India’s own messaging app, Arattai, has climbed to the top of app store charts, briefly overtaking global giants like WhatsApp and Telegram. Zoho, the company behind the app, announced the milestone on X, celebrating its rise to the number one spot in the Social Networking category. The surge comes after weeks of rising buzz, driven by memes, endorsements, and a wave of patriotic downloads.
From Side Project to National Spotlight
Launched in 2021, Arattai—Tamil for “chat” or “chit-chat”—was once seen as a small side experiment by Zoho. But in a climate of growing mistrust toward Big Tech, data privacy scandals, and AI-driven concerns, its branding as a spyware-free, made-in-India messenger has struck a nerve with Indian users.
The push got a boost when Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan urged citizens to shift to local digital platforms, spotlighting Arattai. Almost instantly, downloads spiked, pushing the app ahead of WhatsApp, Telegram, and Signal on both iOS and Android.
Endorsements and Early Reviews
Tech entrepreneur Vivek Wadhwa tested the app and called it “India’s WhatsApp killer,” praising its familiar interface and usability. He shared that Zoho’s CEO, Sridhar Vembu, told him the app is still in alpha but improving rapidly.
Wadhwa did, however, poke fun at the name, joking that the world might struggle to spell or pronounce “Arattai.” The comment sparked a flood of memes online, adding to the app’s viral momentum.
Growth Pains and Server Struggles
Success hasn’t come without hiccups. As new users poured in, Arattai’s servers began buckling under the pressure. Zoho admitted to delays in OTP verification, slower contact syncing, and glitches in calls, warning that fixes could take a few days.
In a post on X, the company said it was “working hard to expand servers” to keep up with the sudden traffic. Some early adopters have already reported lags when signing up or syncing across devices.
What Arattai Offers
The app isn’t reinventing messaging but sticking to the essentials:
- One-to-one and group chats with text, voice, and media sharing
- Audio and video calls with end-to-end encryption
- Multi-device support, including desktop and Android TV apps
- Stories and channels for updates and creators
Where it stands apart is Zoho’s privacy-first approach. The company promises that Arattai does not monetize personal data, a sharp contrast to rivals often accused of exploiting user information. For Indians increasingly worried about digital sovereignty and surveillance, this is a powerful pitch.
The WhatsApp Question
Can Arattai really unseat WhatsApp? That’s the hard part. WhatsApp has over 500 million users in India alone and is deeply embedded in daily life, from casual chatting to business transactions.
Another hurdle: while Arattai supports end-to-end encryption for calls, the same isn’t yet available for chats. Zoho says the feature is coming, but until then, WhatsApp maintains a security advantage that users may not overlook.
What’s Next
For now, Zoho is enjoying its No. 1 moment while racing to reinforce infrastructure. Official download figures aren’t out yet, but the trajectory looks promising. The real challenge will be turning early curiosity into long-term loyalty and proving that Arattai can scale without losing reliability.
If Zoho pulls it off, India may finally have a true homegrown rival to WhatsApp.
