Rekordbox vs VirtualDJ (2026): Library, Cues, Hardware and Price

Step by step

1. 1

   Decide where you play and what is already in the booth

   Club DJ on CDJs from USB: Rekordbox, no discussion. Mobile or bar DJ bringing your own controller, laptop and possibly a screen or projector: VirtualDJ runs on almost any controller, mixes video and handles karaoke, and Rekordbox does not cover that ground as broadly. If you do both, most DJs keep Rekordbox for the stick and VirtualDJ for the laptop rig.

2. 2

   Compare the cue and library models to your habits

   Rekordbox: eight hot cues on pads A to H, memory cues you scroll through on a player, loops, phrases, playlists and intelligent playlists, all in one database. VirtualDJ: POIs on each track that cover cues, saved loops, beat grid anchors, automix and remix points, with far more than eight cues per track if you want them, plus MyLists, filter folders and virtual folders. If memory cues are your preparation method, Rekordbox; if you want many cues, automix points and video attached to tracks, VirtualDJ.

3. 3

   Weigh the performance and event features

   VirtualDJ brings video and karaoke mixing, a sampler with video samples, Stems separation built in, Automix, broadcasting and a skin system that can turn the interface into two, four or six decks with any layout. Rekordbox brings the club workflow: phrase analysis, Related Tracks, stems in version 7, Ableton Link, and Video and Lyric packs on the higher tiers. Tick what your gigs actually need; a wedding DJ's list and a techno DJ's list barely overlap.

4. 4

   Price the licence for your gear

   Rekordbox is free for USB export and for Performance mode with Pioneer DJ hardware, with Core, Creative and Professional subscriptions above that. VirtualDJ is free for home use with no pro controller, and using a controller professionally needs Home Plus (a per-controller licence), a Pro subscription or the perpetual Pro Infinity licence. Both companies change prices and bundles, so check current pricing and count what you would pay for the hardware you own.

5. 5

   Try the other app on your own library first

   Install the second app, run it once, then migrate a copy with MixGoat's Migrate Library (free). Going to VirtualDJ, open it and play a few tracks: cues load when a track is first loaded. Going to Rekordbox, enable rekordbox xml under Preferences → Advanced → Database and import the playlists. Play a real set from the new app before you retire the old one.

Library and cue model: master.db versus database.xml

Rekordbox 7 stores the whole collection in master.db, an encrypted SQLite database in Library/Pioneer/rekordbox (macOS) or AppData/Roaming/Pioneer/rekordbox (Windows). Hot cues A to H, memory cues, loops, beat grids, phrase markers, My Tags, playlists and intelligent playlists live in it, and rekordbox.xml is an export and import format generated on request. Export mode writes the Device Library a CDJ reads onto a USB stick, which is the reason the app exists.

VirtualDJ 2025 stores its library in database.xml, in Documents/VirtualDJ on Windows and Library/Application Support/VirtualDJ on macOS, with playlists as files in the MyLists folder. Every track is a Song element with Tags, Infos, Scan (BPM, key, grid) and a list of POI entries: cue points, saved loops, beat grid anchors, automix in and out points and remix points, each with a name, position, type and colour. VirtualDJ also writes a database.xml onto every external drive that holds tracks, so a USB stick of music carries its own cues to another VirtualDJ machine, which is its answer to Rekordbox's Export mode.

Hardware and where each app is used

Rekordbox owns the club. CDJ-2000NXS2, CDJ-3000 and XDJ players read its USB export and share it over Pro DJ Link, so a touring DJ arrives with a stick and plays with every cue and loop as prepared. Performance mode covers Pioneer DJ controllers and DVS through DJM mixers, and Rekordbox with a DDJ controller is a common home setup for DJs aiming at the club.

VirtualDJ has the broadest controller list of any DJ app, with native mappings for hundreds of units from Pioneer DJ, Denon DJ, Numark, Hercules, Reloop, Roland and others, plus DVS with timecode and video output to a second screen or projector. That breadth, together with video and karaoke, makes it the default for mobile, wedding, bar and restaurant DJs and for anyone who needs to plug into whatever gear a venue has. It is used in some clubs and by radio and broadcast DJs, but the house-and-techno club circuit runs on Rekordbox USBs.

Price and licensing as of 2026

Rekordbox is sold in subscription tiers: Free for Export mode and for Performance mode with Pioneer DJ hardware attached, then Core, Creative and Professional, which add DVS on other hardware, Cloud Library Sync and the Video and Lyric packs. Most USB-only club DJs stay on Free.

VirtualDJ is free for home use with a keyboard, mouse or a non-professional controller. Professional controllers need a paid licence: Home Plus unlocks one controller at a time on a monthly plan, Pro is a monthly or annual subscription for everything, and Pro Infinity is a perpetual licence with lifetime updates. The perpetual option has kept many working mobile DJs on VirtualDJ for years. Check current pricing on virtualdj.com and rekordbox.com, and look at whether your controller is on VirtualDJ's supported list before buying.

What transfers between Rekordbox and VirtualDJ

Neither app imports the other's library directly, so the move goes through a converter. MixGoat's Library Migration reads master.db by following Rekordbox's own database pointer, or reads database.xml, and writes the other side free, after saving a .bak copy of the target file. On the VirtualDJ side it matches existing tracks by file path and adds POIs to them rather than creating duplicate entries.

What moves: playlists with folder nesting (MyLists on the VirtualDJ side), hot cues with names and colours, loops, beat grids, key converted between the notations each app displays, ratings (both apps are already on a 0 to 5 star scale; Rekordbox stores its stars as stepped 0 to 255 values internally), track colour, comments, play count, and the text metadata. VirtualDJ remix POIs are skipped so they do not duplicate cues. Memory cues are Rekordbox-only: going to VirtualDJ they become ordinary cue POIs (VirtualDJ has room for them), and coming to Rekordbox you choose whether VirtualDJ cues land as hot or memory cues. Cues in VirtualDJ appear when a track is first loaded after migration. The general procedure and gotchas are at mixgoat.com/guides/switch-dj-software-without-losing-cue-points, with direction notes on mixgoat.com/migrate/rekordbox-to-virtualdj and mixgoat.com/migrate/virtualdj-to-rekordbox.

Frequently asked questions

Is VirtualDJ used in clubs?

Sometimes, mostly by resident DJs bringing a controller or using DVS, and in bars and lounges very often. Club booths built around CDJs expect a Rekordbox USB, which VirtualDJ cannot prepare, so touring DJs on the club circuit use Rekordbox.

Can VirtualDJ export a USB stick that a CDJ reads with cues?

No. Only Rekordbox writes the Device Library that CDJs and XDJs read. VirtualDJ can copy music to a stick and writes its own database.xml on it, but the player will treat it as plain files without cues.

Can I import my Rekordbox playlists and cues into VirtualDJ?

Yes, through a converter. MixGoat migrates playlists, hot cues, memory cues (as cue POIs), loops, grids, key, ratings, colours and comments into database.xml free. Cues show up when you first load each track in VirtualDJ.

Does VirtualDJ have memory cues?

Not as a separate type. VirtualDJ has cue POIs, and you can set many more than eight per track, so Rekordbox memory cues have room to land as regular cues. They will not scroll on a CDJ's cue buttons, because that behaviour is a Pioneer player feature.

Is Rekordbox or VirtualDJ better for weddings and mobile gigs?

VirtualDJ, for most mobile DJs: video and karaoke, Automix, the sampler, broadcasting and support for nearly any controller, with a perpetual licence option. Rekordbox works fine with Pioneer DJ controllers but has no karaoke and needs the Video pack for visuals.