A binary tree limits each node to at most two children, usually named left and right. A general tree lets a node have any number of children, with no fixed slots.
That cap changes how you store and walk the structure. Each node needs just two child pointers, and left versus right becomes meaningful. This ordering is what later lets binary search trees and heaps assign meaning to sides.
An empty spot matters too. A node can have a left child but no right, and that gap is part of the shape.
General trees suit data with variable fan-out, like a folder holding any number of files. Binary trees suit ordered decisions, where each step picks one of two directions, and most fast lookup and priority structures build on that form.
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