If you follow the tech circle or the trending headlines, you probably know about the new buzzing app in town, the Arattai app. In case you don’t, this new messaging app was built by Zoho and has recently risen to popularity. The app has recently recorded a massive surge in daily sign-ups from 3,000 a day to a staggering 350,000, within three days. This sudden spike of 100x follows a mix of government endorsements, social media buzz, and its positioning as a privacy-first, spyware-free alternative to global rivals. Many users are even tagging the Arattai app as the WhatsApp killer in India, with its potential to take over Meta’s popular messaging app.
So, what does this app offer and what’s all the hype about? Here is the story in five points detailing Zoho’s new Arattai messaging app.
Point 1: What is the Arattai app?
The word Arattai itself means “casual chat” in Tamil. And this app is not new. Zoho Corporation launched Arattai app in 2021 as a side project. However now it is gaining mainstream traction. The app offers a full suite of messaging tools including one-to-one and group chats, voice notes, image and video sharing, stories, and broadcast channels. But its main promise is that it is a made-in-India, spyware-free alternative to the global giants dominating our digital lives.
Point 2: Features of the Arattai app that matter
By the looks of it, Arattai isn’t reinventing the wheel in the messaging world. Zoho Corporation is building on familiar, essential features. It supports:
– Text, media, and file sharing in personal and group chats.
– Audio and video calls with end-to-end encryption.
– Multi-device support, including desktop apps and even Android TV integration.
– Stories and channels for creators, influencers, or businesses to broadcast updates.
But the standout appeal is Zoho’s commitment to privacy-first design. Zoho has pledged that Arattai will not monetise personal data. This is where Indian users seem to be liking the app. In an era where digital sovereignty and spyware concerns dominate tech headlines, this promise of security has struck a chord.
Point 3: Why the sudden popularity?
While the Arattai app has been on app store listings since 2021, the turning point in its popularity came when Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan urged citizens to adopt homegrown digital solutions. Arattai topped this list. The endorsement from the government triggered massive downloads, propelling the app to No. 1 on iOS and Android app stores. Social media chatter then fuelled its buzz, with widespread comparisons to WhatsApp giving the app a viral push.
“We have faced a 100x increase in Arattai traffic in 3 days (new sign-ups went vertical from 3K/day to 350K/day). We are adding infrastructure on an emergency basis for another potential 100x peak surge. That is how exponentials work,” wrote Zoho co-founder Sridhar Vembu in a recent post on X (formerly Twitter).
Point 4: The pressure
With sudden massive growth, the Arattai app is also under pressure. Its infrastructure is seemingly struggling a bit to keep pace with the flood of new users. Some early adopters reported OTP delays, contact syncing issues, and occasional call failures. Zoho admitted as much, posting that it may take “a couple of days” to stabilise servers. Vembu also revealed that the company had originally planned a big release in November, with added features and marketing. But the growth came months earlier than expected. For now, the company says it is all-hands-on-deck at Zoho to expand servers and patch issues.
Point 5: Can Arattai take over WhatsApp?
With all the popularity and promising features, the big question is whether this new app can take over WhatsApp. In India alone, WhatsApp has over 500 million users and is deeply embedded in daily life—from family chats and office conversations to business transactions. Arattai’s meteoric rise shows massive interest but sustaining this popularity and providing users with a platform that feels better than what they already have will be the main challenge.
There’s also one gap: while calls are encrypted, chats on Arratai are not yet end-to-end encrypted—a feature WhatsApp has long offered. Until Arattai rolls this out, it will remain more of a challenger than a replacement.
That said, we can’t deny the buzz. Whether Arattai can cement its place and truly challenge WhatsApp will depend on how quickly Zoho can scale its infrastructure and deliver on its privacy promises.
