Is exposure compensation doing essentially the same thing as bracketing?

I know bracketing gives you extra over and underexposed shots to blend together, but is "compensating" a shot doing exactly the same thing (providing the increments are set the same)?

The reason I ask is because my camera only allows you to bracket up to three shots, and I want to get more depth for layering. If I use the exposure comp to go even darker and even lighter, does that make sense?