Serato DJ Lands on iPhone Free, but the Full App Costs $149

Serato DJ Suite subscribers, at $14.99 a month, already get the paid iPhone and iPad version at no extra cost.

Serato's DJ software now runs on an iPhone or iPad, with turntable support and more than 120 controllers, and the download costs nothing.

Serato released Serato DJ for iOS on Tuesday alongside version 5.0 of its laptop app, according to the company's announcement as published by the music-tech site Sonicstate. The Verge reported that no earlier Serato phone app carried most of what the company's flagship laptop software does. The free download is the sampler, though: recording, turntable control and half the cue points sit behind a paywall, and DJ Suite subscribers already have the paid version.

Serato got here late. Its earlier mobile app, Pyro, mostly added automatic fades between songs in a playlist, The Verge noted. Rivals Rekordbox and Algoriddim have offered real mobile DJ apps for some time.

The turntablist A-Trak, who appears in Serato's launch campaign, answered that on Serato's product page: "There are other iOS apps for DJing, but they aren't Serato."

That pitch is aimed at people who already own a Serato library. A feature called iOS Transfer moves songs and crates from Serato DJ Pro or DJ Lite on a laptop to the phone over Wi-Fi, AirDrop or a cable. Serato says cue points, beatgrids and track details make the trip intact.

Here's how the three tiers compare on Serato's pricing page, as published Oct. 20:

• Price: Free is $0. Buy is $149 once, for the iPhone and iPad app only. Subscribe is $14.99 a month for DJ Suite, which adds Serato DJ Pro, every DJ Pro expansion and Serato Studio.
• Cue points, cue loops, sample slots and Pad FX: four each on Free, eight each on either paid tier.
• Effects and stems: basic on Free; advanced on paid, including Stems FX and more than 60 effects.
• Waveforms: horizontal only on Free; horizontal, vertical and extended on paid.
• Recording, DVS turntable control, advanced pad modes and Day Mode: paid tiers only.
• Sync, key analysis and Pitch 'n Time: all three tiers.
• Hardware: some controllers work on Free; others need a paid tier, and Serato's hardware list marks which.

Read down those rows and the free tier is a practice pad. Anyone who scratches on control vinyl or wants a recording of the set is paying, because both features are locked.

Between the paid options, the arithmetic is short. Ten months of the subscription costs $149.90, 90 cents more than the license, and the subscription also covers the laptop software. Serato offers a seven-day free trial of the paid features before a Suite subscription starts. Canceling later drops the app back to the free tier.

The expensive mistake is paying $149 for something already in your account. Active DJ Suite subscribers and DJ Suite license holders get the paid iOS app at no extra cost, Serato says, and the company sells that Suite outright for $499. Licenses activate through a one-time online sign-in, so log in with the account that holds the Suite before tapping buy.

Serato's own fine print carries a few more limits. Recording works only with music stored on the device, not tracks streamed from Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, SoundCloud or Beatport. Bluetooth hardware and CDJs in HID mode aren't supported, and the company steers CDJ users to DVS instead.

Custom MIDI mapping, Ableton Link, Serato Video and Serato Flip stay on the laptop, so the hardware list is the whole list. Some older controllers may need an adapter, The Verge reported. There's no Android version.

Serato's setup page recommends an iPhone 15, a 2020 iPad Air or a 2022 iPad. Either way, it wants iOS 26 or later, 2GB free and a USB-C to USB-C cable.

The last warning is the most phone-shaped one. An incoming call or notification can interrupt a set, Serato cautions. Its fix is to switch on Do Not Disturb or a Focus mode, with calls allowed from no one, before the first track drops.

Source: The Verge, retrieved October 21, 2026. Other sources: sonicstate.com, serato.com, serato.com (2), serato.com (3).