Systems and methods for comparing one database structure to another to identify differences between the two. In one embodiment, tree structures corresponding to each database are generated. The tree structures have nodes corresponding to objects in the databases. Each node has an individual check value based on the node attributes and a cumulative check value based on the attributes of the node and its sub-nodes. Beginning with the uppermost nodes of each tree, the check values are compared to identify differences in the check values, hence the node/tree attributes. If the cumulative check values match, the sub-nodes match and do not need to be compared directly. Only the portions of the tree structures that do not have matching check values are traversed. If individual check values do not match, the attributes of the corresponding nodes are compared to determine the exact differences.