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12 Best Book Mockup Generators (Free & Paid): 3D Book Covers

We tested all the major 3D book cover & mockup makers, here are the best.

If you’re an author, print-on-demand seller, or book cover designer, you might be looking for ways to showcase your designs on book covers or create images of your designs in real-life environments.

The good news is that book mockup generators can make the process of creating 3D renderings of your designs a breeze. However, not all the book cover mockup generators available online are worth your time.

Lucky for you we’ve tried out all the major book mockup generators and put together a list of the best ones to make it easy for you. 


Use the links below to jump to a specific mockup generator:


How we tested the tools

To properly review each book mockup generator we scored them in four main categories:

  • The volume of mockup templates
  • Tool usability and features
  • Quality of the final images
  • Overall value for money

To have a fair comparison of the different tools we used the same design with every book mockup generator:

Mockup Generators

If you’ve never heard of or used a book mockup generator before, here’s a quick explanation. 

They’re simply online tools that let you quickly and easily place one of your book cover designs onto an existing image. This can be a simple 3D rendering of a book by itself or an image of a real-life environment (e.g. someone reading a book). 

Most online book mockup generators are incredibly easy to use but the only downside is that you lose out on some of the customization options you would get if you used a tool like Adobe Photoshop. 

However, there are plenty of tools providing quality mockup templates (such as all the ones in this list) and they’re constantly improving, so you’re bound to find some quality mockups that have what you’re looking for. 

#1 Placeit Mockup Generator

Book Mockups on Placeit

Placeit is an online design tool that lets you create a vast array of designs including book cover designs, logos, videos, and so much more. Their most widely used feature is probably the mockup generator. 

They have a sizeable library of book mockups, with over 800 (plus even more eBook cover mockups) at the time of writing this article which is a lot more than most of the other tools on the list.

What’s great about the product is that you can easily filter the templates to find a specific mockup you’re looking for. So, if you’re after a simple 3D rendering of your book cover design you’ll easily be able to find templates for that.

Customizing your book mockup couldn’t be easier – you simply choose a template you like, upload your book cover design, adjust the size and position, add text or your logo if you want, and download. You can create great-looking images in seconds. 

Placeit even offers some free templates too, so if you’re on a tight budget there’s something for you too. 

Book mockup we made with Placeit:

Pricing:

  • Some free templates
  • Individual mockup: $7.95
  • Monthly subscription with unlimited downloads: $14.95
  • Annual subscription with unlimited downloads: $89.95

#2 Smart Mockups

Book Mockups on Smart Mockups

Next up we have Smart Mockups which a tool solely focused on mockup creation. They have a good range of high-quality book mockups, including some free book mockups too! 

Where Smart Mockups fall short in comparison to Placeit is the number of book mockup templates they currently have on offer (around 250) which is a bit less, and also the filtering options.

However, they do give users the ability to create custom mockups. This means you can upload your own images, and easily turn them into a mockup, this is a great feature, especially if you have some quality images of books! 

Smart Mockups also has integrations that set it apart from some of the other tools on this list, including the ability to import designs directly from Canva. So, if you create some book cover designs with Canva you can import them to your Smart Mockups account with one click.

They also have some other useful integrations including one with Unsplash which allows you to use their image database to change the background images of the mockup you’re creating with Smart Mockups. 

Book mockup we made with Smart Mockups:

Pricing:

  • Some free templates
  • $14, $24, or $84 monthly subscription (tiered options) all with unlimited downloads
  • $108, $228, or $828 annual subscription (tiered options) all with unlimited downloads

#3 Media Modifier

Book Mockups on Media Modifier

Media Modifier started out as a mockup generator but has since expanded its template range to include designs for Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.  

They have a good range of book mockups available with a variety of quality templates. Currently, they have around 250 book mockup templates.

Like with most of the other tools on this list customizing the book mockup templates is very simple, you can have your book cover mockup ready to go in seconds.

There are a few features that Media Modifier has that the other tools don’t offer currently such as the ability to download your mockup file as a PSD. So, if you have some knowledge of Photoshop that might interest you.

