Over the past few weeks, Arattai, a messaging app developed by Indian software firm Zoho, has gone viral in India. The company says the app recorded seven million downloads in one week, though it did not specify the exact dates. Market research firm Sensor Tower reports that Arattai had fewer than 10,000 downloads in August, highlighting how sudden the growth has been.
The app’s name, Arattai, means banter in Tamil. Although it was quietly launched in 2021, it attracted little attention until now. Its recent surge in popularity is being linked to the Indian government’s renewed emphasis on self-reliance, especially as the country faces the effects of high US trade tariffs.
In recent weeks, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other ministers have repeatedly promoted the idea of “Make in India” and “Spend in India.” Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan publicly endorsed Arattai on X, encouraging people to use Indian-made apps to stay connected. Several other ministers and business leaders soon followed.
Zoho acknowledges that government support played a key role in boosting downloads. According to Zoho CEO Mani Vembu, daily sign-ups jumped from 3,000 to 350,000 within three days, while active users increased 100-fold and continue to grow. He said this reflects users’ enthusiasm for a homegrown app that meets local needs.
However, the company has not disclosed exact active user numbers. Experts point out that Arattai still trails far behind WhatsApp, which has around 500 million monthly active users in India. WhatsApp remains deeply embedded in daily life across the country, used for everything from casual messaging to running businesses.
Arattai offers many of the same features as WhatsApp, including messaging as well as voice and video calls. Like WhatsApp, it also provides tools for businesses and is designed to work efficiently on low-end smartphones and slower internet connections.
The app has received positive feedback on social media, with users praising its interface and design, and some saying it is as easy to use as WhatsApp. Many users also expressed pride in using an Indian-developed app and urged others to download it.
However, Arattai is not the first Indian app to aim at challenging major global platforms. Earlier, apps like Koo and Moj were promoted as alternatives to X and TikTok respectively—especially after TikTok was banned in India in 2020—but their popularity declined after an initial surge. ShareChat, once seen as a potential competitor to WhatsApp, has also scaled back its ambitions.
Technology writer and analyst Prasanto K Roy, based in Delhi, notes that Arattai will find it hard to compete with WhatsApp’s massive user base, particularly because WhatsApp is deeply integrated with businesses and government services.
According to him, Arattai’s success will depend not only on attracting new users but also on retaining them, something that cannot be achieved through patriotic appeal alone. Even with a strong product, he adds, it is unlikely to replace a platform that already has billions of users worldwide.
Some experts have expressed concerns about Arattai’s data privacy practices. Although the app provides end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for voice and video calls, this protection does not yet apply to text messages.
According to Shashidhar KJ, managing editor at MediaNama, the government seeks message traceability for security reasons, which can be implemented if messages are not end-to-end encrypted. However, he warns that this approach compromises user privacy.
Arattai says it is working on introducing E2EE for text messages. Mani Vembu explained that while the app was originally meant to launch with full encryption, timelines were accelerated to release essential features and infrastructure sooner.
WhatsApp, by contrast, already encrypts messages and calls end-to-end, but its policy allows it to share metadata—such as call records or message logs—with governments when legally required.
Indian internet laws mandate that social media platforms provide user data to the government in certain cases, though obtaining such data from foreign companies is often slow and difficult. Global companies like Meta and X also have the legal and financial strength to challenge government demands they view as unfair.
In 2021, WhatsApp sued the Indian government over new digital regulations, arguing they undermined user privacy. X has similarly contested the government’s authority to block or remove content.
This raises questions about whether Arattai, as an Indian app, would be able to resist government demands that could threaten user privacy. Tech law expert Rahul Matthan says that without greater clarity on Arattai’s privacy design and Zoho’s stance on sharing user content with authorities, many users may remain hesitant.
Another expert, Mr Roy, notes that Zoho may feel pressure to cooperate with the government, particularly since federal ministers have promoted the app. He adds that Indian startups may find it difficult to strongly oppose legal or law-enforcement requests.
Responding to such concerns, Mani Vembu said Arattai aims to give users full control over their data while still complying with Indian IT laws. He added that once full end-to-end encryption is implemented, even the company will not be able to access user conversations, and it will be transparent about any legal obligations.
Past experience suggests that Indian apps face steep challenges, especially when dominant platforms like WhatsApp and Facebook are deeply entrenched. Whether Arattai can succeed or will struggle like many before it remains uncertain.
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