Mint Explainer: Can Zoho’s Arattai take on WhatsApp—or will it end up like Hike and Koo?
Almost five years after it was launched, Zoho Corp's Arattai, an alternative to the global messaging giants, is topping App Store charts. But it will need a lot more than a viral moment to become a true homegrown alternative to WhatsApp and Telegram.
Sridhar Vembu's Zoho Corp. is back in the spotlight thanks to its messaging app Arattai, which it launched with little fanfare almost five years ago. Boosted by the government’s ‘Make in India’ push and rising US tariff tensions, the app has gone viral of late, topping the Apple App Store’s social networking charts.
The question now is whether Arattai will challenge entrenched giants such as WhatsApp and Telegram in India, or follow the path of Bharti Airtel’s Hike and Twitter clone Koo, which shut down last year.
What is Arattai, and why is it suddenly going viral?
Arattai (meaning 'casual talk' or ‘chit chat’ in Tamil) was released in January 2021, around the time WhatsApp rolled out changes to its privacy policy that prompted users to consider alternatives. In limbo since this soft launch, Arattai has suddenly gained momentum as it appeals to the government and to users seeking an Indian alternative to entrenched messaging giants.
Its simple design, focus on privacy, and Zoho’s credibility have helped it gain traction on the App Store. Daily signups have soared from 3,000 to 350,000 in just a few days, pushing it to the top of the social networking charts in India.
Arattai has drawn praise from senior ministers on X, with commerce minister Piyush Goyal celebrating his use of a #Swadeshi product, IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw highlighting its contribution to Aatmanirbhar Bharat, and education minister Dharmendra Pradhan terming it “free, easy-to-use, secure, and safe".
Perplexity AI chief executive officer (CEO) Aravind Srinivas, who has challenged the might of Google with his search engine and Comet browser, also lauded Arattai as “very successful" and highlighted its significance for India’s tech ecosystem.
What does Arattai bring to the table?
Arattai, which is available on both iOS and Android, mirrors global rivals such as WhatsApp and Telegram with its chat, call, and file-sharing features. It's a free, simple, privacy-focused messaging app through which users can chat, share media and documents, make voice and video calls, join groups and channels, and post stories. It works across smartphones, tablets and desktops, with up to five devices linked to one account and automatic syncing of messages, contacts, and settings. Currently, it does not allow users to import messages from other platforms.
Arattai's differentiators are Zoho’s commitment to data privacy and its ‘made in India’ branding. Vembu said he was in talks with iSpirt, the group that did the technical work on the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), to standardise and publish the messaging protocols. "We do not want to be a monopoly, ever," he said.
What challenges will it face?
Building a sticky user base will be Arattai’s biggest challenge. Competing with entrenched platforms requires overcoming strong network effects, as most new users go where their friends already are.
In January 2021, when WhatsApp updated its privacy policy to allow sharing commercial data with Facebook, many expected 15-20% of Indian users to switch to alternatives like Telegram or Signal. Yet WhatsApp’s user base in India grew from 487.5 million in 2021 to 853.8 million in 2024, according to World Population Review.
Another major issue is that Arattai lacks default end-to-end encryption for all messages, although audio and video calls are end-to-end encrypted. The company also needs to scale its infrastructure as recent traffic spikes have caused glitches. Vembu noted n a post on X that the company was expanding infrastructure to handle a potential “100x peak surge".
Why have similar homegrown messaging apps failed?
Hike, founded in 2012 by Kavin Bharti Mittal and Jake Allen, quickly became India’s first social unicorn in 2016, raising $261 million from investors including SoftBank, Tencent and Foxconn. Despite its early success, it shut down in 2021 in the face of stiff global competition.
Mittal then pivoted to Rush Gaming Universe, a blockchain-based mobile gaming platform, but now plans to wind it down following the government's ban on online gaming.
Indian social network Koo, launched in March 2020 and once touted as a homegrown rival to X (formerly Twitter), was shut in July 2024 after it ran out of funds.
How can Arattai avoid such a fate?
Hike had Sunil Mittal’s backing and Koo leveraged the ‘Make in India’ narrative, but both homegrown messaging apps were arguably ahead of their time.
The timing is more favourable for Zoho, a well-established, fully bootstrapped company whose software rivals that of global giants such as Microsoft and Salesforce. Zoho’s enterprise-focused products including Zoho One, CRM Plus, and Zoho People are widely used across the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), manufacturing and education sectors.
In July, Zoho expanded into AI with a suite of proprietary tools including its in-house large language model Zia, automatic speech recognition models, and a model context protocol server. It also launched AI agents tailored for Indian businesses to verify documents such as PAN cards, voter IDs, Udyog Aadhaar, GSTIN, drivers licences, LPG connections, and electricity bills.
If Arattai can capitalize on these advantages, India could finally have a homegrown alternative to WhatsApp and Telegram.
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