You can also choose to download your mockup as a PNG or JPG file. Something that Placeit currently doesn’t offer (you can only get their templates as PNG files). 

Book mockup we made with Media Modifier:

Pricing:

  • Free (images have a watermark)
  • $19: Monthly subscription with unlimited downloads
  • $108: Annual subscription with unlimited downloads

#4 Renderforest Mockup Generator

Book Mockups on Renderforest

Like Placeit, Renderforest is an online design tool that lets you create a range of things including logos, videos, and websites. They also recently added their own mockup generator which has around 130 quality book mockups to utilize. 

The Renderforest team has put some ‘mockup packs’ together to make it easy for users to find similar groups of mockups, including the hardback book promo pack, hardcover book mockup set, and print company mockups.

With Renderforest it’s very easy to customize their book mockups. You just need to choose a template, add your book cover design, choose the color you want for the book and background, and download it.

A feature of their mockup generator that we like is that they show you how your design looks on similar mockups when you are customizing a template.  So, if you like how your design looks on another template you can easily select that one. 

Book mockup we made with Renderforest:

Pricing:

  • Free mockups (with watermark)
  • $3.99: Individual mockup
  • $19.99 – $59.99: Monthly subscription plans with unlimited downloads
  • $83.88 – $599.88: Annual subscription plans with unlimited downloads

#5 Artboard Studio

Book Mockups on Artboard Studio

If you’re looking for an online mockup generator that gives you a huge amount of control over your mockup designs then Artboard Studio could be just what you’re looking for.

Similar to more advanced design software like Photoshop, design templates on Artboard Studio have layers, and this allows you to customize every element of a template. It gives you far more control over your designs than any other tool in this list.

With Artboard Studio you can create book mockups from scratch by adding their premade design elements to a blank canvas. However, it’s much easier to select one of their pre-designed templates and customize it to your liking.

Where Artboard Studio falls a bit short is the amount of book mockup templates they currently have in their library. At the moment they have around 45 templates, all of which are great quality, but it’s quite a bit smaller than some other book mockup generators.

The learning curve for their tool is also much greater than any other tool in this list. It takes a while to get your head around it. So, if you’re looking for a quicker and easier option go with another tool like Placeit.

Book mockup we made with Artboard Studio:

Pricing:

  • Some free templates
  • $15 per month for an unlimited subscription

#6 Vexels Mockup Generator

Book mockups on Vexels

Vexels is a site that has a huge library of ready-made graphic resources.  Their mockup generator is super slick and easy to use but isn’t quite a strong as some of the other book mockup tools at the moment.

The main reason for that is that they currently have a small selection of book mockup templates, with just over 10 online book mockup templates. They do a good range of book mockups in PSD format though, and book cover templates too.

They currently don’t have any free mockups as far as we could tell, and you can’t buy individual mockups which means if you want to download any of their templates you need to get a subscription. 

Their mockup generator does have some unique features though such as the ability to rotate your book cover design and customize your templates in a much smoother and seamless way than some of the other tools on this list. 

Another feature we really liked is that when you edit a mockup there are related mockups in the sidebar of the editor which display your design too, and you can select another template if you like how your design looks on it. 

Book mockup we made with Vexels:

Pricing:

  • $9.99 – $89.99: Monthly subscription plans
  • $90 – $816: Annual subscription plans

#7 Mockup.Photos

Book Mockups on Mockup.Photos

Mockup.Photos is a high-quality and 100% free mockup generator with has a decent-sized library of book mockup templates.

Most of the images on the site are from stock image sources such as Pexels and Unsplash, and the team at Mockup.Photos has made those images available as free mockups.

If you create ebooks or you’re looking for some 3D book mockup templates to display your book cover design Mockup.Photos has you covered too. They offer a good amount of device and tablet mockups you can utilize.

When it comes to customizing the mockup templates it’s very easy, however, you’ll need to ensure whatever book cover design you plan to upload is the right dimensions for your chosen mockup. If not, then it won’t work.

As a 100% free mockup generator Mockup.Photos is well worth checking out.

