{"id":162,"date":"2026-05-27T00:11:06","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T07:11:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mystixa.com\/blog\/?p=162"},"modified":"2026-05-27T00:11:44","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T07:11:44","slug":"choosing-the-best-dj-software-for-twitch-pt-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mystixa.com\/blog\/2026\/05\/27\/choosing-the-best-dj-software-for-twitch-pt-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Choosing the Best DJ Software for Twitch pt. 2"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

aaaaannnnd we’re back. <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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So now we’ve rounded up the list of software we’re looking to choose from whats the next step? Well first thing is to look around and see what you’ve got, then look ahead to decide what you want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you have any gear already that you want to use? Did you run into a deal on a particular controller that got you to thinking about starting up? How big is the mountain of cash that you want to be spending on getting into this? And remember this is before even knowing that you’ll like it<\/em> long term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you have hardware already, then the hardware compatibility list for each app will be important to look at right at the start. Budget aside I wouldn’t make this your only consideration, but its good to at least look. As I was looking to get started livestreaming I had a few different options on hand to use. I had turntables but not a lot of vinyl to use, old CD players but not that many CDs to use. I had a Traktor controller deck but didn’t know of anyone using it on Twitch at the time. I ended up going with a new Controller that came with a license to Serato (and Engine).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now we get to the looking forward toward what you want. If you’re getting into livestreaming strictly as a hobby, with deep pockets, zero cares about how many viewers you get, and no concerns about potential income your concerns will differ from someone with different goals. Being honest with yourself are you going to be happy with streaming only to yourself and a few random friends that stayed up late that weekend? Do you like pushing yourself to do better? Do you want to maybe play an open deck somewhere or Do you even wanna take a shot at being in clubs and festivals someday? !<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“the Industry Standard”: Clubs & Festivals<\/strong> vs Twitch <\/strong>etc<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Ask a lot (not all) of DJs what to go with and most of the time you will be told “Just go with Pioneer Rekordbox. Its the industry standard.<\/strong>” They’ll say that assuming the only way into DJing for you is through borrowing someone elses gear and playing at a local club. And to be fair for those wanting to join that 1 group its decent advice. ..but not everyone wants that, and there are a lot more possible paths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you do want to play bars and festivals as a goal or even “if you win the lottery” then yes Pioneer’s Rekordbox should be the one you look at really hard. Almost any bar, festival or open deck where you might be using someone else’s gear (few people bring their own mixing gear to a these kinds of gigs) you’re likely to find a set of Pioneer CDJs. So you may as well get comfortable with them from the start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are other ways<\/em> to get mixing and places where it works to be bringing your own decks. Underground DJing, livestreaming, wedding and event DJs, getting a residency of your own, and just playing for yourself family and friends. With those other paths, choice of gear\/software opens up a lot more. Really the ground level basics are the same on all the platforms. Its the advanced techniques where they differ. Once you get the basics down on any modern setup its not a huge amount of learning to get to basic competence on one of the others with some time to prepare. Note that I said ‘basic competence’ you won’t be AS good on the new setup for a while.

