| BASIS OF COMPARISON | SIMPLE STAINING | DIFFERENTIAL STAINING |
| Description | This method uses only one stain. | This method uses more than one stain. |
| Colors | It imparts only one color to all bacterial cells. | It imparts two or more colors to bacterial cells. |
| Importance | It reveals the size, shape and arrangement of bacterial cells. | It reveals the size, shape and arrangement of bacterial cells. It differentiates two groups of bacterial. |
| Examples | Methyl blue staining | Gram’s staining method, Acid fast staining method etc. |