A packed Friday means keeping track of who sings next, who just arrived, and who is sharing a duet. Auto-KJ puts the rotation, playback, and requests in one place so you can spend more time with the room.
I’m a KJ. Auto-KJ is the show software I wanted after years of clipboard math and OpenKJ lists I had to babysit. Karaoke software in general can mean a catalog app. Karaoke host software is the narrower job: you are the operator, the room is paying, and the rotation has to be defensible at 11:30 PM. If you are still choosing, how to choose karaoke host software is the criteria, including where Auto-KJ does not fit.
How the Fairness Engine handles the list
The Fairness Engine handles singer placement. It places late arrivals in the first slot that costs nobody a turn. Duets wait in a side queue, then fuse into one slot so on-deck times stay true. Pauses don’t eat the stage. You can still drag anyone — every rule is overridable — but the default is the rule you’d write on a napkin if you weren’t also running sound.
Read the cases in What the Fairness Engine actually means, then try it in the Rotation Simulator with two late arrivals and a duet before you install anything.
Karaoke rotation software
The rotation is the part singers argue about. The written rules are in karaoke rotation rules: first come, late arrivals, duets, skips, a list people can see, and a host who takes a normal slot. Karaoke rotation software is that policy running in the booth instead of on a clipboard. In Auto-KJ it is the Fairness Engine, on the Free version and the Full version. The Free version uses names you type at the desk. The Full version lets singers watch the same list from their phones.
Duets, late arrivals, skips
- Late arrivals — first fair seat that pushes nobody back. Newcomers join without taking away an existing singer’s turn.
- Duets — the engine accounts for both names in a shared performance.
- Skips and no-shows — the list closes the gap instead of leaving a hole singers will argue about.
- Song changes — the singer keeps the seat; you don’t restart their wait because they swapped a title.
Cloud singer phones with the Social Engine
Full version adds cloud singer phones with our full Social Engine. Singers search your songbook, send a request, and watch their position — GPS, show code, or LAN, no app store. Free version is desk-entered only: you still get the Fairness Engine, you type the names. There is no time limit on the Free version. The paper form for that desk is the karaoke sign-up sheet and request slips. How singers join from a phone is on the karaoke song request app page.
Offline / LAN failover
Venue Wi-Fi is a coin flip. With the Full version, you can use a travel-router LAN for local requests when venue internet drops. Your songs stay on the host computer. How we actually rig it is in Karaoke in a bar with terrible Wi-Fi. There is no separate “offline plan.” LAN is part of Full version.
What else is in the booth
The app also includes your MP3+G/ZIP library; Break-Wave (dual-deck DJ mixer with song-analyzing beat/key matching and automixing) for breaks; kiosk; phone remote; full library management on Full version. Five desktop builds: Windows x64 and ARM64, Mac Intel and Apple Silicon, and Linux x64. Ghost-Trax credits are $2 if you need a track that doesn’t exist on disk.
Choose what you need
| If you need… | Start here |
|---|---|
| A free KJ booth tonight | Free version — desk list, your files, $0 |
| Phones, Social Engine, LAN, kiosk | Full version — ~$10/mo, 60-day no-card trial |
| Pay once. Run up to four shows. | Auto-KJ Lifetime is $500, one time. Everything in the full version, with up to 4 shows running at the same time. No monthly bill. |
| Stay on OpenKJ, add phones | $5/mo songbook, or included with the Full version and with Auto-KJ Lifetime. OpenKJ alternative |
Full version is one live show at a time; extra simultaneous shows are +$5/mo. The limit applies to shows running at the same time. A KJ with five weekly gigs still needs one Full version seat.
Karaoke host vs karaoke DJ software
Break-Wave handles the music between singers in the same app. If you also need a song catalog, compare that separately: Auto-KJ plays the files you bring.
Run the simulator, then take the 60-day trial
Free version downloads with no account. Full version trial is inside the app — no card, nothing auto-bills. Try it with your own setup before deciding whether to subscribe.