamp between flushes; flushes may still occur if internal buffers fill up</td></tr>
+<tr><td><code>changefeed.balance_range_distribution.enable</code></td><td>boolean</td><td><code>false</code></td><td>if enabled, the ranges are balanced equally among all nodes</td></tr>
 <tr><td><code>changefeed.node_throttle_config</code></td><td>string</td><td><code></code></td><td>specifies node level throttling configuration for all changefeeeds</td></tr>
 <tr><td><code>changefeed.schema_feed.read_with_priority_after</code></td><td>duration</td><td><code>1m0s</code></td><td>retry with high priority if we were not able to read descriptors for too long; 0 disables</td></tr>
 <tr><td><code>cloudstorage.http.custom_ca</code></td><td>string</td><td><code></code></td><td>custom root CA (appended to system's default CAs) for verifying certificates when interacting with HTTPS storage</td></tr>
diff --git a/pkg/ccl/changefeedccl/BUILD.bazel b/pkg/ccl/changefeedccl/BUILD.bazel
index 964e9d280fee..a033ffb67af3 100644
--- a/pkg/ccl/changefeedccl/BUILD.bazel
+++ b/pkg/ccl/changefeedccl/BUILD.bazel
@@ -58,6 +58,7 @@ go_library(
         "//pkg/jobs/jobsprotectedts",
         "//pkg/keys",
         "//pkg/kv",
+        "//pkg/kv/kvclient/kvcoord",
         "//pkg/kv/kvserver",
         "//pkg/kv/kvserver/closedts",
         "//pkg/kv/kvserver/protectedts",
@@ -96,6 +97,7 @@ go_library(
         "//pkg/sql/sessiondatapb",
         "//pkg/sql/sqlutil",
         "//pkg/sql/types",
+        "//pkg/util",
         "//pkg/util/bitarray",
         "//pkg/util/bufalloc",
         "//pkg/util/cache",
diff --git a/pkg/ccl/changefeedccl/changefeed_dist.go b/pkg/ccl/changefeedccl/changefeed_dist.go
index 91210a4e10a9..3952e4729121 100644
--- a/pkg/ccl/changefeedccl/changefeed_dist.go
+++ b/pkg/ccl/changefeedccl/changefeed_dist.go
@@ -10,12 +10,15 @@ package changefeedccl
 
 import (
 	"context"
+	"sort"
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/ccl/changefeedccl/cdceval"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/ccl/changefeedccl/changefeedbase"
+	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/ccl/changefeedccl/kvfeed"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/jobs/jobspb"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/kv"
+	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/kv/kvclient/kvcoord"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/roachpb"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/settings"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/sql"
@@ -29,6 +32,7 @@ import (
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/sql/sem/catid"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/sql/sem/tree"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/sql/types"
+	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/util"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/util/ctxgroup"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/cockroach/pkg/util/hlc"
 	"github.com/cockroachdb/errors"
@@ -307,6 +311,14 @@ func startDistChangefeed(
 	return err
 }
 
+var enableBalancedRangeDistribution = settings.RegisterBoolSetting(
+	settings.TenantWritable,
+	"changefeed.balance_range_distribution.enable",
+	"if enabled, the ranges are balanced equally among all nodes",
+	util.ConstantWithMetamorphicTestBool(
+		"changefeed.balance_range_distribution.enable", false),
+).WithPublic()
+
 func makePlan(
 	execCtx sql.JobExecContext,
 	jobID jobspb.JobID,
@@ -316,24 +328,41 @@ func makePlan(
 	trackedSpans []roachpb.Span,
 	selectClause string,
 ) func(context.Context, *sql.DistSQLPlanner) (*sql.PhysicalPlan, *sql.PlanningCtx, error) {
-
 	return func(ctx context.Context, dsp *sql.DistSQLPlanner) (*sql.PhysicalPlan, *sql.PlanningCtx, error) {
 		var blankTxn *kv.Txn
 
+		distMode := sql.DistributionTypeAlways
+		if details.SinkURI == `` {
+			// Sinkless feeds get one ChangeAggregator on this node.
+			distMode = sql.DistributionTypeNone
+		}
+
 		planCtx := dsp.NewPlanningCtx(ctx, execCtx.ExtendedEvalContext(), nil /* planner */, blankTxn,
-			sql.DistributionTypeAlways)
+			sql.DistributionType(distMode))
+		spanPartitions, err := dsp.PartitionSpans(ctx, planCtx, trackedSpans)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, nil, err
+		}
 
