Choose rekordbox if you play, or want to play, Pioneer DJ and AlphaTheta club gear, because it is the only one of the two that exports a library to a USB stick for CDJs and XDJs, and its Free plan covers that. Choose Serato DJ Pro if you scratch or play on turntables and battle mixers, or if your controller unlocks it, because its hardware list is wider and more of it unlocks the full program free; many controllers unlock both, so check the hardware page before paying for either.
Which one for which DJ
- You play club gear from USB, or want to: rekordbox. Pioneer DJ and AlphaTheta players read a library that rekordbox writes to a USB stick or SD card, in its Device Library and newer OneLibrary formats (rekordbox USB export). Export mode is in rekordbox's Free plan, so preparing for CDJs costs nothing. Serato can play on CDJs only with a laptop connected, over USB in HID mode or through DVS. See what a CDJ is and how to organise music in rekordbox.
- You scratch on turntables or a battle mixer: Serato DJ Pro. Battle mixers from Pioneer DJ, Rane and Numark are built around Serato first; the DJM-S7 and DJM-S11 unlock both programs with DVS, but reviewers of the S11 find its rekordbox support lags Serato's, and the Rane Seventy runs Serato and VirtualDJ only. The guide to digital vinyl systems covers the setup.
- Your controller unlocks one of them: use that one. Both programs are free with hardware that unlocks them, and the hardware page says which. A DDJ-FLX4 unlocks rekordbox Performance mode and Serato DJ Lite; a DDJ-FLX10 or DDJ-REV7 unlocks rekordbox and Serato DJ Pro. Controllers from Numark, Rane, Hercules and Reloop unlock Serato; rekordbox's compatible list is Pioneer DJ and AlphaTheta hardware only.
- You want to learn on a laptop alone: either. rekordbox's Free plan runs Performance mode with the mouse and keyboard, with 16 hot cues and stems; Serato DJ Lite and Pro have a Practice Mode that mixes two tracks without hardware. Neither records a mix on its free tier without hardware that unlocks it.
- You want video, lighting or cloud sync: rekordbox has them in its plans, Serato as expansions. rekordbox puts video in its Creative plan, lighting editing in Core and above, and cloud library sync in Creative, Professional or any plan with the Cloud Option. Serato sells video as an expansion and has no lighting or cloud library.
Serato DJ Pro and rekordbox compared
| Serato DJ Pro | rekordbox | |
|---|---|---|
| Made by | Serato | AlphaTheta, the Pioneer DJ company |
| Current version | 4.0.10 | 7.2.19, released 24 September 2026 |
| Runs on | Mac and Windows | Windows 10 and 11; macOS 13 to 26; an AVX2 processor and 8 GB of memory, 16 GB for stems |
| Phone and tablet app | None | rekordbox for iOS and Android, free to start, with in-app subscriptions |
| Free edition | Serato DJ Lite: free, no licence, over 50 controllers, fewer cue points than Pro's eight, 4 sampler slots, 6 FX presets, stems, no recording | Free plan: Export mode, library management, mouse-and-keyboard Performance mode, 16 hot cues, stems; no hardware control, DVS or recording without a Hardware Unlock device |
| Paid tiers | Serato DJ Pro: one-off licence or monthly subscription. Serato DJ Suite: Pro plus every expansion (DVS, Club Kit, Video, Pitch 'n Time DJ, Play, FX, Flip, Studio) | Core, Creative and Professional subscriptions, monthly or yearly, each with an optional Cloud Option; Core runs on 3 computers, Creative 4, Professional 8 |
| Hardware that unlocks it free | Over 100 pieces of hardware for Pro, over 50 for Lite, from Pioneer DJ, Rane, Numark, Hercules, Reloop, Roland, Denon DJ and others; each hardware page carries a Pro or Lite badge, or "Paid upgrade" | About 44 Pioneer DJ and AlphaTheta units on the Hardware Unlock list: Performance mode free with all of them; DVS free with the DJM mixers, PLX-CRSS12, DDJ-XP2 and INTERFACE 2; Lighting free with the DDJ-FLX10 and RB-DMX1 |
| Other brands' controllers | Only hardware on Serato's list runs it; secondary MIDI controllers can be mapped alongside | MIDI Learn maps other controllers, on Core and above or with a Hardware Unlock device |
| Turntables and CDJs (DVS) | Serato DVS expansion, included in Suite; some mixers unlock it free; CDJs in HID mode need Pro, in DVS mode Suite | DVS control on Core and above, or free with a Hardware Unlock device that lists it; AlphaTheta's own control vinyl |
| Export to USB for club players | No | Yes, in every plan including Free; Device Library and OneLibrary formats |
| Stems | Serato Stems in Lite and Pro (vocals, melody, bass, drums); Stems FX in Pro | Three stems (drums, vocals, instruments) in every plan |
| Streaming | Apple Music, Beatport, SoundCloud, Spotify, Tidal; streamed tracks can't be recorded | Beatport, SoundCloud and TIDAL among them, varying by country |
| Video | Serato Video expansion | Creative and Professional plans |
| Lighting | No | Lighting mode: edit scenes on Core and above; DMX output via DDJ-FLX10, RB-DMX1 or ENTTEC interfaces |
| Cloud library | No | Cloud Library Sync on Core, Creative and Professional; Dropbox storage included only with Professional (5 TB) or the Cloud Option (1 TB); 1,000 tracks on Free with owner registration or Hardware Unlock |
Sources: Serato's Pro, Lite, pricing, expansions, hardware and download pages; rekordbox's plans, Hardware Unlock, compatible units, USB export, mobile, download and FAQ pages. All read on 13 October 2026.
