Bannerbear
$1M ARR on Rails 6 and jQuery — the automated image generation API
www.bannerbear.comAnnual Revenue
$1M
MRR
~$83K
Team
4-5 remote employees across 5 nationalities
Funding
Bootstrapped
Founder
Jon Yongfook
Founder & CEO
Started with a '12 Startups in 12 Months' challenge — Bannerbear emerged as product #3 (originally called Previewmojo)
What Bannerbear Does
Bannerbear is an API and no-code integration platform that automatically generates images, videos, and PDFs from design templates using dynamic data. It solves a pain point every marketing team and e-commerce operation faces: producing large volumes of visual assets (social media banners, OG images, product images, email banners, podcast audiograms) that are structurally identical but differ in text, images, or data. Instead of manually creating each variation in Photoshop or Canva, users design a template once using Bannerbear's visual editor, then hit the REST API with data to generate unlimited variations automatically. The product serves two audiences: developers use the REST API directly, while non-technical users leverage no-code integrations with Zapier, Make.com, and Airtable. Built on Rails 6 and jQuery — a deliberately 'boring' tech stack — Bannerbear reached $1M ARR in September 2025 after a 6-year journey of steady, compounding growth with zero paid advertising.
Revenue Highlights
- Hit $1M ARR in September 2025 — entirely bootstrapped
- $0 to $10K MRR in 18 months
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