Traktor Pro 4 vs VirtualDJ (2026): Library, Cues, Hardware and Price

Step by step

1. 1

   Start with the hardware and the kind of gigs

   Kontrol S4 MK3, S2, S3, Z2, X1 or F1 point at Traktor; Traktor is the reason to buy them. Almost any other controller, a projector or a karaoke screen points at VirtualDJ. Club CDJs with a laptop work in Traktor over HID; VirtualDJ supports many Pioneer DJ units too, but check its list for your model.

2. 2

   Compare the cue models with your preparation habits

   Traktor: eight hotcue slots per track that cue points and saved loops share, plus grid, fade in, fade out and load markers for auto-mixing and grid anchoring. VirtualDJ: POIs of many types, far more than eight cues if you want them, plus automix and remix points and grid anchors. If eight markers is enough, Traktor is fine; if you mark every section of a long edit or set automix points across a wedding playlist, VirtualDJ has more room.

3. 3

   List the performance and event features you would use

   Traktor: Remix Decks, Stems, the Pattern Player, flexible beat grids, a deep effects rack and four full decks. VirtualDJ: video mixing, karaoke with rotation lists, Automix, a sampler with video samples, Stems, broadcasting, and skins that rebuild the interface around your workflow. Live-remix club DJs tick Traktor's list; mobile and event DJs tick VirtualDJ's.

4. 4

   Compare licensing for the way you would pay

   Traktor Pro 4 is a perpetual licence with paid upgrades between major versions, often bundled with Kontrol hardware, with DVS included; there is no free tier beyond a demo. VirtualDJ is free for home use, and professional controllers need Home Plus (per controller, monthly), a Pro subscription, or the perpetual Pro Infinity licence with lifetime updates. Check current pricing on both sites.

5. 5

   Migrate a copy and rehearse on it

   Install the other app, run it once, then convert a copy of your collection with MixGoat's Migrate Library (free). Going to VirtualDJ, open it and load a few tracks: cues appear on first load. Going to Traktor, open it or import the written collection.nml under Preferences → File Management. Play a full set on the new app and keep the old one installed for a month.

Library and cue model: collection.nml versus database.xml

Traktor Pro 4 stores the entire collection in collection.nml, a single XML file in Documents/Native Instruments/Traktor 4.x.x: tracks, analysis results, cue points, playlists and the folder tree. Each track has eight hotcue slots that cue points and saved loops share, and Traktor also records marker types that no other app has: grid markers anchoring the beat grid, fade in and fade out points used by its auto-mixing, and a load marker. Key is stored as a number and displayed as Open Key (1m to 12m, 1d to 12d), the notation Traktor introduced, or as musical names.

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 MyLists. Each Song element carries Tags, Infos, Scan data (BPM, key, grid) and POI entries: cue, saved loop, beat grid anchor, automix in and out, and remix points, each with a name, position and colour. VirtualDJ also writes a database.xml on every external drive that holds tracks, so a drive of music opened on another VirtualDJ machine brings its cues along. Skins can change the layout, deck count and controls of the whole interface.

Hardware and where each app is used

Traktor is built around Native Instruments' Kontrol hardware: the S4 MK3 with motorised haptic jog wheels, the S2 and S3, the Z2 mixer, the X1 and F1 modules and the X1 MK3 and Z1 MK2 refreshes. It drives CDJ-2000NXS2 and CDJ-3000 in HID mode, and Traktor Scratch DVS runs timecode through supported interfaces. Its users are mostly club and festival DJs playing house, techno and live-remix sets from a laptop.

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 and video output to a second screen or projector. That makes it the default for mobile, wedding, bar and radio DJs. It appears in some clubs, usually with a resident's own controller. Neither VirtualDJ nor Traktor can prepare the Rekordbox USB a CDJ booth expects.

Price and licensing as of 2026

Traktor Pro 4 is sold as a perpetual licence with discounted upgrades from Pro 3 and earlier, and it is frequently bundled with Kontrol hardware. Native Instruments has also offered a Traktor Pro Plus subscription on top of the base licence, and the split between the two has moved between releases; check the current lineup.

VirtualDJ is free for home use with a keyboard, mouse or 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 covering everything, and Pro Infinity is a perpetual licence with lifetime updates. Check current pricing before you decide.

What transfers between Traktor and VirtualDJ

Traktor imports only collection.nml files and VirtualDJ does not read them, so the move goes through a converter. MixGoat's Library Migration reads the newest Traktor collection.nml or VirtualDJ's database.xml and writes the other side free, saving the target file to .bak first. On the VirtualDJ side it matches existing tracks by file path and adds POIs to the existing entry instead of creating a duplicate.

What moves: playlists with folder nesting (Traktor's tree to and from MyLists), hot cues with names and colours, saved loops, beat grids, key converted between Traktor's numeric or Open Key values and VirtualDJ's notation, ratings normalised from Traktor's 0 to 255 scale to VirtualDJ's 0 to 5 stars and back, track colour, comments, play count, and the text metadata. Traktor's grid, fade in, fade out and load markers are Traktor-internal and are not migrated as cues; VirtualDJ's remix POIs are skipped so they do not duplicate cues, and its automix points have no Traktor equivalent. Going to Traktor, a VirtualDJ track with more than eight cues and loops combined fills the shared slots and the rest do not fit. Cues in VirtualDJ appear when a track is first loaded. The full procedure and gotchas are at mixgoat.com/guides/switch-dj-software-without-losing-cue-points, with direction notes on mixgoat.com/migrate/traktor-to-virtualdj and mixgoat.com/migrate/virtualdj-to-traktor.

Frequently asked questions

Does VirtualDJ have Remix Decks or a Pattern Player?

Not as such. VirtualDJ has a sampler with pads and video samples and a Stems engine, but Traktor's Remix Decks (sample grids that play as decks C and D) and the Pattern Player drum sequencer have no direct VirtualDJ counterpart.

Can I import my Traktor collection into VirtualDJ?

Yes, with a converter. MixGoat migrates playlists, hot cues, loops, grids, key, ratings, colours and comments into database.xml free. Traktor's grid, fade and load markers stay behind, and cues show up when a track is first loaded in VirtualDJ.

Does Traktor work with CDJs and Pioneer controllers?

CDJ-2000NXS2 and CDJ-3000 work in HID mode, and older players work over MIDI or as DVS decks. Pioneer DJ controllers generally need a MIDI mapping in Traktor rather than a native one; VirtualDJ ships native mappings for most of them.

Is VirtualDJ used in clubs?

In some, mainly by residents with their own controller or DVS, and very widely in bars, lounges and events. Traktor has more presence in club and festival booths among laptop DJs, and neither app can prepare a Rekordbox USB.

Which has the better licence, Traktor or VirtualDJ?

Both offer a way to buy once: Traktor Pro 4's perpetual licence and VirtualDJ's Pro Infinity. VirtualDJ also has a free home tier and monthly plans per controller; Traktor has none. Which is cheaper depends on your controller and how many upgrades you buy, so check current pricing.