diff --git a/Doc/library/ast.rst b/Doc/library/ast.rst
index d4ccf282a5d00a..9ee56b92431b57 100644
--- a/Doc/library/ast.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/ast.rst
@@ -2472,6 +2472,20 @@ effects on the compilation of a program:
    .. versionadded:: 3.8
 
 
+.. function:: compare(a, b, /, *, compare_attributes=False)
+
+   Recursively compares two ASTs.
+
+   *compare_attributes* affects whether AST attributes are considered
+   in the comparison. If *compare_attributes* is ``False`` (default), then
+   attributes are ignored. Otherwise they must all be equal. This
+   option is useful to check whether the ASTs are structurally equal but
+   differ in whitespace or similar details. Attributes include line numbers
+   and column offsets.
+
+   .. versionadded:: 3.14
+
+
 .. _ast-cli:
 
 Command-Line Usage
diff --git a/Doc/whatsnew/3.14.rst b/Doc/whatsnew/3.14.rst
index 27c985bec104fe..39172ac60cf1e0 100644
--- a/Doc/whatsnew/3.14.rst
+++ b/Doc/whatsnew/3.14.rst
@@ -86,6 +86,13 @@ New Modules
 Improved Modules
 ================
 
+ast
+---
+
+Added :func:`ast.compare` for comparing two ASTs.
+(Contributed by Batuhan Taskaya and Jeremy Hylton in :issue:`15987`)
+
+
 
 Optimizations
 =============
diff --git a/Lib/ast.py b/Lib/ast.py
index d7e51aba595706..031bab43df7579 100644
--- a/Lib/ast.py
+++ b/Lib/ast.py
@@ -401,6 +401,77 @@ def walk(node):
         yield node
 
 
+def compare(
+    a,
+    b,
+    /,
+    *,
+    compare_attributes=False,
+):
+    """Recursively compares two ASTs.
+
+    compare_attributes affects whether AST attributes are considered
+    in the comparison. If compare_attributes is False (default), then
+    attributes are ignored. Otherwise they must all be equal. This
+    option is useful to check whether the ASTs are structurally equal but
+    might differ in whitespace or similar details.
+    """
+
+    def _compare(a, b):
+        # Compare two fields on an AST object, which may themselves be
+        # AST objects, lists of AST objects, or primitive ASDL types
+        # like identifiers and constants.
+        if isinstance(a, AST):
+            return compare(
+                a,
+                b,
+                compare_attributes=compare_attributes,
+            )
+        elif isinstance(a, list):
+            # If a field is repeated, then both objects will represent
+            # the value as a list.
+            if len(a) != len(b):
+                return False
+            for a_item, b_item in zip(a, b):
+                if not _compare(a_item, b_item):
+                    return False
+            else:
+                return True
+        else:
+            return type(a) is type(b) and a == b
+
+    def _compare_fields(a, b):
+        if a._fields != b._fields:
+            return False
+        for field in a._fields:
+            a_field = getattr(a, field)
+            b_field = getattr(b, field)
+            if not _compare(a_field, b_field):
+                return False
+        else:
+            return True
+
+    def _compare_attributes(a, b):
+        if a._attributes != b._attributes:
+            return False
+        # Attributes are always ints.
+        for attr in a._attributes:
+            a_attr = getattr(a, attr)
+            b_attr = getattr(b, attr)
+            if a_attr != b_attr:
+                return False
+        else:
+            return True
+
+    if type(a) is not type(b):
+        return False
+    if not _compare_fields(a, b):
+        return False
+    if compare_attributes and not _compare_attributes(a, b):
+        return False
+    return True
+
+
 class NodeVisitor(object):
     """
     A node visitor base class that walks the abstract syntax tree and calls a
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_ast.py b/Lib/test/test_ast.py
index 5422c861ffb5c0..8a4374c56cbc08 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_ast.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_ast.py
@@ -38,6 +38,9 @@ def to_tuple(t):
         result.append(to_tuple(getattr(t, f)))
     return tuple(result)
 
+STDLIB = os.path.dirname(ast.__file__)
+STDLIB_FILES = [fn for fn in os.listdir(STDLIB) if fn.endswith(".py")]
+STDLIB_FILES.extend(["test/test_grammar.py", "test/test_unpack_ex.py"])
 
 # These tests are compiled through "exec"
 # There should be at least one test per statement
@@ -1066,6 +1069,114 @@ def test_ast_asdl_signature(self):
         expressions[0] = f"expr = {ast.expr.__subclasses__()[0].__doc__}"
         self.assertCountEqual(ast.expr.__doc__.split("\n"), expressions)
 
