Automatic Hot Cue Placement: Every Way to Auto-Set Cues in 2026

Yes, hot cues can be set automatically, you no longer have to place them by hand. The main routes are Rekordbox 7's built-in CUE Analysis, paid third-party tools like Mixed In Key and KimiCue, library managers like Lexicon (formerly rekord.cloud), and free scripts like CueGen and Bide's AutoCuer. This post compares all six options for automatic hot cue placement so you can pick the one that fits your software, budget, and genre.

Every auto hot cue tool here works differently. Some analyze phrases, some follow energy, some detect the drop, and some just fire keystrokes at fixed positions. Those differences matter more than the price tags, so we'll cover both.

Why Automate Hot Cue Placement?

Do the math on a real library. Setting 8 cues by ear takes 3-5 minutes per track once you factor in listening, scrubbing, and nudging points onto the grid. Across 500-1,000 tracks, that's somewhere between 25 and 80 hours of prep.

There's a second argument that gets less attention: consistency. When every track has the same cue layout - intro here, drop there, outro on the last pad - you build muscle memory. You stop reading waveforms mid-set and start hitting pads on instinct. That's really a question of where cue points should go in the first place, automation just does it faster.

Automation gets you both: the hours back, and a layout that's identical on every track because a machine placed it, not a tired human at 1am.

Comparison at a Glance

• Rekordbox 7 CUE Analysis - Included in paid Rekordbox plans (Core and above), subscription. Rekordbox only. Detects cues via phrase analysis, learns from your cued tracks. Processes your whole library at once. Windows / Mac.
• Mixed In Key 11 - $58 ($99 Pro), one-time. Serato and Traktor via file tags; Rekordbox via XML. Detects cues via energy and structure analysis. Processes your whole library at once. Windows / Mac.
• Lexicon (formerly rekord.cloud) - $9.99/mo or $199 lifetime (Essential), either. Rekordbox, Serato, Traktor, VirtualDJ, Engine DJ, djay Pro. Detects drops and breakdowns with custom templates. Processes your whole library at once. Windows / Mac.
• CueGen - Free, open source. Rekordbox (uses Mixed In Key data). Imports MIK cues or Rekordbox phrase data. Processes your whole library at once. Windows only.
• Bide's AutoCuer - Free. Rekordbox. Fires fixed grid positions via scripted keystrokes. Processes one track at a time, unattended. Mac only.
• KimiCue - $29, one-time. Rekordbox via XML, Serato via file tags. Detects the drop, places 8 structured cues around it. Processes your whole library at once. Windows only.

All pricing and platform details verified July 2026. Check each vendor's site before buying, DJ software pricing shifts often.

Rekordbox 7 CUE Analysis

CUE Analysis (also called Intelligent Cue Creation) is AlphaTheta's own answer, built into Rekordbox 7. You right-click a track or playlist, choose Analyze > CUE (auto), and Rekordbox places hot cues and memory cues for you. It's the obvious first stop if you're already living in Rekordbox.

It works on phrase analysis. Rekordbox identifies sections - intro, verse, chorus, outro - and drops cues at the boundaries. You can also train it: add 30 or more tracks you've already cued to the CUE Analysis Playlist, run the learning step, and it tries to copy your personal placement style.

What it's genuinely good at: zero extra software, batch processing, and cues that land at real section changes rather than arbitrary bars. The training feature is a legitimately clever idea no other tool offers.

The honest limitations: it's not on the free plan, you need a paid Rekordbox subscription (Core or above). Results vary track to track; reviewers note it sometimes adds pointless cues near the start of tracks even when better spots are obvious. It needs decent training data to match your style, and everything stays locked inside Rekordbox. If you'd rather understand setting hot cues in Rekordbox manually before trusting CUE Analysis to do it for you, that's covered in full there.

Who should pick it: DJs already paying for a Rekordbox subscription who want automatic cue points without installing anything.

Mixed In Key

Mixed In Key is the established name in track prep, it's been the standard for key detection since 2006, and version 11 sets up to 8 automatic cue points per track as part of the package. It costs $58 one-time (the Pro version is $99), which buys you key detection, energy-level ratings, and cue points together.

Its cue points follow the track's energy and structure - where the song changes - rather than targeting one specific moment. For Serato and Traktor, cues are written to file tags and show up after analysis. For Rekordbox, you export your collection as XML, let MIK write cues into it, then import that XML back.

What it's genuinely good at: the bundle. If you want harmonic mixing, key detection alone justifies the price, and the cue points come along free in practice. It's cross-platform, one-time, and battle-tested by a huge user base.

The honest limitations: $58 is a lot if cue points are all you want, and the Rekordbox XML round-trip is clunky compared to native tools. Because cues follow energy changes, they don't specifically mark the drop, you'll get useful markers, but not always the one moment you care most about.

Who should pick it: DJs who want key detection anyway, or who already own MIK and haven't turned the cue export on yet.

rekord.cloud (Now Lexicon)

If you've seen rekord.cloud recommended in older forum threads, know this first: it rebranded as Lexicon DJ, a desktop library manager for Windows and Mac. Same developer, broader tool. It handles library conversion between six DJ apps, tag cleanup, duplicate removal, and automatic cue point generation.

Its cue generator detects drops, breakdowns, and fade-outs, then places cues based on templates you define, for example, a cue 64 beats before the drop and one on it. That template system is the most configurable auto-cue approach on this list.