How the hardware unlocks work
Both companies give the software away with hardware, but the rules differ.
Serato sorts its hardware into groups, and each hardware page on serato.com shows which: hardware that unlocks Serato DJ Pro when plugged in, hardware that unlocks Serato DJ Lite and can be upgraded to Pro with a licence or subscription, and "Paid upgrade" hardware, mainly club mixers, that needs a licence before it works at all. Serato's Pro page adds that club mixers, DVS and turntables or CDJs in DVS mode need Serato DJ Suite, CDJs in HID mode need Pro, and owners of paid-upgrade hardware who haven't used Pro before may get a 14-day Suite trial. Which Pro features Lite lacks is in Serato DJ Lite vs Pro, and the Serato DJ Pro page covers the rest.
rekordbox calls its version Hardware Unlock. Connect a listed Pioneer DJ or AlphaTheta device and rekordbox's FAQ says "you can use it to control PERFORMANCE mode without subscribing to a paid plan"; recording, MIDI learn and sample scratch come with it. Which extra functions unlock depends on the device: the Hardware Unlock table gives DVS to the DJM mixers (DJM-S7, DJM-S11, DJM-450, DJM-750MK2, DJM-250MK2, DJM-A9, DJM-V10, DJM-V5), the PLX-CRSS12, DDJ-XP2 and INTERFACE 2, and lighting to the DDJ-FLX10 and RB-DMX1, while controllers such as the DDJ-FLX4, DDJ-FLX10, DDJ-REV7 and DDJ-800 unlock Performance mode only. Players and all-in-one systems from the CDJ-3000 to the XDJ-AZ unlock Performance mode too. Video output on the Free and Core plans carries a caution message. The rekordbox explainer and rekordbox tips go further.
What else to weigh
- Your library lives in one of them. Cue points, loops, beatgrids and playlists sit in each program's database, so switching later means bringing that work across; try an import with a few tracks before you move a whole library. How to organise music in rekordbox and the Serato tips cover each library.
- Which controllers you can choose from. Serato's list runs to over 100 pieces of hardware across most brands; rekordbox's is Pioneer DJ and AlphaTheta only, plus anything you map yourself with MIDI Learn. The best Serato controllers and the best DJ controllers are picked by situation.
- Older hardware. rekordbox 7 needs an AVX2 processor and macOS 13 or Windows 10 at least (its download page lists the requirements), and Serato's hardware pages say which discontinued hardware still runs, so an old laptop or controller may hold you to an older version of either.
- You can run both. Many Pioneer DJ controllers and the DJM battle mixers unlock both programs, so nothing stops you preparing USB sticks in rekordbox and playing in Serato. For Traktor, djay, VirtualDJ and Mixxx, see the best DJ software, what Traktor is and what VirtualDJ is.
How this page is made
Every feature, plan and hardware detail here comes from Serato's and rekordbox's own product, support and download pages, read on 13 October 2026 and linked where they are used. Both companies move features between tiers with new versions, so their plan and hardware pages have the current list. Where reviewers' views are mentioned, they come from the opinion records on the linked product pages. We haven't tested either program for this page. The methodology explains how the site works.