+    def test_compare_basics(self):
+        self.assertTrue(ast.compare(ast.parse("x = 10"), ast.parse("x = 10")))
+        self.assertFalse(ast.compare(ast.parse("x = 10"), ast.parse("")))
+        self.assertFalse(ast.compare(ast.parse("x = 10"), ast.parse("x")))
+        self.assertFalse(
+            ast.compare(ast.parse("x = 10;y = 20"), ast.parse("class C:pass"))
+        )
+
+    def test_compare_modified_ast(self):
+        # The ast API is a bit underspecified. The objects are mutable,
+        # and even _fields and _attributes are mutable. The compare() does
+        # some simple things to accommodate mutability.
+        a = ast.parse("m * x + b", mode="eval")
+        b = ast.parse("m * x + b", mode="eval")
+        self.assertTrue(ast.compare(a, b))
+
+        a._fields = a._fields + ("spam",)
+        a.spam = "Spam"
+        self.assertNotEqual(a._fields, b._fields)
+        self.assertFalse(ast.compare(a, b))
+        self.assertFalse(ast.compare(b, a))
+
+        b._fields = a._fields
+        b.spam = a.spam
+        self.assertTrue(ast.compare(a, b))
+        self.assertTrue(ast.compare(b, a))
+
+        b._attributes = b._attributes + ("eggs",)
+        b.eggs = "eggs"
+        self.assertNotEqual(a._attributes, b._attributes)
+        self.assertFalse(ast.compare(a, b, compare_attributes=True))
+        self.assertFalse(ast.compare(b, a, compare_attributes=True))
+
+        a._attributes = b._attributes
+        a.eggs = b.eggs
+        self.assertTrue(ast.compare(a, b, compare_attributes=True))
+        self.assertTrue(ast.compare(b, a, compare_attributes=True))
+
+    def test_compare_literals(self):
+        constants = (
+            -20,
+            20,
+            20.0,
+            1,
+            1.0,
+            True,
+            0,
+            False,
+            frozenset(),
+            tuple(),
+            "ABCD",
+            "abcd",
+            "中文字",
+            1e1000,
+            -1e1000,
+        )
+        for next_index, constant in enumerate(constants[:-1], 1):
+            next_constant = constants[next_index]
+            with self.subTest(literal=constant, next_literal=next_constant):
+                self.assertTrue(
+                    ast.compare(ast.Constant(constant), ast.Constant(constant))
+                )
+                self.assertFalse(
+                    ast.compare(
+                        ast.Constant(constant), ast.Constant(next_constant)
+                    )
+                )
+
+        same_looking_literal_cases = [
+            {1, 1.0, True, 1 + 0j},
+            {0, 0.0, False, 0 + 0j},
+        ]
+        for same_looking_literals in same_looking_literal_cases:
+            for literal in same_looking_literals:
+                for same_looking_literal in same_looking_literals - {literal}:
+                    self.assertFalse(
+                        ast.compare(
+                            ast.Constant(literal),
+                            ast.Constant(same_looking_literal),
+                        )
+                    )
+
+    def test_compare_fieldless(self):
+        self.assertTrue(ast.compare(ast.Add(), ast.Add()))
+        self.assertFalse(ast.compare(ast.Sub(), ast.Add()))
+
+    def test_compare_modes(self):
+        for mode, sources in (
+            ("exec", exec_tests),
+            ("eval", eval_tests),
+            ("single", single_tests),
+        ):
+            for source in sources:
+                a = ast.parse(source, mode=mode)
+                b = ast.parse(source, mode=mode)
+                self.assertTrue(
+                    ast.compare(a, b), f"{ast.dump(a)} != {ast.dump(b)}"
+                )
+
+    def test_compare_attributes_option(self):
+        def parse(a, b):
+            return ast.parse(a), ast.parse(b)
+
+        a, b = parse("2 + 2", "2+2")
+        self.assertTrue(ast.compare(a, b))
+        self.assertTrue(ast.compare(a, b, compare_attributes=False))
+        self.assertFalse(ast.compare(a, b, compare_attributes=True))
+
     def test_positional_only_feature_version(self):
         ast.parse('def foo(x, /): ...', feature_version=(3, 8))
         ast.parse('def bar(x=1, /): ...', feature_version=(3, 8))
@@ -1222,6 +1333,7 @@ def test_none_checks(self) -> None:
         for node, attr, source in tests:
             self.assert_none_check(node, attr, source)
 
+
 class ASTHelpers_Test(unittest.TestCase):
     maxDiff = None
 
@@ -2191,16 +2303,15 @@ def test_nameconstant(self):
 
     @support.requires_resource('cpu')
     def test_stdlib_validates(self):
-        stdlib = os.path.dirname(ast.__file__)
-        tests = [fn for fn in os.listdir(stdlib) if fn.endswith(".py")]
-        tests.extend(["test/test_grammar.py", "test/test_unpack_ex.py"])
-        for module in tests:
+        for module in STDLIB_FILES:
             with self.subTest(module):
-                fn = os.path.join(stdlib, module)
+                fn = os.path.join(STDLIB, module)
                 with open(fn, "r", encoding="utf-8") as fp:
                     source = fp.read()
                 mod = ast.parse(source, fn)
                 compile(mod, fn, "exec")
+                mod2 = ast.parse(source, fn)
+                self.assertTrue(ast.compare(mod, mod2))
 
     constant_1 = ast.Constant(1)
     pattern_1 = ast.MatchValue(constant_1)
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2020-03-28-21-00-54.bpo-15987.aBL8XS.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2020-03-28-21-00-54.bpo-15987.aBL8XS.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..b906393449656d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2020-03-28-21-00-54.bpo-15987.aBL8XS.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Implemented :func:`ast.compare` for comparing two ASTs. Patch by Batuhan
+Taskaya with some help from Jeremy Hylton.