Knowledge of your music and being able to recognize an infectious groove to play the right song at the right time is the fundamental skill. ..and that doesnt come from your software choice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mountain of cash you say?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Lets take a look at the cost. Its a bit tricky when you don’t know what you’re looking for. Going off of what your own on the websites can be really misleading. Especially with AI listickles<\/a> muddying up any searches you might do. Go the wrong direction and you can easily spend $500 or more beyond wehat is necessary to do the same thing. Remember as Virtual DJ says right on their pricing page: “The VirtualDJ license system is very simple:<\/strong>” immediately before showing a 34 row 5 column comparison matrix. \ud83e\udd26\u200d\u2642\ufe0f<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Platform<\/strong><\/th>Free Tier<\/strong><\/th>One-Time<\/strong><\/th>Subscription<\/strong><\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Serato DJ Pro<\/a><\/td>Lite (limited)<\/td>$249 one-time (basics)
$449 (DJ Suite)
Hardware Unlocks with some Decks<\/td>		$12\/month (basics)
$15\/month (DJ Suite tools)<\/td><\/tr>
Rekordbox<\/a><\/td>Limited free tools<\/td>\u274c None<\/td>$11-36\/month tiers<\/td><\/tr>
VirtualDJ<\/a><\/td>Only avail. on laptop, not with DJ hardware like controllers<\/td>$299 lifetime<\/td>$4\/month (only on low end gear)
$19\/month<\/td><\/tr>
Traktor Pro<\/a><\/td>\u274c None<\/td>$149 lifetime (can find it 50% off sometimes)<\/td>\u274c None<\/td><\/tr>
djay Pro<\/a>
(Price not disclosed on their website only after install of the trial. Not a good practice IMO.)<\/td>		Limited free version<\/td>\u274c None<\/td>$7\/month<\/td><\/tr>
Engine DJ<\/a><\/td>\u274c None<\/td>Included with Hardware<\/td>\u274c None<\/td><\/tr>
Mixxx<\/a><\/td>Completely free<\/td>\u274c None<\/td>\u274c None<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Firstly, don’t just look down the cost column there and believe the lowest price is the best value. Do that and you might not even get what you want out of it and then end up paying even more later. Some of these price structures aren’t there to be clear, but to entice you into the eco-system. Further complicating things, some controllers come with licenses for the software or trigger different price tiers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I put the last column there for completeness, but I don’t even consider subscriptions as valid for my own use outside of maybe a few months to test drive the full product. …if the trial isn’t long enough for you. In my case even paying for the full Serato DJ Suite Ive long since passed the point where I’d be paying more for it now if I would have been on the subscription plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

xtra details to look out for<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Pioneer<\/strong> Rekordbox<\/strong>:<\/mark> Licensing for RB is a mess. Some things don’t cost, others are unlocked with hardware, still others are subscription only. Also what you save in purchase price on the software you pay for in the hardware generally. Yes you can get in on the base level with something like a FLX4 at $300, thats not a bad idea. But when someone is talking to you about ‘The Industry Standard’ they’re not talking about that. The standard is 2 to 4 CDJ-3000Xs and a DJM-V10 mixer. Each of the 3000Xs will run you $3k and the mixer $3.8k. So $10-$16k to have a set of your own. Their flagship controller the XDJ-AZ runs $3500. Each step down the ladder from the top of the line gets you further away from the feel of ‘industry standard’ that is often the main selling point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Free is limited to library management like moving tracks to USBs, tagging, and playlisting tracks (Export mode), and Performance Mode (as in playing music) from your computer not DJ hardware. The library management is available in all the higher modes as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full Performance Mode (what we need for actually DJing) and other specialty modes like DVS , Lighting , and Edit are all available with different hardware unlocks and of course subscriptions. Look for what modes you gain access to with a hardware purchase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Serato:<\/strong> <\/mark>They can be tricky in their own right. Hows that? Well top shelf Pro controllers that come with Serato DJ Pro (SDJP) like the Denon Prime 4+ come in a lot cheaper than the above even with all the bells and whistles. The good Pro controllers like that even come with a SDJP activation that licenses the upgraded software without having to pay for that lifetime license. Their gotchas are in the xtras.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are also controllers that come with an activation for Serato DJ Lite. While thats fine to get up and running, its too limiting to be a long term solution for most people. Also most of the Pro decks are just have better build quality and don’t cost vastly different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you get into it you may find yourself wanting things like Pitch ‘n Time, Video, Flip, more filters, etc. All those come as addons. If you’re using the license from a pro deck, or if you’ve upgraded yourself from Lite. Maybe your controller didn’t come with anything more than that? Well then they’ll push you towards that $15\/month sub. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can buy the extras as an addon, but IMO do not do this<\/strong>. Its $350 or a monthly sub to get the addons, and useless without SDJP. So if\/when your pro controller dies you can’t just get any backup solution, you have to find another one with that license. Maybe get the sub for a few months to see if you’ll use it. If you find you do want to go with Serato, buy the full Serato DJ Suite at $450. Yes its pricey, but as I noted above its the better way to go over time. New this month SDJ Suite now comes with Serato Studio, their standalone music editing software which can be handy for making edits and such.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Traktor:<\/mark><\/strong> Do you like Native Instruments hardware like the S4? Do you already own some of their production software like Komplete? These are the main reasons I think to go with Traktor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Never buy their hardware without reading up on their licensing as well. Yes a used S3 or S4 can be gotten used from Ebay for a song. ..but the serial numbers are locked to NI hardware purchase’s account. So the software license it talks about on the box, if the buyer doesnt transfer it to you, you’re cooked. And most on Ebay or other used sites won’t unless its explicitly mentioned in the ad. On the plus side if you find you like Traktor pretty much every year for ages they put in on sale once or twice for 50%. Patience can really pay off here.

