Both now cost $34.99 a month at the top end, and both now offer open-format DJ edits. One gives you files you keep. The other gives you a catalogue you stream. Which one belongs in your booth depends on how you play.
DJcity
A subscription download pool. You pull DJ-ready files — intros, edits, clean versions — onto your own drive, and they play anywhere, with no connection needed.
Try DJcity for $10Beatport
A streaming subscription that plugs into your DJ software, sitting on top of the biggest electronic music store. You get the whole catalogue, but you rent it rather than own it.
Try Beatport free for 30 daysThis isn’t really a question of which catalogue is bigger. It’s a question of owning files versus streaming them, and that decides almost everything else.
With DJcity, every track you download is a file on your drive. It plays on a laptop in a basement with no signal, exports to a USB stick for the club’s CDJs, and stays put if you cancel. The trade-off is that you only have what you’ve downloaded. If a request comes in for something you haven’t grabbed, you can’t play it.
With Beatport Streaming, the entire catalogue is available inside your DJ software, which is a huge advantage for digging and taking requests. The trade-off is that it depends on a connection. The Professional and Professional+ plans add an offline locker of up to 1,000 tracks, which covers most sets, but anything outside it needs the internet. Streamed tracks aren’t yours, and they go when the subscription does.
2026 narrowed the gap on content. Beatport absorbed Beatsource this year, and its top Professional+ plan now includes open-format DJ edits — remixes, extended intros and outros, clean versions — the kind of material that used to be a reason to choose a pool.
| DJcity | Beatport Streaming | |
|---|---|---|
| What you get | Downloads you keep | Streaming access, plus a separate store to buy tracks |
| Price | $10 first month, then $34.99/mo or $175 per 6 months | Essential $10.99 · Advanced $15.99 · Professional $29.99 · Professional+ $34.99 per month |
| Trial | $10 first month | 30 days free |
| Offline use | Everything you’ve downloaded | Up to 1,000 tracks, Professional and Professional+ only |
| DJ edits | In-house exclusive edits and remixes on every plan | Open-format DJ edits on Professional+ only |
| Catalogue strength | Open-format, hip-hop, global club music | Electronic music, now plus open-format |
| If you cancel | Downloaded files stay on your drive | Streamed tracks go; purchased tracks stay yours |
Choose DJcity if…
- You play on club CDJs from a USB stick.
- You can’t count on Wi-Fi in the booth — weddings, function rooms, basements.
- Your sets are open-format, hip-hop and current club music.
- You want the files to stay yours if you cancel.
Choose Beatport if…
- You play electronic music and dig deep into new releases.
- You DJ from a laptop or controller with a reliable connection.
- You want to take requests from a huge catalogue on the night.
- You’d rather buy the tracks you love outright and stream the rest.
Plenty of working DJs run both: a pool for the weekly volume of edits they’ll actually play, and Beatport for digging and buying the records they want to own. If you’re choosing a pool, our record pool guide compares six of them, and our Beatport Streaming review breaks down which of its plans DJs actually need.
The verdict
For gigging DJs who play from USB or in unreliable venues, DJcity is the safer bet. Files you own don’t buffer, don’t need a signal, and work on any club setup. Its $10 first month is the cheapest way to find out whether a pool fits your sets.
For electronic DJs who play from a laptop and love to dig, Beatport is the better tool. The 30-day free trial is long enough to try it across a few real gigs before paying anything. Just make sure the plan you pick includes the offline locker before you rely on it at a show.