NetSys vs. Electric
Electric turned IT support into a product you subscribe to. NetSys is the other model: a firm of engineers you hire. Both serve businesses across the country, and the right choice depends on which of those two things you are buying.
The short answer
Electric is an IT platform priced per user; NetSys is an engineering firm priced per business, month to month. If your needs stop at laptops and chat support, Electric fits. If they include servers, compliance, privileged access or custom builds, NetSys is the stronger alternative.
What Electric is
Electric started in New York in 2016 and grew fast on venture funding. The pitch is genuinely different from a traditional MSP: an IT platform with device management, onboarding and offboarding flows, procurement and chat-based support, priced per user and published on their site, which almost nobody else in the industry does. For a distributed company that wants IT to feel like software, the appeal is obvious.
A product versus a practice
Electric's center of gravity is the platform; people back it up. NetSys is the reverse. The center is the engineering team that has defended business networks since 1998, and the tooling serves them. When your problem fits the platform, a platform is efficient. When it does not fit, you want an engineer who owns the whole picture, knows your network, and answers the phone.
What the agreement covers
Our agreement bundles what platforms usually cannot: cybersecurity as the core, a helpdesk staffed by engineers, privileged access management, privileged identity management, disaster recovery planning with restores we run and time, and an in-house AI practice that builds automation and custom software. One agreement, month to month, priced per business rather than per seat.
Hands, when hands are needed
Remote-first is our default too. The difference is what happens when remote is not enough. We publish on-site engineer coverage areas across the New York metro, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Southwest Florida and Palo Alto, and we scope dispatch in writing everywhere else. A free on-site penetration test starts most engagements inside that footprint.
Our commitments, and the questions to put to Electric
| The NetSys Group | Ask Electric | |
|---|---|---|
| Agreement | Month to month. Leave any time. | What is the contract term, and what does leaving early cost? |
| What the monthly fee includes | AI services, cybersecurity, managed IT with helpdesk, PAM, PIM and disaster recovery planning in one agreement | What exactly is included, and what shows up later as an add-on or project fee? |
| Privileged access (PAM and PIM) | Included, with published service pages describing the work | Is privileged access management in the base plan, or an add-on? |
| AI services | In-house practice: readiness assessments, Copilot rollouts, workflow automation, custom builds | Who does the AI work: their engineers, or a referral to someone else? |
| Disaster recovery | A written plan, plus restores that are performed and timed | When was a restore last tested, and can they show the timing? |
| Who answers | A NetSys engineer, plus a named account manager with a real cell number | Who picks up at 2 a.m.: an engineer, or a ticket queue? |
| Proof before you commit | Free on-site penetration test in our coverage areas | What do they show you before you sign? |
We make no claims about Electric's terms; their column asks what we would ask. Their side of the story is theirs to tell, and they may tell it well.
The honest fit: is NetSys the right Electric alternative?
When Electric is the better choice
Choose Electric if you run a distributed, laptop-centric company, you want procurement and device lifecycle handled through a console, and published per user pricing matters to how you buy. It is a real product with real strengths.
When NetSys is the better choice
Choose NetSys if you want a security-first engineering firm that treats your business as a client rather than a tenant: servers and networks included, compliance work included, custom builds possible, and the freedom to leave any month if we stop earning it.
NetSys and Electric: FAQs
Is NetSys a real alternative to Electric for a mid sized business?
Yes, with one honest caveat about model fit. Electric is a per user IT platform; NetSys is an engineering practice with a monthly agreement per business. Companies that need more than device management and chat support, meaning servers, compliance, privileged access controls, disaster recovery that gets tested, or custom software, are squarely what our practice is built for.
How does NetSys pricing differ from Electric's?
Electric publishes per user pricing on its site, and credit where due, that transparency is rare. We quote per business instead, because a 30 person firm with two servers, HIPAA obligations and three locations is not the same buyer as a 30 person startup on laptops. What we publish instead is the structure: month to month terms, and a quote that states what the monthly fee includes versus what is billed separately.
Can NetSys take over from Electric without disruption?
Yes. Switching is a process we run deliberately: credentials and documentation handover, backup verification before anything is cut over, and a period of parallel monitoring. Device management platforms hand over cleanly when the offboarding is planned, and we plan it.
Facts about Electric on this page come from their published materials and press coverage, checked September 2026. Electric is a trademark of its owner; no affiliation or endorsement is implied. If anything here is out of date, tell us at info@netsysgroup.com and we will correct it.
Get both answers in writing.
Fifteen minutes with a NetSys engineer, not a salesperson, and you will have our side of every question on this page in writing. Take it into any comparison you like.