The parent company Native Instruments just got purchased by InMusic who owns Denon and many other pro music brands. So there may be many developments in the coming years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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VirtualDJ<\/strong>:<\/mark> Its not cheap, especially since pretty much no one uses it in a pro status that I’ve ever met. (Im sure someone does but its def. not something they can claim as a major selling point.) The pricing structure takes some getting used to. Their ‘home use’ free option is a bit misleading, they define that as playing on your laptop without a controller (not really valid IMO). The subscription costs vary by what controller you have. You only qualify for the lower subcscription cost with bottom of the line hardware, otherwise its the full price for you. They do have some interesting tech, and its pretty but I’m not sure they bring value equivalent to the price tag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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DJayPro<\/strong>: <\/mark>TBH I don’t think of this as a good option beyond playing around with on mobile devices. I know they are trying to show its capable of pro level performance, and I don’t dispute that especially with how powerful modern mobile hardware has gotten in recent years. But it is Subscription only, and thats a no go for anyone being a professional. A pro in any trade shouldn’t rent their tools and have the ongoing access to that tool dependent on an outside company. Should DJP decide they don’t want to go on, make a bad financial decision one year, get bought out they can disappear at any time and your practice and expertise with their tool then becomes a casualty of their choices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That said it is capable, good looking, and relatively affordable. The $7 sub price isn’t too bad for an entertainment cost. So having this as an xtra beyond your daily driver for travel or backup purposes I can see as a valid idea for those less allergic to subscriptions than I am.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Engine DJ:<\/strong> <\/mark>Well, its not really got a cost by itself as its only available embedded within hardware from Denon, Rane, and Numark. So if you like that hardware enough to stick with it long term and aren’t too worried about interoperability go for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Mixxx:<\/mark><\/strong> And here theres really nothing to say on price for Mixxx. In this case its a good thing because, well, its free! Can’t beat that price as long as you can get your hardware to work. They have a long list <\/a>of compatible hardware, but not all things get added even from the major hardware makers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For some examples my Traktor Kontrol S3, Pioneer FLX4, and Denon MCX8000 are not in their list of pre-installed hardware. In those cases in traditional open-source fashion you can head to their forums and look for MIDI mapping configurations to get your gear to work. Its a bit fiddly but they do have forum posts about all of them mine for example and I did get my S3 working with it after a 1\/2 hour or so. Good for tinkering on if nothing else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shopping Sorted<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Well there ya go. Thats more specific pricing and eco-system information than Ive seen gathered together in one place. Reading something like this would have saved me countless hours of comparison shopping, and a few needless purchases. Hopefully this post along with others in the series can put you in a better place to find what you want right from the start. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Theres still more to come! See ya then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

aaaaannnnd we’re back. So now we’ve rounded up the list of software we’re looking to choose from whats the next step? Well first thing is to look around and see what you’ve got, then look ahead to decide what you want. Do you have any gear already that you want to use? Did you run…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":175,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9,7],"tags":[20,16],"class_list":["post-162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-djing","category-music","tag-dj-software","tag-twitch"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mystixa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mystixa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mystixa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mystixa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mystixa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=162"}],"version-history":[{"count":30,"href":"https:\/\/mystixa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":202,"href":"https:\/\/mystixa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162\/revisions\/202"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mystixa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/175"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mystixa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mystixa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mystixa.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}