An in vitro method for the marker-free determination of a cell type of a cell in a biological sample is disclosed, a microscopic device being configured to detect a height profile of the cell with respect to a carrier plate. An embodiment of the method performed by a cell analysis device, include: determining a cell compartment of the cell on the basis of the detected height profile, determining a predetermined quantitative cell feature on the basis of the determined cell compartment, and determining the cell type of the cell on the basis of the determined quantitative cell feature. A correspondingly designed cell analysis device and a corresponding microscopic device are also disclosed.