Homeostasis in the body is maintained by multiple processes, including the balance between the formation of new cells and their dying. This paper describes the mechanism and pathways of apoptotic cell death, and the phenomenon of necrosis and autophagy. Furthermore, it describes rarely presented types of cell death, namely mitotic catastrophe, oncosis and pyroptosis. The course of these processes varies, as emphasized in the paper, and is on the one hand connected with maintaining the stability of tissues in physiological processes, but on the other hand processes of cell death are connected with the induction and progression of pathological processes. In the paper an attempt was made to show the basic differences between the described processes and their importance for the body.