The difference between tenant farmers and sharecroppers was that tenant farmers

In sharecropping, the landowner provides the land, equipment, seed, living area, etc, and the landowner had more control of what was planted.  Unlike sharecroppers, tenant farmers used their own equipment and seeds to plant. They both did not own the land they planted on, but tenant farmers had more independence, and some were even able to save enough money to buy their own land.