Best Serato DJ Controllers For 2025

We’ve put these roughly in price order, from highest to lowest – that doesn’t necessarily indicate “best to worst” though, so read the reviews to decide what suits your purposes the best – we recommend them all. Also note that we’ve not included “all-in-one” units that can work with or without a laptop – these are strictly controllers, ie units that need a laptop attached to work properly.

Rane Performer

This is quite simply the best Serato DJ controller that’s ever been made. The Rane Performer has the best jogwheels, fully motorised with in-display waveforms and other information. It has the most built-in effects. Its build quality is incredible. It has replaceable tension-adjustable faders, and offers extensive control over stems. In short, it offers a stupendous number of features – at a price, of course. If you want the absolute best, especially if you’re into scratching, this is the one to go for.

UNLOCKS: Serato DJ Pro PITCH’N TIME SUPPLIED? Yes

✅ Truly feature-packed and designed to tightly mirror all the best features of the software
✅ Innovative motorised jogwheels offer central displays
❌ Might be too big and heavy for some

Price: $1999 / £1999 / €2095
Our rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Full review: Rane Performer Review
Find out more: Rane website

Pioneer DJ DDJ-REV7

Pioneer DJ’s DDJ-REV7 is a first for the company, in that Pioneer DJ has never released a motorised platter DJ controller before. And they’ve done a great job – this is a scratch DJ’s dream, giving the closest thing in a controller to two turntables and a DJM-S series mixer. Although it doesn’t have dedicated controls for Serato’s stems features, because of the way Serato works, it’s easy enough to switch them to one of the pad modes. So this isn’t a huge disadvantage.

UNLOCKS: Serato DJ Pro PITCH’N TIME SUPPLIED? Yes

✅ Mixer has the classic “scratch layout” that DJs are used to from the DJM-S series of mixers
✅ Innovative motorised jogwheels offer central displays
❌ Some do not like the way the controller copies the “90 degrees rotation” turntable layout

Price: $1999 / £1849 / €2042
Our rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Full review: Pioneer DJ DDJ-REV7 Review
Find out more: Pioneer DJ website

Rane Four

Essentially, this is the earlier fixed platter version of the Rane Performer. In most respects, it’s exactly the same apart from the lack of motorised platters. It does have slightly inferior line faders and less information on the central displays, and you do get slightly fewer effects, but these are the only differences. It remains a fully featured controller for Serato. Indeed, apart from the Rane Performer, it’s the most fully featured controller for Serato in existence. If you prefer fixed platters, you can buy this safe in the knowledge that you’re getting pretty much everything you’d ever need to DJ creatively with Serato.

UNLOCKS: Serato DJ Pro PITCH’N TIME SUPPLIED? Yes

✅ Designed completely for Serato with no compromises and every feature covered
✅ Innovative “Stems Split” offers mind-boggling live remixing potential
❌ Some will miss the motorised jogwheels of the Rane One

Price: $1699 / £1499 / €1799
Our rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Full review: Rane Four Controller Review
Find out more: Rane website

Pioneer DJ DDJ-FLX10

Although primarily designed for the Rekordbox platform, this is a good Serato DJ controller too, with just a few changes to the way the controls work for you to get used to as a Serato user. It replaces both the Rekordbox DDJ-1000 and the Serato DDJ-1000SRT controllers in Pioneer DJ’s range, hence the FLX – or “flex” – moniker.

UNLOCKS: Serato DJ Pro PITCH’N TIME SUPPLIED? No – US$349 or subscription to upgrade

✅ Standard club-style layout that will be instantly familiar to most DJs
✅ Excellent jogwheels that feel similar to those of pro CDJs
❌ Some of the labelling of controls is incorrect for Serato
❌ Stems controls better suited to Rekordbox than Serato

Price: $1599 / £1469 / €1649
Our rating (for Serato): ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Full review: Pioneer DJ DDJ-FLX10 Review
Find out more: Pioneer DJ website

Rane One

At the time of writing (February 2025) Rane has announced the Rane One Mk2 due this summer, but that doesn’t mean the Rane One isn’t still an excellent controller. The Mk2 brings hardware effects and a few other additions, but none of that detracts from this being the very best motorised jogwheel compact controller that money can buy for Serato at the moment. As soon as the Rane One Mk2 goes on sale, you’ll be able to get this more than likely at a lower price as well, making it more of a bargain.

