| Aerobic respiration | Anaerobic respiration |
| Aerobic respiration refers to complete breakdown of metabolic fuels in presence of oxygen. | Anaerobic respiration is the process of partial breakdown of fuel (glucose) in absence of oxygen. |
| It includes glycolysis, citric acid cycle and oxidative phosphorylation. The first two processes take place in the cytoplasm while last one occurs in mitochondria. | Glycolysis is followed by ethanol fermentation (occurs in yeast) or lactic acid fermentation (in muscles and microbes like lactic acid bacteria). |
| The end products are carbon dioxide and water. | End products of ethanol fermentation are ethanol and carbon dioxide; that of lactic acid fermentation are lactic acid |
| Owing to complete oxidation of glucose, a large amount of energy is produced (36-38 ATP molecules) | Incomplete oxidation of glucose does not release all stored energy and only 2 ATP molecules are produced |
