| Prokaryotic cell | Eukaryotic cell |
| 1. Lack of organized nucleus. Genetic material is present in the form of nucleiod | Well organized nucleus |
| 2. Nuclear membrane absent | Present |
| 3. DNA is not complexed with histones | DNA is complexed with histones to constitute chromatin |
| 4. DNA in a circular form and not packed into chromosomes | Linear DNA packed into well defined chromosomes |
| 5. Membrane-bound organelles are absent | Membrane-bound organelles such as mitochondria, endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi apparatus, Lysosomes, chloroplasts etc are present |
| 6. Cellular respiration is carried out by plasma membrane. | Cellular respiration by mitochondria. |
| 7. Absence of nucleoli and mitotic apparatus | Presence of nucleoli and mitotic apparatus |
| 8. Cell wall made up of murein | Cell wall present in plant cell is made of cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin |
| 9. The cell membrane may infold to form mesosomes | Cell membrane does not from mesosome |
| 10. Flagella simple, made up of flagellin and 9+2 organization is absent | Flagella specialized and show 9+2 organization |
| 11. Cytoplasm does not show streaming movement | Cytoplasm usually show streaming movement |
| 12. Microtubules are absent | Microtubules present |
| 13. Ribosomes are of 70 S type | Ribosomes are of 80 S type. 70 S type of ribosomes, however occur in plastids and mitochondria |
| 14. Different kinds of pili present | Absent |
| 15. Replication of DNA occurs continuously throughout cell cycle | Replication of DNA occurs during S-phase of cell cycle |