UNLOCKS: Serato DJ Pro PITCH’N TIME SUPPLIED? No – US$349 or subscription to upgrade

✅ Unique motorised platter Serato DJ controller, that feels just like using mini turntables
✅ Exceptional Rane build quality
❌ Only two channels – great for scratch DJs, but some may want four

Price: $1299 / £1299 / €1345
Our rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Full review: Rane One Review
Find out more: Rane website

Other ways to DJ with Serato

While a full 75% of our students here at Digital DJ Tips use controllers, it’s by no means the only way to DJ, and by no means the only way you can DJ with Serato.

Pro DJs who use Serato in clubs often plug into those club set-ups (invariably made by Pioneer DJ), and use the club gear to control Serato on their laptops, which essentially turns the club equipment into a huge DJ controller.

But it is also possible to DJ with Serato on any gear – any old CD players or turntables – using a DVS (“Digital Vinyl System”), for which you would typically use special records or CDs to feed computer code to the software to control your music, and an interface box or special mixer to plug the computer in.

Learn to DJ with ANY gear: The Complete DJ Course

And finally, you can DJ with just your laptop, using keyboard shortcuts, with a paid-for Expansion Pack for Serato called “Serato Play” – good if you want to be able to practise DJ sets with just your laptop perched on your knees, for instance.

Pioneer DJ DDJ-REV5

A slightly cut-down version of the DDJ-REV7, this unit nonetheless is similar, offering the same two-channel “battle” layout of its mixer and the same battle deck layout with the pitch control horizontally at the top of each deck. The jogs are no longer motorised, and the unit is therefore cheaper and lighter.

UNLOCKS: Serato DJ Pro PITCH’N TIME SUPPLIED? Yes

✅ A great choice for open-format and scratch DJs who don’t need motorised jogs
✅ Innovative features like Piano Play and Auto Beat Transition
❌ No external inputs for decks etc
❌ You may miss four channels

Price: $1099 / £939 / €985
Our rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Full review: Pioneer DJ DDJ-REV5 Review
Find out more: Pioneer DJ website

Reloop Ready

Designed by our very own DJ Angelo, the Reloop Ready has a very specific purpose: as a controller for preparing DJ sets when you’re on the move. Angelo actually made this so that he could have something to practise on in hotel rooms and so on before playing on larger gear in venues. As such, it might be shrunken and it might be lightweight (and built to a lower standard than professional gear), but it does have control of pretty much all Serato features, which is unusual for a controller this size. If that’s something that you want, and importantly you already actually fully own a copy of Serato, including Pitch ‘n Time, this would be a good second controller. It doesn’t make much sense in other circumstances.

UNLOCKS: Serato DJ Lite PITCH’N TIME SUPPLIED? No – US$449 to upgrade to Serato DJ Suite

✅ A controller no bigger than a 13” laptop, but with pretty much every pro software control on it
✅ A unique tool for set preparation for touring DJs, and also ultra-lightweight DJ set-ups (eg for livestreaming on the road)
❌ Only has two-band EQ
❌ Expensive for what it is, and prohibitively so if you don’t own Serato DJ Pro + Pitch’nTime / Serato DJ Suite

Price: $399 / £239 / €269
Our rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Full review: Reloop Ready Review
Find out more: Reloop website

Pioneer DJ DDJ-REV1

Released at the same time as the DDJ-REV7, the DDJ-REV1 takes the same concept (a “scratch” controller), but delivers it in a controller aimed at the exact opposite end of the market: Entry-level DJs. The trouble is, because it only comes with Serato DJ Lite, it’s going to cost you a lot to upgrade to the version of Serato that has everything in, that you’ll need to use it properly, assuming you want to avoid another subscription in your life. Thus, we can’t really recommend it for beginners. It only really makes sense if you own, for instance, the DDJ-REV7 or a Serato DVS setup, and you already own the software outright, including Pitch ‘n Time, because plugging this in will let you continue to DJ with that software, just on a smaller, more portable device. A good second controller for pros, then, but otherwise a false economy.

