| Fission | Budding |
| Occurrence. Fission occurs only in unicellular organisms. | Budding occurs both in unicellular and multicellular organisms. |
| Division. Parent divides into two to many daughters. | A parent does not divide but gives one or more outgrowths to form new individuals. |
| Identity, Identity of parent is lost during the formation of new individuals. | The parent retains its identity during budding. |
| Sequence. Nucleus divides first followed by cleavage of cytoplasm. Examples. Amoeba, Paramoecium. | In unicellular forms, cellular outgrowth develops first. Nuclear division follows later. Examples. Planaria, Yeast, Hydra. |