This study evaluated the effectiveness of pressure-assisted ozonation (PAO) in Chlorella vulgaris (C. vulgaris) cell disruption, and compared the disruption result with that of the ultrasonication (US) by using four quantification indicators: cell counting, ultra violet (UV) absorbance, turbidity and visible light absorbance. It was found that under the condition of 0.8 MPa and 80 cycles, PAO treatment achieved cell rupture of 80.3%, with the power of 1080 W and treatment time of 60 min, US achieved cell rupture of 83.8%. Cell counting was a reliable indicator and applicable to both PAO and US treatments. Turbidity and visible light absorbance gave similar results and featured as the simplest operation. UV absorbance reflected the metabolite release due to cell breakage; however, it was less reproducible when it was applied to quantify the cell rupture by PAO. Its trend indicated that during cell disruption metabolite degradation occurred, especially after significant rupture in the case of excessive PAO treatment. The cellular morphology of C. vulgaris cells during PAO and US treatments was investigated by scanning electron microscope (SEM) which certified that the cells damage was caused by both physical and chemical attack.