UNLOCKS: Serato DJ Lite PITCH’N TIME SUPPLIED? No – US$449 to upgrade to Serato DJ Suite

✅ Something different at what can be a very “copycat” end of the market
❌ Performance pads feel cramped due to where they are in the design

❌ Too expensive to get the right software for it

Price: $279 / £279 / €279
Our rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Full review: Pioneer DJ DDJ-REV1 Review
Find out more: Pioneer DJ website

Pro vs Consumer?

We’ve listed our favourites of each type of device here, from the lowliest to the best money can buy.

The truth is you could DJ in a club on any of these and get away with it – some may raise eyebrows, but technically it’s possible. However, pro controllers (and you can tell by the cost), tend to have features that make them better suited for those making a living from DJing.

These include better build quality, better sound quality, pro inputs (decent mic channels, inputs for turntables and CDJs), extra laptop inputs (for easy DJ switchovers), pro audio outputs (so you can run high quality audio to a PA system as well as your own speakers), and more.

Want more help choosing gear? Grab your free PDF: The Digital DJ Gear Buyer’s Guide

If you’re just starting out, you should get a consumer controller. All pro DJs should carry a back-up device; that’s what your first purchase will become if and when you get more “pro” yourself, and upgrade to something better.

Read this next: Kickstart Your DJ Journey – A Quick Guide for New DJ Gear Owners

Hercules DJControl Starlight

We’re including this here squarely as a second controller, again, like the two models mentioned above, for people who already own the Serato software outright and just want something else to unlock it when on the move. And the reason we’re including it is because it’s so impossibly small and yet it packs in most of the features that you need to play any DJ set, making it a great little device for when you really don’t have space to carry anything bigger – as a small controller for preparation, DJing in hotel rooms, or even taking camping and so on. It’s a little marvel.

UNLOCKS: Serato DJ Lite PITCH’N TIME SUPPLIED? No – US$449 to upgrade to Serato DJ Suite

✅ Impossibly tiny, cute controller
✅ You can actually scratch on its tiny jogwheels
✅ Bass EQ and filter controls – making transitions sound surprisingly good
❌ Only good as a secondary / backup device – too small to use as an “only” controller

Price: $99 / £69 / €79
Our rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Full review: Hercules DJControl Starlight Review
Find out more: Hercules website

Finally…

In this article, we’ve looked at our pick of the current Serato DJ controllers. In 2025, these are the ones we recommend to our students based upon their needs.

Remember, there’s no such thing as a “best” controller, because as you’ve seen, they are often very different from each other. And should you happen to own a model that we haven’t listed, that doesn’t mean it’s “no good” – ultimately if it does what you want, it’s good enough!

DJ like a pro using ANY gear: The Complete DJ Course

The best thing to do when buying is to list your needs, be honest about where you’re at in your DJing and what you really need (against what you vaguely want), add up the “true” cost of ownership (including buying/subscribing to a decent version of the software) and choose accordingly.

You’ll also, of course, need to see what’s available where you live and at what price, which will probably narrow your choice down even further.

Click through to our reviews and review videos from the links above, and feel free to ask any questions in the comments below. Happy hunting!

Phil Morse

Phil Morse is the founder of Digital DJ Tips. His DJ career has taken him from a 15-year residency in Manchester, England, to the main room at Privilege in Ibiza - the world's biggest club. He is also an award-winning club promoter, and has taught music tech and DJing since 2010. He regularly speaks at DJ seminars and events worldwide. His book, “Rock The Dancefloor!”, is a global best-seller on how to DJ.

Best Serato DJ Controllers For 2025

Phil Morse | Founder & Tutor

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