Comparing cinder cones to shield volcanoes:

There are some similarities between the cinder cone volcanoes and the shield volcanoes.

The cinder cones tend to relatively small, they do not go over the height of 1,000 feet, while the shield volcanoes are very large and can be several thousands of feet high.

The cinder cones have steep slopes, while the shield volcanoes have much more gradual slopes.

The cinder cones have thicker magma, with lot of gasses trapped in it, thus producing small explosions. The shield volcanoes, on the other hand, have very liquid magma, thus they produce lava flows and do not have any explosions. They both produce the same type of lava though, basaltic one, with only the thickness being a difference.

The cinder cones are circular, having a large bowl-shaped crater at the summit. The shield volcanoes are enormous, gently sloping cones, and they even create whole island chains in the oceans.