As with all other high-tech sports equipment, climbing shoes are available in specialized designs to suit diverse climbing styles. While there are some general guidelines for choosing what sort of shoe to use for either indoor or outdoor climbing, there's so much overlap between the two categories that the best way to pick out shoes is simply to try various styles until you find one that suits you well.
Function
Climbing shoes perform the same basic function whether you're climbing indoors or outdoors. The shoes' snug fit and sticky rubber soles help focus your body weight and balance on your toes, supporting your foot as you stand on tiny holds you wouldn't be able to manage in larger shoes.
Types
Board-lasted shoes have a relatively stiff, supportive sole. They're well-suited for crack climbing and long, multi-pitch climbs--both situations you're unlikely to encounter inside. However, board-lasted shoes are also ideal for beginner indoor climbers because they give your feet extra support. If you find yourself doing a lot of slab climbing outside, or you're an advanced indoor climber looking to develop a lot of foot strength, soft-soled slippers are ideal.
Fit
If you're climbing hard bouldering problems, whether indoors or outside, you'll want a tight-fitting climbing shoe to help you make delicate, precise movements. If you're climbing multi-pitch routes outside, you'll do better with a somewhat looser shoe that you can adjust to fit tightly for difficult portions of the climb. What kind of climbing shoe you wear for strictly indoor climbing is largely a matter of preference, but even the loosest of climbing shoes should still fit your feet so snugly that you can wiggle your toes as one unit but not separately.
Closures
Rock climbing shoes close with laces, hook-and-loop fasteners or, very rarely, a zipper. If your shoes slip right onto your foot with no closure at all, they're called slippers. Which types of closure you choose for indoor or outdoor climbing shoes is largely a matter of preference, although many climbers use either slippers or shoes that fasten with hook-and-loop closures for indoor climbing because they're quick to put on and take off between climbs. Outdoor climbers may prefer lace-up shoes. You can wear them loose and comfortable while climbing easy pitches but tighten the laces to adjust the fit in specific portions of the shoe, when needed, for climbing more difficult terrain.
Considerations
Over time, many climbers amass a small collection of shoes, with each pair earmarked for a specific pursuit, like indoor vs. outdoor climbing or sport climbing vs. multi-pitch trad climbs. If you can only afford one pair of shoes, you should aim for a jack-of-all-trades model with a relatively stiff sole that will serve you reasonably well in almost all pursuits. If the soles of your shoes get dirty from climbing outside or smoothed down to a glazed finish from climbing inside, a brief scraping with a wire brush will help bring them back to new for your next trip.
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