Direct N-body simulations are the only simulation method capable of properly resolving dense star clusters from the scales between close interacting stars in a binary all the way up to their interaction with distant halo stars. Nevertheless, they are frequently complemented with approximate Monte-Carlo methods, because these are much quicker computationally. Recently, there have been a number of code advances concerning the stellar evolution. This is crucial, as the evolution of individual stars has a huge effect on the overall dynamical evolution of a star cluster and thus amongst others the formation of gravitational wave emitting sources that may be detectable with LIGO and VIRGO. In this talk, I will highlight the state of stellar evolution routines in the direct N-body code NBODY6++GPU and the Henon-type Monte-Carlo code MOCCA by comparing the results of small star cluster simulations performed with both. The results of these are important groundwork to ensure that the upcoming million-body simulations of globular and nuclear star clusters are astrophysically up-to-date.