What it's genuinely good at: being one tool for everything library-related. If your collection is a mess of duplicate files and inconsistent genres, and you also want cues, Lexicon fixes all of it and syncs the results to Rekordbox, Serato, Traktor, VirtualDJ, Engine DJ, or djay Pro.

The honest limitations: cue generation isn't in the free tier, you need a paid plan, starting at $9.99/month or a $199 lifetime license. That's fair value for the full suite, but it's the most expensive route here if automatic cue points are the only feature you'll use.

Who should pick it: DJs whose library needs cleanup and organization, not just cues. If you'll use three or more of its features, the price makes sense.

CueGen

CueGen is a free, open-source Windows tool on GitHub that takes the cue points Mixed In Key generates and writes them directly into the Rekordbox database. It exists because MIK's official Rekordbox path (the XML export) is awkward, and because tags like MIK's energy levels get more useful once they're properly inside Rekordbox.

You run MIK with Serato integration enabled so cues get written to your file tags, close Rekordbox, then run CueGen to convert those cues into native Rekordbox hot cues or memory cues, with colors, snapping to the bar, and optional active loops. It can also build cues from Rekordbox's own phrase analysis data.

What it's genuinely good at: this is the deepest Rekordbox integration you can get for free, and for technical users comfortable with GitHub tools, it's a genuinely great option. It's configurable to a degree the paid tools aren't.

The honest limitations: it assumes you own Mixed In Key, so "free" really means "free on top of $58." It's Windows-only, and it writes straight into the Rekordbox database, back up your library first, every time, no exceptions. Rekordbox must be fully closed while it runs.

Who should pick it: MIK owners on Windows who want native Rekordbox cues and don't mind reading a README.

Bide's AutoCuer and Keyboard Scripts

Bide's Rekordbox AutoCuer is a free AppleScript that automates Rekordbox's own keyboard shortcuts. It steps through your playlist and fires the hot cue keys at fixed grid positions, the advanced mode places 8 cues at bars 0, 16, 24, 32, 40, 48, 64, and 80. Similar keystroke tools have since appeared as Mac Shortcuts.

There's no analysis happening. The script doesn't listen to your music; it jumps to preset bar positions and presses the button. That's the whole trick, and it's a clever one.

What it's genuinely good at: it's free, it works on an unlimited number of tracks, and fixed 16-bar spacing actually suits rigidly-structured club music reasonably well. For a broke DJ on a Mac, it's a real option.

The honest limitations: it's fragile. You can't touch the keyboard or mouse while it runs, the computer can't sleep, and your key bindings must match exactly. It was built and tested on Rekordbox 5 and 6, so expect fiddling on version 7. And because positions are fixed, cues land wherever bar 32 happens to be, not where your track's drop actually is.

Who should pick it: Mac users on a zero budget with time to babysit their laptop for an afternoon.

KimiCue

KimiCue is a $29 one-time Windows tool built to do one thing: find the drop in each track and place 8 hot cues structured around it, points before the drop for your mix-in, the drop itself, and points after for mixing out. You point it at your library, and one run processes everything.

Instead of phrase boundaries or energy changes, it uses drop detection. That's a different bet from every other tool here: it assumes the drop is the moment your set is built around, and lays out the same 8-cue pattern relative to it on every track. For Rekordbox it exports via XML; for Serato it writes cues directly to file tags, so they appear after your next analysis.

What it's genuinely good at: the drop-relative layout means identical muscle memory across your whole library, and it covers both Rekordbox and Serato without a subscription. At $29 one-time, it's the cheapest paid option on this list.

The honest limitations: drop detection is built for genres that have a clear drop - house, EDM, drum & bass, and their neighbors. If your library is eclectic - jazz, funk, hip-hop deep cuts, ambient - there's often no drop to find, and a phrase-based tool like Rekordbox's own CUE Analysis will serve you better. It's also Windows-only right now.

You can test it on your own tracks first: the free demo processes 2 tracks per day, no credit card. Try the KimiCue demo

Which Automatic Hot Cue Tool Should You Choose?

• You already pay for Mixed In Key: Use MIK's cue export, you already own it. Add CueGen (Windows) if you want those cues written natively into Rekordbox.
• You want free, you're on a Mac, and you're patient: Bide's AutoCuer. Accept the fixed positions and the babysitting.
• Your library needs cleanup, not just cues: Lexicon (the old rekord.cloud). One tool for tags, duplicates, conversion, and cue templates.
• You're Rekordbox-only and want to try built-in first: CUE Analysis, if you're on a paid plan. Train it with 30+ of your cued tracks before judging it.
• You play drop-driven genres and want structured cues across the whole library for a one-time price: KimiCue.

FAQ

The Bottom Line

Manual cueing is optional in 2026, automatic hot cue placement is a solved problem, several times over. Free gets you Bide's AutoCuer on Mac or CueGen alongside Mixed In Key on Windows. Built-in gets you Rekordbox's CUE Analysis on a paid plan. Paid gets you MIK's energy-based cues, Lexicon's template system, or KimiCue's drop-anchored layout for $29 one-time.

Pick the one that matches how your music is structured, not the one with the best marketing. And if your sets live and die by the drop, run KimiCue's free demo on 2 of your own tracks today, no card needed, and check the placement yourself.