Animal Cell vs Plant Cell: What's Actually Different?

Plant and animal cells have far more in common than not. Both have a nucleus, a cell membrane, cytoplasm, mitochondria and ribosomes. In any animal cell vs plant cell comparison, the differences come down to three things plants have and animals don't: a cell wall, chloroplasts and one large permanent vacuole. Every one of those makes sense once you think about how a plant lives.

The parts they share

Start with what's the same, because exam questions love to test whether you know that plant cells have mitochondria too. Every one of these animal cell organelles is also on the list of plant cell organelles.

• Nucleus: holds the DNA and controls the cell by deciding which proteins get made.
• Cell membrane: a thin, flexible layer that controls what goes in and out.
• Cytoplasm: the jelly where most of the cell's reactions happen.
• Mitochondria: where aerobic respiration releases energy from glucose. Plants respire all the time, day and night, so they need these just as much as animals do.
• Ribosomes: tiny structures where proteins are made.

Difference 1: the cell wall

A plant cell has a tough layer of cellulose outside its membrane. An animal cell doesn't.

A plant can't move to find shelter or prop itself up against a tree. It needs every cell to keep its shape and to resist the pressure of water pushing outwards. The wall is what gives a celery stick its crunch.

The mix-up to avoid with cell wall vs cell membrane: the wall doesn't replace the membrane. Plant cells have both. The membrane is the part that controls what enters; the wall is strong but lets most things straight through.

Difference 2: chloroplasts

Chloroplasts contain chlorophyll, the green pigment that absorbs light for photosynthesis: carbon dioxide + water → glucose + oxygen. Animals get their glucose by eating, so they have no use for them.

Not every plant cell has chloroplasts, though. Root cells are underground in the dark, and onion bulb cells don't either, which is why the onion skin you look at under a microscope has none. If an exam asks whether a root hair cell has chloroplasts, the answer is no.

Difference 3: a large permanent vacuole

Animal cells can have small, temporary vacuoles. A typical plant cell has one huge one, filled with cell sap (water with sugars and salts dissolved in it), often taking up most of the cell.

When the vacuole is full, it presses the cytoplasm out against the cell wall. The cell becomes firm, or turgid, and a plant full of turgid cells stands upright. Forget to water it and the vacuoles shrink, the cells go floppy, and the plant wilts. That's not a metaphor: it's thousands of vacuoles losing water.

What is the difference between plant and animal cells?

Here is the whole difference between plant and animal cells in one table:

Part	Animal cell	Plant cell
Nucleus	✓	✓
Cell membrane	✓	✓
Cytoplasm	✓	✓
Mitochondria	✓	✓
Ribosomes	✓	✓
Cell wall	✗	✓ (cellulose)
Chloroplasts	✗	✓ (in green parts)
Large permanent vacuole	✗	✓
Shape	Irregular, can change	Fixed, often box-like

At a higher level you'll also meet centrioles and lysosomes, which are typical of animal cells, and the Golgi apparatus and endoplasmic reticulum, which both kinds of cell have.

The mistakes I see most often

• "Plants don't have mitochondria because they photosynthesise." They do. Photosynthesis makes glucose; respiration releases energy from it. Plants need both.
• "The cell wall controls what goes in and out." That's the membrane's job.
• "All plant cells are green." Only the ones with chloroplasts.
• Drawing a plant cell with no membrane. It's there, pressed right up against the inside of the wall.

Water moving in and out of those vacuoles is osmosis: see what happens to a red blood cell in salt water for why a plant cell firms up where an animal cell bursts.

Frequently asked questions

Do plant cells have mitochondria?

Yes. Plant cells respire all the time, day and night, so they need mitochondria just as animal cells do. Chloroplasts use light to make glucose by photosynthesis; mitochondria then release the energy stored in that glucose by aerobic respiration. A leaf cell has both. A root cell, deep in the dark soil, has mitochondria but no chloroplasts.

Why don't animal cells have a cell wall?

Animals hold their shape with skeletons and move around, so their cells need to be flexible: white blood cells squeeze through gaps, and muscle cells change shape every time they contract. A rigid cellulose wall would get in the way. Plants can't move or lean on anything, so every cell has a wall to support it and stop it bursting when it takes in water.

What is the largest organelle in a plant cell?

In a mature plant cell it is usually the permanent vacuole, which can fill up to about 90% of the cell's volume. It stores cell sap and keeps the cell turgid. In an animal cell, which has no large vacuole, the nucleus is normally the largest organelle.

Look inside one

The 3D Cell Explorer lets you spin an animal cell and a plant cell side by side, slice them open with the cut-away slider and click every organelle to see what it does. Its find-it game picks an organelle and asks you to click it. If you pick the wrong one, it tells you what you actually clicked and how to spot the right one. When you're ready to see real cells, the Virtual Microscope has onion skin and cheek cell slides to compare.