-		var spanPartitions []sql.SpanPartition
-		if details.SinkURI == `` {
-			// Sinkless feeds get one ChangeAggregator on the gateway.
-			spanPartitions = []sql.SpanPartition{{SQLInstanceID: dsp.GatewayID(), Spans: trackedSpans}}
-		} else {
-			// All other feeds get a ChangeAggregator local on the leaseholder.
-			var err error
-			spanPartitions, err = dsp.PartitionSpans(ctx, planCtx, trackedSpans)
+		sv := &execCtx.ExecCfg().Settings.SV
+		if enableBalancedRangeDistribution.Get(sv) {
+			scanType, err := changefeedbase.MakeStatementOptions(details.Opts).GetInitialScanType()
 			if err != nil {
 				return nil, nil, err
 			}
+
+			// Currently, balanced range distribution supported only in export mode.
+			// TODO(yevgeniy): Consider lifting this restriction.
+			if scanType == changefeedbase.OnlyInitialScan {
+				sender := execCtx.ExecCfg().DB.NonTransactionalSender()
+				distSender := sender.(*kv.CrossRangeTxnWrapperSender).Wrapped().(*kvcoord.DistSender)
+
+				spanPartitions, err = rebalanceSpanPartitions(
+					ctx, &distResolver{distSender}, rebalanceThreshold.Get(sv), spanPartitions)
+				if err != nil {
+					return nil, nil, err
+				}
+			}
 		}
 
