Is there any difference between using multiple if statements and else if statements?

Yes, potentially. Consider this (C#, Java, whatever):

int x = GetValueFromSomewhere();

if (x == 0)
{
    // Something
    x = 1;
}
else if (x == 1)
{
    // Something else...
}

vs this:

int x = GetValueFromSomewhere();

if (x == 0)
{
    // Something
    x = 1;
}
if (x == 1)
{
    // Something else...
}

In the first case, only one of “Something” or “Something else…” will occur. In the second case, the side-effects of the first block make the condition in the second block true.

Then for another example, the conditions may not be mutually exclusive to start with:

int x = ...;

if (x < 10)
{
    ...
} 
else if (x < 100)
{
    ...
}
else if (x < 1000)
{
    ...
}

If you get rid of the “else” here, then as soon as one condition has matched, the rest will too.