Serato DJ vs BeatDiscovery
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Serato DJ
Mix music from various streaming services and your own library. This app offers professional DJ features like stem separation, extensive effects, and hardware compatibility. Transfer your Serato crates and songs directly to your mobile device.
- Stream from Apple Music, Spotify, Beatport, SoundCloud, Tidal
- Transfer Serato crates and songs to mobile
- Support for 120+ DJ hardware setups
- Real-time stem separation and Stems FX
- Over 50 built-in DJ effects
- Performance pads for cues, loops, and FX
- High-quality mix recording
Read full descriptionHide full description
Serato DJ, now on iPhone and iPad. Bring the full power of Serato DJ to every moment. Stream millions of songs on Spotify, Apple Music and more. Plug and play on 120+ hardware setups. Play out an idea the second it sparks. Go back-to-back without thinking. Soundtrack the road trip. Jump on the decks at a house party. Wherever the moment finds you, you're ready to mix. DJ WITH APPLE MUSIC, SPOTIFY, AND MORE • Stream and Mix Millions of Songs: DJ with Apple Music, Beatport, SoundCloud, Spotify, and Tidal. Log in to any of them and you're mixing from millions of songs in seconds. • DJ with Your Favorites: Your saved playlists and liked songs appear automatically in the Serato DJ app, so everything you love is ready to mix. GRAB YOUR FAVORITE CRATES TO GO • NEW Serato iOS Transfer: Bring your favorite crates and songs straight from your laptop to your iPhone or iPad. Cue points, beatgrids, and metadata all come along for the ride. • No music? We got you. We've thrown in a free music library so you can jump straight into mixing. PLUG INTO 120+ PIECES OF HARDWARE • DJ with a range of over 120 natively supported DJ controllers, turntables, mixers, and hardware. Choose from AlphaTheta, Hercules DJ, Numark, Pioneer DJ, Rane, Roland, and more. • Serato DJ for iOS covers Digital Vinyl System (DVS) setups too. If you want to scratch music, it's all there. SAME SERATO, DIFFERENT DEVICE • The same reliability you know and trust, now on mobile. Mix with virtual decks, Serato's iconic crates, and an updated library that's easier to use. • See your waveforms in horizontal, vertical and extended layouts on iPhone or iPad. EVERY PRO DJ FEATURE • Stem separation and Stems FX: Isolate vocals, drums, bass and melody in real time, and apply FX to individual stems. • 50+ Built-in FX: Stack up to 6 effects on your music at once. • 4 Channel FX: Filter, Dub Echo, Reverb or Noise for creative mixing. • Performance Pads: Trigger cue points, loops, and FX with pads that feel as responsive as the real thing. • Sampler: Load up to 8 samples into the sampler pad mode, or choose from a range of pre-loaded samples included in the app. • Cue Points & Cue Loops: Set up to 8 cue points on each of your songs for triggering phrases or track preparation. Cue points transfer straight from your Serato DJ library. • Recording: Record high-quality mixes straight to your iPhone or iPad then upload, share and play them back whenever. • PnT Key Sync & Key Shifting: Speed up or slow down your songs without losing the original key, or shift and sync a track's key to match whatever's already playing. • Quantize: Set your beatgrids, flip Quantize on, and stay locked in time, every time. Free to start. When you're ready for more, upgrade to Serato DJ Suite for Stems FX, over 50+ built-in effects, every waveform view, expanded hardware support, and more across the Serato range.
BeatDiscovery
This music production app helps producers quickly create and refine beat ideas. It offers a controlled system for generating variations using real sounds and MIDI patterns, allowing for detailed editing and seamless export to DAWs. Suitable for both beginners and professionals.
- 16-channel drum groove engine
- Sound and pattern pack switching
- Per-channel editing
- Audio effects suite
- MIDI and stem export
- Custom sample pack creation
Read full descriptionHide full description
BeatDiscovery is a professional rhythm and loop sequencer built to help producers create production ready ideas fast. This is not a DAW pretending your phone is a full studio. BeatDiscovery is built for the part of music production where speed matters most: finding the groove, shaping the rhythm, layering loops, and exporting clean ideas into your real workflow. Simply open the app, press play, and instantly hear a beat using loaded sound and pattern packs. From there, BeatDiscovery can generate endless usable variations by switching patterns, changing sounds on the fly, and letting you keep moving without starting from a blank grid. BeatDiscovery is not random generative AI. It is a controlled beat-making system that multiplies real sounds and real MIDI patterns from human-made sample packs. You stay in control while the app gives you fast ways to discover grooves you might not have made by hand. Switch sounds and patterns on the fly. Freeze the kick, hats, snare, or any sounds you like while changing others on the fly. Edit the full pattern grid, dial in individual channels, import audio loops, layer internal synth loops, and export MIDI, stems, loops, or full mixes to finish properly in your DAW. BeatDiscovery is super fun for beginners, and extremely powerful for professionals. Core features: • 16-channel drum groove engine • Sound and pattern pack switching • Change All Sounds and Change All Patterns • Complex pattern and sound combination modes • Global pattern view for editing the full beat • Per-channel editing for detailed control • Freeze channels to lock the parts you like • Pitch, truncate, swing, shift, mute, solo, half-time, and double-time controls • 9 audio effects: lo-fi, chorus, reverb, filter, amp, delay, flanger, tremolo, and phaser • Audio loops that sync to your beat • Audio loops can change key in sync • Built-in synth loops for fast melodic ideas • Generate usable chords, arpeggios, basslines, and leads • Layer multiple audio and synth loops • Save Current Beat to return to ideas later • Resume your last work in progress every time you open the app • Export drum mixes, stems, audio loops, synth loops, and MIDI for your DAW • Import BeatDiscovery sample packs • Create your own sample packs from folders of samples and MIDI patterns Whether you make trap, house, hip-hop, R&B, electronic, or experimental beats, BeatDiscovery is designed to give you a massive head start. It is fast enough for ideas on the run, but focused enough for serious production. Unlock BeatDiscovery forever with a one-time purchase, or choose Pack Pass for ongoing access to an expanded library of sample packs. Terms of Use (EULA): https://pi-99.com/terms-and-conditions Privacy Policy: https://pi-99.com/privacy-policy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: BeatDiscovery at 5.0 against Serato DJ's 3.9. BeatDiscovery also leads on ads (none vs shown) and iOS requirement (16.0 vs 18.6). Serato DJ's advantage is ratings volume (81 vs 1) and chart position (#59 vs unranked). On price, in-app purchases, monetization model and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Serato DJ sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $14.99 per month and BeatDiscovery sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
BeatDiscovery holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Serato DJ has 81 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
| Parameter | Serato DJ | BeatDiscovery |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.9 (81 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Number of ratings | 81 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | — | Weekly |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #59 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 18.6 | 16.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 681 MB | 253 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Serato Limited | YouSound Inc. |
In-app purchases
Serato DJ
- Serato DJ Suite7 Days trial$14.991 Month
- Serato DJ for iOS$149.00
BeatDiscovery
- Pack Pass$4.991 Month
- Own Forever$9.99
- Afrobeat$9.99
- Compurhythms$9.99
Show 6 moreShow fewer
- Latin Rhythms$9.99
- Rare Drums$9.99
- Scratch Beats$9.99
- Simms$9.99
- SP 303 Drums Vol. 1$9.99
- Name Trap Life Vol 2$9.99





