Induction is the newest of the three main cooktop technologies and works on a genuinely different physical principle than the other two — worth understanding before assuming it's just "electric, but fancier."
Gas heats with an open flame
Gas cooktops heat via a visible flame, offering immediate, highly responsive heat adjustment — turning the knob changes the flame size instantly, which many cooks prefer for precise control, especially for techniques that need quick heat changes. The tradeoff is lower overall energy efficiency, since much of the flame's heat escapes around the sides of a pot or pan rather than transferring directly into it, and an open flame introduces a fire risk a fully enclosed electric surface doesn't have.
Standard electric heats the surface, which heats the pan
A traditional electric cooktop (coil or smooth glass-top radiant) heats an element, which then heats the cooktop surface, which then transfers that heat into the cookware placed on it. This is a straightforward, reliable process, but it also means the surface itself gets hot and stays hot for a while after use, and heat adjustment is slower than gas, since the physical element takes time to heat up and cool down.
Induction heats the pan directly, skipping the surface
Induction cooktops use an electromagnetic field to induce heat directly within a compatible metal pan itself — the cooktop surface never gets directly heated by an element at all, and only warms secondhand from contact with an already-hot pan. This makes induction the most energy-efficient of the three, since almost all the energy goes directly into the cookware rather than being lost to the surrounding air or surface, and it offers heat adjustment speed closer to gas than to standard electric, since there's no physical element that needs time to heat up.
The catch: induction only works with magnetic cookware
Induction's electromagnetic heating only works with cookware made from a magnetic material — cast iron and most stainless steel work fine, but aluminum, copper, and glass cookware (unless it has a magnetic base layer built in) won't heat at all on an induction cooktop. A simple test: if a refrigerator magnet sticks firmly to the bottom of a pan, it will generally work on induction; if the magnet doesn't stick, that piece of cookware needs to be replaced or supplemented for induction use — worth checking existing cookware before switching to induction, since a full cookware replacement can be an unexpected added cost.
The one thing people forget
Check the specific electrical requirements for the cooktop type being installed, particularly for induction and higher-powered electric models, which often need a dedicated higher-voltage circuit that an existing kitchen may not already have. This is a real installation cost consideration, not just a plug-and-use appliance swap, especially when converting from gas to any electric or induction cooktop in a kitchen not previously wired for it.