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How Mockey hit $12K MRR with AI mockups and no big marketing budget

Author

Mohit Vishwakarma
April 17, 2025

Most SaaS stories glorify overnight success. This one’s about grit and a smart pivot.
Pranay and Mofid turned Mockey from an ad-supported side project into a $12K MRR SaaS in just 11 months - no flashy launches, just a laser focus on solving a real problem for creatives.

Let’s break down how he did it 👇

🚀 The Startup Snapshot

  • Founders: Pranay Agarwal and Mofid Ansari, UI/UX designers turned SaaS entrepreneurs.

  • Product: Mockey, an AI-powered mockup generator for creating professional-grade visuals for e-commerce, marketing, and design

  • Stage: $12,000 MRR, bootstrapped, founded in 2022

🔍 What They Did

Pranay started Mockey as a side hustle, initially monetizing through ads while working a full-time job. After seeing demand for its intuitive AI mockup tools, he and co-founder Mofid Ansari pivoted to a subscription model in April 2024, hitting $12K MRR in under a year. They stayed lean, reinvesting profits to grow without external funding.

🧩 The Strategy Breakdown

  • Niche Lock-in: Mockey targeted designers, e-commerce sellers, and marketers needing quick, high-quality mockups. With over 5,000 templates across 25+ categories (e.g., apparel, tech, accessories), it solved a specific pain point: creating professional visuals without Photoshop or expensive photoshoots.

  • Distribution Play: They leveraged organic channels like Product Hunt and Indie Hackers for early traction, combined with a freemium model (free users get 3 mockups/day with ads). Word-of-mouth grew from 100K monthly visitors, amplified by sharing free resources like Doodles, their Figma community project.

  • Conversion Strategy: The subscription model ($7/month or $199 lifetime) offered premium features like ad-free access, high-quality downloads, and AI influencer mockup bundles. This clear value proposition converted free users into paying customers, with ads still contributing ~$700/month.

Build Audit Takeaway

✅ You don’t need a massive budget to scale a SaaS. Find a niche problem, build a freemium tool that’s genuinely useful, and use organic communities to spread the word. Mockey’s pivot to subscriptions shows how aligning with user needs can unlock steady MRR growth.

🔗 Links & Credit