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It depends on what legality you're looking at it. In standard play it's pretty much another Llanowar. In extended/legacy/etc. I think it's actually better as there's more enchantments that double mana when a land is tapped for mana rather than an enchantment that doubles mana when a permanent is tapped for mana. Other than that though, they're pretty much twins.

There are lots of ways in which Arbor Elf differs slightly from Llanowar Elves. As mentioned, it synergizes with Wakethrasher, and it potentially makes more mana than a Llanowar Elf with a Mana Flare in play. Another difference is that it can produce additional colors of mana with lands such as Murmuring Bosk, Tropical Island, or Temple Garden. It can untap a Dryad Arbor to attack or block, too. And if you can't seem to draw any Forests, it can screw you over when Llanowar Elves wouldn't.

Why does it exist in present Standard? Perhaps Wizards wanted an additional mana dork to play alongside Llanowar Elves. Elvish Archdruid and Joraga Warcaller are both in Standard right now, so maybe they wanted a tribal elf deck to be an option for players. We can speculate, but your guess is as good as mine.