Electric Strike vs Magnetic Lock
Compare electric strikes and magnetic locks by fail-safe/fail-secure behavior, egress code compliance, power, door types, and security level.
Electric strikes win most controlled doors — fail-secure options, code-friendly egress, lower power draw; maglocks fit glass doors and retrofits but carry code and life-safety baggage.
The decision is mostly about failure state and egress code. A strike works with the door's own latch and can be fail-secure, so a power cut doesn't unlock the building; a maglock is always fail-safe and typically drags in extra egress hardware — request-to-exit sensing, push-to-exit, fire-alarm tie-in — that inspectors will check. Maglocks still earn their place on frameless glass and awkward retrofits where a strike has nothing to grab.
Written for federal, SLED, healthcare, critical-infrastructure and enterprise environments — where compliance, documentation and lifecycle support matter as much as feature count.
Electric strike
- Perimeter and secure interior doors (fail-secure)
- Code-sensitive egress paths
- Lower continuous power budgets
Magnetic lock (maglock)
- Frameless glass and herculite doors
- Retrofits without frame modification
- High-traffic interior doors with proper egress design
Credential security
Legacy prox clones with a $30 tool — credential tech decides how much the badge is actually worth.
Door survivability
What happens at the door on power loss or network loss — fail-secure vs fail-safe is a life-safety call.
Administration model
Adds, terminations, and audits across sites — the daily workload lives here, not in the hardware.
Audit and compliance fit
Egress code, fire tie-in, and the reporting your compliance office expects at review time.
The winning option still has to be sourced cleanly. We verify NDAA Section 889 posture, TAA country of origin where required, and deliver the documentation your contracting or audit team needs.
Don't decide from a spec sheet alone. Site conditions, existing infrastructure, monitoring, retention and lifecycle support usually decide the answer — that's what the free recommendation covers.
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Common questions
Should I choose Electric strike or Magnetic lock (maglock)?
Electric strikes win most controlled doors — fail-secure options, code-friendly egress, lower power draw; maglocks fit glass doors and retrofits but carry code and life-safety baggage.
When is Electric strike the better choice?
Electric strike is best for: Perimeter and secure interior doors (fail-secure); Code-sensitive egress paths; Lower continuous power budgets.
When is Magnetic lock (maglock) the better choice?
Magnetic lock (maglock) is best for: Frameless glass and herculite doors; Retrofits without frame modification; High-traffic interior doors with proper egress design.
Send the constraints. Get the pick we'd specify.
An engineer — not a sales queue — reads your constraints and answers with a straight recommendation between electric strike and magnetic lock (maglock), including the compliant lines we'd build it on. Prefer a full bill of materials? Request a quote instead.