Book mockup we made with Mockup.Photos:

Pricing:

  • 100% free

#8 Adazing

Book mockups on Adazing

Adazing is a great resource for authors. With their tools, you can create a whole host of things related to marketing your books including bookmarks, postcards, and book mockups.

Adazing offers 12 free book and tablet mockups. With a few clicks, you can create a standard 3D rendering of your book cover design or create mockups that feature your design on a table, and much more.

If you want to get even more options, Adazing’s full mockup rendering product ‘MockupShots’ gives you access to an unlimited amount of book mockups for a one-time fee. MockupShots also gives you access to some quality book mockup gifs.

Adazing, and their product MockupShots is a good option for authors and people looking to display their book cover designs. However, if you’re looking for a tool that gives you a decent amount of customization options you should check out Placeit or Smart Mockups.

Book mockup we made with Adazing:

Pricing:

  • Some free templates
  • $60 – $180 for unlimited book mockups

#9 MockupsJar

Book Mockups on MockupsJar

When it comes to premium mockup generators MockupsJar isn’t among the strongest. The interface and user flow aren’t the best, and it can be a little bit confusing at times.

However, there are some quality book mockup templates available on the platform. Currently, they have 25 book mockups you can utilize for your book cover designs.

You can also try the tool completely for free with your first 20 downloads of premium templates being 100% free, making a decent option as a free mockup generator.

After your first 20 downloads you’ll either have to subscribe to get access to full resolution mockups or be content with low resolution images (640 x 480 px).

If you’re looking for a premium mockup generator we’d recommend looking elsewhere at the moment.

Book mockup we made with MockupsJar:

Pricing:

  • Free plan
  • Personal plan: €5 per month or €25 per year

#10 DIY Book Covers

Book Mockups on DIY Book Covers

If you’re looking for some 3D book mockup templates for your book cover designs then you might find what you’re looking for on DIY Book Covers. The best part is that their book mockup generator is 100% free to use.

One downside with their tool is that if you’re using a template with multiple elements (e.g. a book and some devices) it doesn’t always work properly. We tried to out a couple of those templates and sometimes the book design only showed up on one design element. Something to keep in mind.

For those of you who don’t want to invest in professional design for your book cover designs at the moment, you can also create book cover designs on DIY Book Covers.

Overall, the book mockup generator is pretty solid for a free tool but if you can afford it we’d recommend checking out a tool like Placeit instead.

Book mockup we made with DIY Book Covers:

Pricing:

  • 100% free

#11 Book Brush

Book Mockups on Book Brush

Book Brush is a tool that lets you create designs and marketing material to promote your books even if you don’t have any design experience.

With tools including a book mockup generator, book cover designer, trailer creators, and even more, Book Brush is like a Swiss-army knife for book creators.

They offer both free and paid tools, so if you’re on a tight budget you can create some designs, including book mockups completely for free.

Overall, it’s a decent tool for book creators but we feel you can find much higher quality designs and marketing assets on some of the other book mockup generators.

Mockup we made with Book Brush:

Pricing:

  • Some free templates
  • Plus: $8.25
  • Gold: $12.25
  • Platinum: $20.50

#12 MockupBro

MockupBro print mockup templates

Last up we have MockupBro another completely free mockup generator that is really smooth and easy to use. Anyone can use it!

All you have to do is select one of their templates, adjust the background color (only available on some templates), upload your design, and download. It takes no time at all.

The only downside with MockupBro is the limited number of mockup templates on the site. Currently, there are only around 84 templates, and only a few of these are book mockups.

However, as mentioned everything there is 100% free to download, so if you need some quality free mockups then you might just find what you’re looking for on MockupBro.

Book mockup we made with MockupBro:

Pricing:

  • 100% free

Wrapping things up…

So there you have 12 tried and tested book mockup generators.  

Creating great 3D images to display your book cover designs in the best way possible can be challenging at times. However, with the quality of online book mockup generators constantly improving this is becoming much easier. 

We hope this guide was helpful to you!

Oh, and if you have any questions, comments, or have suggestions for other awesome book mockup generators, leave a comment below!

Written by Sam McCraw

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