Main-sequence stars have a mass between a third to eight times that of the Sun, and they eventually burn through their hydrogen supplies. A red giant star is formed when a star, like our Sun, burns all of its hydrogen and helium supplies. This process can take up to 10 billion years.
Some notable differences between a main sequence star and a red giant are its sizes and color. Red Giants tend to typically be, well, red. The output of a red giant is so much greater than that of a main sequence. A red giant is the last stage of a main sequence star's life. Another difference is what occurs inside the star. Main sequence stars fuse hydrogen together in order to keep gravity from imploding the star, while red giants run short of hydrogen and fuses helium.