diff --git a/base/version.jl b/base/version.jl
index 2ff1842b79caf6..9f8b0fc7b8cef2 100644
--- a/base/version.jl
+++ b/base/version.jl
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ v"1.2.3"
 julia> VersionNumber("2.0.1-rc1")
 v"2.0.1-rc1"
 ```
+See also: [`isequal`](@ref).
 """
 struct VersionNumber
     major::VInt
@@ -166,15 +167,40 @@ function ident_cmp(A::VerTuple, B::VerTuple)
     length(B) < length(A) ? +1 : 0
 end
 
-function ==(a::VersionNumber, b::VersionNumber)
+"""
+    isequal(v1::VersionNumber, v2::VersionNumber; downto::Symbol = :patch)
+
+Compare two VersionNumbers for equality in fields cascading down to the `downto` field of the VersionNumbers,
+which by default is the `build` thus all fields are compared.
+
+```julia-repl
+julia> isequal(v"1.6", v"1.6.3")
+false
+
+julia> isequal(v"1.6", v"1.6.3", downto = :minor)
+true
+
+julia> isequal(v"1.5", v"1.6.3", downto = :major)
+true
+```
+See also: [`VersionNumber`](@ref).
+"""
+function isequal(a::VersionNumber, b::VersionNumber; downto::Symbol = :build)
+    downto in fieldnames(VersionNumber) || error("Unrecognized `downto` value. Must be :major, :minor, :patch, :prerelease, or :build")
     (a.major != b.major) && return false
+    downto == :major && return true
     (a.minor != b.minor) && return false
+    downto == :minor && return true
     (a.patch != b.patch) && return false
+    downto == :patch && return true
     (ident_cmp(a.prerelease, b.prerelease) != 0) && return false
+    downto == :prerelease && return true
     (ident_cmp(a.build, b.build) != 0) && return false
     return true
 end
 
+==(a::VersionNumber, b::VersionNumber) = isequal(a, b; downto = :build)
+
 issupbuild(v::VersionNumber) = length(v.build)==1 && isempty(v.build[1])
 
 function isless(a::VersionNumber, b::VersionNumber)
diff --git a/doc/src/base/base.md b/doc/src/base/base.md
index d03542691782a1..8a9ffbeb76e660 100644
--- a/doc/src/base/base.md
+++ b/doc/src/base/base.md
@@ -347,6 +347,7 @@ Base.@static
 ```@docs
 Base.VersionNumber
 Base.@v_str
+Base.isequal(::VersionNumber, ::VersionNumber)
 ```
 
 ## Errors
diff --git a/test/version.jl b/test/version.jl
index d9083b9c49cf18..5f7c15370cf570 100644
--- a/test/version.jl
+++ b/test/version.jl
@@ -63,6 +63,39 @@ using Random
 @test v"3.2+1.a" == VersionNumber(3, 2, 0, (), (1, "a"))
 @test v"4.3.2+1.a" == VersionNumber(4, 3, 2, (), (1, "a"))
 
+# full equality
+@test isequal(v"1", v"1")
+@test isequal(v"1", v"2") == false
+@test isequal(v"1.2", v"1.2")
+@test isequal(v"1.1", v"1.2") == false
+@test isequal(v"1.2.3", v"1.2.3")
+@test isequal(v"1.2.1", v"1.2.3") == false
+@test isequal(v"1.2.3-dev", v"1.2.3-dev")
+@test isequal(v"1.2.3", v"1.2.3-dev") == false
+@test isequal(v"1.2.3-dev+1.a", v"1.2.3-dev+1.a")
+@test isequal(v"1.2.3-dev", v"1.2.3-dev+1.a") == false
+
+# partial equality
+@test isequal(v"1", v"1", downto = :major)
+@test isequal(v"1", v"1.2.3-dev+1.a", downto = :major)
+@test isequal(v"1", v"2", downto = :major) == false
+
+@test isequal(v"1.2", v"1.2", downto = :minor)
+@test isequal(v"1.2", v"1.2.3-dev+1.a", downto = :minor)
+@test isequal(v"1.1", v"1.2", downto = :minor) == false
+
+@test isequal(v"1.2.3", v"1.2.3", downto = :patch)
+@test isequal(v"1.2.3", v"1.2.3-dev+1.a", downto = :patch)
+@test isequal(v"1.2.1", v"1.2.3", downto = :patch) == false
+
+@test isequal(v"1.2.3-dev", v"1.2.3-dev", downto = :prerelease)
+@test isequal(v"1.2.3-dev", v"1.2.3-dev+1.a", downto = :prerelease)
+@test isequal(v"1.2.3-foo", v"1.2.3-dev+1.a", downto = :prerelease) == false
+
+@test isequal(v"1.2.3-dev+1.a", v"1.2.3-dev+1.a", downto = :build)
+@test isequal(v"1.2.3-dev", v"1.2.3-dev+1.a", downto = :build) == false
+@test isequal(v"1.2.3-dev+2.a", v"1.2.3-dev+1.a", downto = :build) == false
+
 # ArgumentErrors in constructor
 @test_throws ArgumentError VersionNumber(4, 3, 2, ("nonalphanumeric!",), ())
 @test_throws ArgumentError VersionNumber(4, 3, 2, ("nonalphanumeric!", 1), ())