 		// Use the same checkpoint for all aggregators; each aggregator will only look at
@@ -442,3 +471,88 @@ func (w *changefeedResultWriter) SetError(err error) {
 func (w *changefeedResultWriter) Err() error {
 	return w.err
 }
+
+var rebalanceThreshold = settings.RegisterFloatSetting(
+	settings.TenantWritable,
+	"changefeed.balance_range_distribution.sensitivity",
+	"rebalance if the number of ranges on a node exceeds the average by this fraction",
+	0.05,
+	settings.PositiveFloat,
+)
+
+type rangeResolver interface {
+	getRangesForSpans(ctx context.Context, spans []roachpb.Span) ([]roachpb.Span, error)
+}
+
+type distResolver struct {
+	*kvcoord.DistSender
+}
+
+func (r *distResolver) getRangesForSpans(
+	ctx context.Context, spans []roachpb.Span,
+) ([]roachpb.Span, error) {
+	return kvfeed.AllRangeSpans(ctx, r.DistSender, spans)
+}
+
+func rebalanceSpanPartitions(
+	ctx context.Context, r rangeResolver, sensitivity float64, p []sql.SpanPartition,
+) ([]sql.SpanPartition, error) {
+	if len(p) <= 1 {
+		return p, nil
+	}
+
+	// Explode set of spans into set of ranges.
+	// TODO(yevgeniy): This might not be great if the tables are huge.
+	numRanges := 0
+	for i := range p {
+		spans, err := r.getRangesForSpans(ctx, p[i].Spans)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+		p[i].Spans = spans
+		numRanges += len(spans)
+	}
+
+	// Sort descending based on the number of ranges.
+	sort.Slice(p, func(i, j int) bool {
+		return len(p[i].Spans) > len(p[j].Spans)
+	})
+
+	targetRanges := int((1 + sensitivity) * float64(numRanges) / float64(len(p)))
+
+	for i, j := 0, len(p)-1; i < j && len(p[i].Spans) > targetRanges && len(p[j].Spans) < targetRanges; {
+		from, to := i, j
+
+		// Figure out how many ranges we can move.
+		numToMove := len(p[from].Spans) - targetRanges
+		canMove := targetRanges - len(p[to].Spans)
+		if numToMove <= canMove {
+			i++
+		}
+		if canMove <= numToMove {
+			numToMove = canMove
+			j--
+		}
+		if numToMove == 0 {
+			break
+		}
+
+		// Move numToMove spans from 'from' to 'to'.
+		idx := len(p[from].Spans) - numToMove
+		p[to].Spans = append(p[to].Spans, p[from].Spans[idx:]...)
+		p[from].Spans = p[from].Spans[:idx]
+	}
+
+	// Collapse ranges into nice set of contiguous spans.
+	for i := range p {
+		var g roachpb.SpanGroup
+		g.Add(p[i].Spans...)
+		p[i].Spans = g.Slice()
+	}
+
+	// Finally, re-sort based on the node id.
+	sort.Slice(p, func(i, j int) bool {
+		return p[i].SQLInstanceID < p[j].SQLInstanceID
+	})
+	return p, nil
+}
diff --git a/pkg/ccl/changefeedccl/changefeed_test.go b/pkg/ccl/changefeedccl/changefeed_test.go
index d09f22fc8958..7059c3312e14 100644
--- a/pkg/ccl/changefeedccl/changefeed_test.go
+++ b/pkg/ccl/changefeedccl/changefeed_test.go
@@ -7450,3 +7450,84 @@ func TestRedactedSchemaRegistry(t *testing.T) {
 	// kafka supports the confluent_schema_registry option.
 	cdcTest(t, testFn, feedTestForceSink("kafka"))
 }
+
+type echoResolver struct {
+	result []roachpb.Spans
+	pos    int
+}
+
+func (r *echoResolver) getRangesForSpans(
+	_ context.Context, _ []roachpb.Span,
+) (spans []roachpb.Span, _ error) {
+	spans = r.result[r.pos]
+	r.pos++
+	return spans, nil
+}
+
+func TestPartitionSpans(t *testing.T) {
+	defer leaktest.AfterTest(t)()
+
+	partitions := func(p ...sql.SpanPartition) []sql.SpanPartition {
+		return p
+	}
+	mkPart := func(n base.SQLInstanceID, spans ...roachpb.Span) sql.SpanPartition {
+		return sql.SpanPartition{SQLInstanceID: n, Spans: spans}
+	}
+	mkSpan := func(start, end string) roachpb.Span {
+		return roachpb.Span{Key: []byte(start), EndKey: []byte(end)}
+	}
+	spans := func(s ...roachpb.Span) roachpb.Spans {
+		return s
+	}
+	const sensitivity = 0.01
+
+	for i, tc := range []struct {
+		input   []sql.SpanPartition
+		resolve []roachpb.Spans
+		expect  []sql.SpanPartition
+	}{
+		{
+			input: partitions(
+				mkPart(1, mkSpan("a", "j")),
+				mkPart(2, mkSpan("j", "q")),
+				mkPart(3, mkSpan("q", "z")),
+			),
+			// 6 total ranges, 2 per node.
+			resolve: []roachpb.Spans{
+				spans(mkSpan("a", "c"), mkSpan("c", "e"), mkSpan("e", "j")),
+				spans(mkSpan("j", "q")),
+				spans(mkSpan("q", "y"), mkSpan("y", "z")),
+			},
+			expect: partitions(
+				mkPart(1, mkSpan("a", "e")),
+				mkPart(2, mkSpan("e", "q")),
+				mkPart(3, mkSpan("q", "z")),
+			),
+		},
+		{
+			input: partitions(
+				mkPart(1, mkSpan("a", "c"), mkSpan("e", "p"), mkSpan("r", "z")),
+				mkPart(2),
+				mkPart(3, mkSpan("c", "e"), mkSpan("p", "r")),
+			),
+			// 5 total ranges -- on 2 nodes; target should be 1 per node.
+			resolve: []roachpb.Spans{
+				spans(mkSpan("a", "c"), mkSpan("e", "p"), mkSpan("r", "z")),
+				spans(),
+				spans(mkSpan("c", "e"), mkSpan("p", "r")),
+			},
+			expect: partitions(
+				mkPart(1, mkSpan("a", "c"), mkSpan("e", "p")),
+				mkPart(2, mkSpan("r", "z")),
+				mkPart(3, mkSpan("c", "e"), mkSpan("p", "r")),
+			),
+		},
+	} {
+		t.Run(strconv.Itoa(i), func(t *testing.T) {
+			sp, err := rebalanceSpanPartitions(context.Background(),
+				&echoResolver{result: tc.resolve}, sensitivity, tc.input)
+			require.NoError(t, err)
+			require.Equal(t, tc.expect, sp)
+		})
+	}
+}
diff --git a/pkg/ccl/changefeedccl/kvfeed/scanner.go b/pkg/ccl/changefeedccl/kvfeed/scanner.go
index 36c3f6887c72..e8f5b3ee0294 100644
--- a/pkg/ccl/changefeedccl/kvfeed/scanner.go
+++ b/pkg/ccl/changefeedccl/kvfeed/scanner.go
@@ -187,7 +187,7 @@ func (p *scanRequestScanner) exportSpan(
 func getSpansToProcess(
 	ctx context.Context, ds *kvcoord.DistSender, targetSpans []roachpb.Span,
 ) ([]roachpb.Span, error) {
-	ranges, err := allRangeSpans(ctx, ds, targetSpans)
+	ranges, err := AllRangeSpans(ctx, ds, targetSpans)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
@@ -254,7 +254,8 @@ func slurpScanResponse(
 	return nil
 }
 
-func allRangeSpans(
+// AllRangeSpans returns the list of all ranges that for the specified list of spans.
+func AllRangeSpans(
 	ctx context.Context, ds *kvcoord.DistSender, spans []roachpb.Span,
 ) ([]roachpb.Span, error) {