Shown without doors or drawers you can see the obvious difference, which is the face frame.

Frameless construction is a European method of building a cabinet box. There is no face frame to hold the box square, so the box is normally made of thicker plywood or MDF than an equivalent framed cabinet, and construction has to be more exact. Doors hinges are attached directly to the box.

In a framed cabinet, a number of construction techniques can be used to hold the box square and rigid. The choice of methods and materials used go a long way in determining the quality of the box.

The sides of a frameless cabinet box support most of the weight. ¾” plywood is considered the optimal box material for frameless construction. Thinner boxes are not as strong.